Map of Belarus | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | More stats

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Background: For centuries Byelorussia has been fought over, devastated, and partitioned among Russia, Poland, Lithuania, and, in World Wars I and II, Germany. After seven decades as a Soviet republic, the newly named Belarus declared its independence in August 1991. It has retained closer political and economic ties to Russia than any of the other former Soviet republics.


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Location: Eastern Europe, east of Poland

Geographic coordinates

Map reference: Commonwealth of Independent States - European States

Area
Total area total: 207,600 km²
Land: 207,600 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than Kansas

Land boundaries: total 3,098 km, Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 605 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims: none; landlocked

Climate: cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime

Terrain: generally flat and contains much marshland

Elevation

Natural resources: forest land, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas

Land use
Arable land: 29%
Permanent crops: 1%
Meadows and pastures: 15%
Forest and woodland: 0%
Other: 55%

Irrigated land: 1,490 km² (1990)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography
Note: landlocked


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Population: 10,437,418 (July 1995 est.)
Growth rate: 0.3% (1995 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Belarusian(s)
Adjective: Belarusian

Ethnic groups: Byelorussian 77.9%, Russian 13.2%, Polish 4.1%, Ukrainian 2.9%, other 1.9%

Languages: Byelorussian, Russian, other

Religions: Eastern Orthodox, other

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 22% (female 1,126,062; male 1,166,439)
15-64 years: 65% (female 3,494,891; male 3,293,196)
65 years and over: 13% (female 913,508; male 443,322) (July 1995 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 0.3% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 12.98 births/1000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 11.23 deaths/1000 population (1995 est.)

Net migration rate: 1.27 migrant(s)/1000 population (1995 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: soil pollution from pesticide use; southern part of the country contaminated with fallout from 1986 nuclear reactor accident at Chornobyl'
Current issues natural hazards: NA
Current issues international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Biodiversity, Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection; signed, but not ratified - Climate Change, Law of the Sea

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 18.6 deaths/1000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 71.03 years
Male: 66.36 years
Female: 75.93 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.87 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1989)
Total population: 97%
Male: 99%
Female: 96%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Belarus
Conventional short form: Belarus
Local long form: Respublika Byelarus'
Local short form: none
Former: Belorussian (Byelorussian) Soviet Socialist Republic

Government type: republic

Capital: Minsk

Administrative divisions: 6 voblastsi (singular - voblasts') and one municipality* (harady, singular - horad); Brestskaya (Brest), Homyel'skaya (Homyel'), Horad Minsk*, Hrodzyenskaya (Hrodna), Mahilyowskaya (Mahilyow), Minskaya, Vitsyebskaya (Vitsyebsk)
Note: the administrative centers of the voblastsi are included in parentheses

Dependent areas

Independence: 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)

National holiday: Independence Day, 27 July (1990)

Constitution: adopted 15 March 1994; replaces constitution of April 1978

Legal system: based on civil law system

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994); election held June 24 and 10 July 1994 (next to be held NA 1999); Aleksandr LUKASHENKO 80%, Vyacheslav KEBICH 14%
Head of government: Prime Minister Mikhail CHIGIR (since July 1994); Deputy Prime Ministers Vladimir GARKUN, Viktor GONCHAR, Sergey LING, Mikhail MYASNIKOVICH, Valeriy KOKAREV (since NA)
Cabinet: Council of Ministers
Note: first presidential elections took place in June-July 1994

Legislative branch: unicameral
Supreme Soviet: elections last held 4 April 1990 (next to be held 14 May 1995); results - Communists 87%; seats - (360 total) number of seats by party NA; note - 50 seats are for public bodies; the Communist Party obtained an overwhelming majority

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: CCC, CE (guest), CEI (associate members), CIS, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IFC, ILO, IMF, INMARSAT, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, NACC, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Sergey Nikolayevich MARTYNOV
In the us chancery: 1619 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,009
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 986-1604
In the us FAX: [1] (202) 986-1805
In the us consulates general: New York
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Kenneth Spencer YALOWITZ
From the us embassy: Starovilenskaya #46, Minsk
From the us mailing address: use embassy street address
From the us telephone: [7] (0172) 34-65-37

