Military branches: Royal Armed Forces (includes Army, Navy, Air Force), Gendarmerie, Auxiliary Forces 

Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age 

Military manpower - availability: 
males age 15-49: 7,961,552 (2000 est.) 

Military manpower - fit for military service: 
males age 15-49: 5,026,210 (2000 est.) 

Military manpower - reaching military age annually: 
males: 335,264 (2000 est.) 

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $1.361 billion (FY97/98) 

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 3.8% (FY97/98)

Transnational Issues 

Disputes - international: claims and administers Western Sahara, but sovereignty is unresolved and the UN is attempting to hold a referendum on the issue; the UN-administered cease-fire has been in effect since September 1991; Spain controls five places of sovereignty (plazas de soberania) on and off the coast of Morocco - the coastal enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla which Morocco contests, as well as the islands of Penon de Alhucemas, Penon de Velez de la Gomera, and Islas Chafarinas 

Illicit drugs: illicit producer of hashish; trafficking on the increase for both domestic and international drug markets; shipments of hashish mostly directed to Western Europe; transit point for cocaine from South America destined for Western Europe