Flag description: three horizontal bands of white (top), red, and white

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: Belarus ranks among the most developed of the former Soviet states, with a relatively modern - by Soviet standards - and diverse machine building sector and a robust agriculture sector. It also serves as a transport link for Russian oil exports to the Baltic states and Eastern and Western Europe. The breakup of the Soviet Union and its command economy has resulted in a sharp economic contraction as traditional trade ties have collapsed. The Belarusian government has lagged behind the governments of most other former Soviet states in economic reform, with privatization almost nonexistent. The system of state orders and distribution persists. In mid-1994, the Belarusian government embarked on an austerity program with IMF support to slash state credits and consumer subsidies in order to bring down the budget deficit and reduce inflation. However, despite its promising start, the regime's drive to reinvigorate the economy has fallen short, and the IMF has criticized its failure to implement the reforms that the Fund had negotiated. As a result, the IMF has suspended talks on introducing a stand-by arrangement. Economic relations with Russia, which will have an important bearing on the future course of the economy, will be strengthened if Minsk adopts the necessary legislation to implement a customs union agreed to in January 1995.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: -20% (1994)

Real gdp per capita: $5,130 (1994 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: accounts for almost 25% of GDP and 5.7% of total agricultural output of former Soviet Union; employs 21% of the labor force; in 1988 produced the following (in percent of total Soviet production):grain (3.6%), potatoes (12.2%), vegetables (3.0%), meat (6.0%), milk (7.0%; net exporter of meat, milk, eggs, flour, potatoes

Industries: employ about 40% of labor force and produced a wide variety of products including (in percent share of total output of former Soviet Union):tractors (12%; metal-cutting machine tools (11%; off-highway dump trucks up to 110-metric-ton load capacity (100%; wheel-type earthmovers for construction and mining (100%; eight-wheel-drive, high-flotation trucks with cargo capacity of 25 metric tons for use in tundra and roadless areas (100%; equipment for animal husbandry and livestock feeding (25%; motorcycles (21.3%; television sets (11%; chemical fibers (28%; fertilizer (18%; linen fabric (11%; wool fabric (7%; radios; refrigerators; and other consumer goods

Industrial production growth rate: -19% (1994; accounts for about 40% of GDP (1992)

Labor force: 4.887 million
By occupation industry and construction: 40%
By occupation agriculture and forestry: 21%
By occupation other: 39% (1992)

Unemployment rate: 1.4% officially registered unemployed (December 1993; large numbers of underemployed workers

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $N/A
Expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $968 million to outside of the FSU countries (f.o.b., 1994)
Commodoties: machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs
Partners: Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Bulgaria

Imports: $534 million from outside the FSU countries (c.i.f., 1994)
Commodoties: fuel, natural gas, industrial raw materials, textiles, sugar
Partners: Russia, Ukraine, Poland

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $1.5 billion (July 1994 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Belarusian rubels per US$1 - 10,600 (end December 1994)


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Electricity
Capacity: 7,010,000 kW
Production: 31.4 billion kWh
Production consumption per capita: 3,010 kWh (1994)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones

Telephone system: 1,849,000 telephones (December 1991); 18 telephones/100 persons; telephone service inadequate for the purposes of either business or the population; about 70% of the telephones are in homes; over 750,000 applications from households for telephones remain unsatisfied (1992); new investment centers on international connections and business needs; the new BelCel NMT 450 cellular system (a joint venture) is now operating in Minsk
Local: NA
Intercity: NA
International: international traffic is carried by the Moscow international gateway switch and also by 2 satellite earth stations near Minsk - INTELSAT (through Canada) and EUTELSAT (through the UK)

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures: 56.5 billion rubles, NA% of GDP (1993 est.), note - conversion of the military budget into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading results

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 118
With paved runways over 3047 m: 2
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 18
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 5
With paved runways under 914 m: 11
With unpaved runways over 3047 m: 1
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 6
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2438 m: 4
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 9
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 62

Heliports

Pipelines: crude oil 1,470 km; refined products 1,100 km; natural gas 1,980 km (1992)

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: NA km

Merchant marine: note:claims 5% of former Soviet fleet

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: none

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: illicit cultivator of opium poppy and cannabis; mostly for the domestic market; transshipment point for illicit drugs to Western Europe