Map of Belarus | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | More stats

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Background: After seven decades as a constituent republic of the USSR Belarus attained its independence in 1991. It has retained closer political and economic ties to Russia than any of the other former Soviet republics. Belarus and Russia signed a treaty on a two-state union on 8 December 1999 envisioning greater political and economic integration. Although Belarus agreed to a framework to carry out the accord serious implementation has yet to take place.


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Location: Eastern Europe east of Poland

Geographic coordinates: 53 00 N 28 00 E

Map reference: Europe

Area
Total: 207,600 km²
Water: 0 km²
Land: 207,600 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than Kansas

Land boundaries
Total: 2,900 km
Border countries: (5) Latvia 141 km; , Lithuania 502 km; , Poland 407 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
Extremes lowest point: Nyoman River 90 m
Extremes highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m

Natural resources: forests peat deposits small quantities of oil and natural gas granite dolomitic limestone marl chalk sand gravel clay

Land use
Arable land: 29.76%
Permanent crops: 0.69%
Other: 69.55% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 1150 km² (1998 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: NA

Geography
Note: landlocked; glacial scouring accounts for the flatness of Belarusian terrain and for its 11,000 lakes; the country is geologically well endowed with extensive deposits of granite dolomitic limestone marl chalk sand gravel and clay


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Population: 10,322,151 (July 2003 est.)
Growth rate: -0.12% (2003 est.)
Below poverty line: 22% (1995 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Belarusian
Adjective: Belarusian

Ethnic groups: Belarusian 81.2% Russian 11.4% Polish Ukrainian and other 7.4%

Languages: Belarusian Russian other

Religions: Eastern Orthodox 80% other (including Roman Catholic Protestant Jewish and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.)

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 16.8% (male 885,265; female 848,516)
15-64 years: 68.9% (male 3,456,769; female 3,652,766)
65 years and over: 14.3% (male 490,529; female 988,306) (2003 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age
Total: 36.7 years
Male: 34.1 years
Female: 39.3 years (2002)

Population growth rate: -0.12% (2003 est.)

Birth rate: 10.18 births/1000 population (2003 est.)

Death rate: 14.05 deaths/1000 population (2003 est.)

Net migration rate: 2.66 migrant(s)/1000 population (2003 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' in northern Ukraine
International agreements party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.04 male/female
15-64 years: 0.95 male/female
65 years and over: 0.5 male/female
Total population: 0.88 male/female (2003 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate
Total: 13.87 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 12.56 deaths/1000 live births (2003 est.)
Male: 15.13 deaths/1000 live births

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 68.43 years
Male: 62.54 years
Female: 74.6 years (2003 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.34 children born/woman (2003 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.3% (2001 est.)
People living with hivaids: 15,000 (2001 est.)
Deaths: 1000 (2001 est.)

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 99.6%
Male: 99.8%
Female: 99.5% (2003 est.)

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 short form: none
Former: Belorussian (Byelorussian) Soviet Socialist Republic
Local long form: Respublika Byelarus'

Government type: republic

Capital: Minsk

Administrative divisions
Note: voblasti have the administrative center name following in parentheses

Dependent areas

Independence: 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)

National holiday: Independence Day 3 July (1944); note - 3 July 1944 was the date Minsk was liberated from German troops 25 August 1991 was the date of independence from the Soviet Union

Constitution: 30 March 1994; revised by national referendum of 24 November 1996 giving the presidency greatly expanded powers and became effective 27 November 1996

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)
Head of government: Prime Minister Sergei SIDORSKY (acting; since 10 July 2003); Deputy Prime Ministers Andrei KOBYAKOV (since 13 March 2000), Sergei SIDORSKY (since 24 September 2001), Vladimir DRAZHIN (since 24 September 2001), Roman VNUCHKO (since 10 July 2003)
Cabinet: Council of Ministers
Election results: Aleksandr LUKASHENKO reelected president; percent of vote - Aleksandr LUKASHENKO 75.6%, Vladimir GONCHARIK 15.4%
Elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; first election took place 23 June and 10 July 1994; according to the 1994 constitution, the next election should have been held in 1999, however LUKASHENKO extended his term to 2001 via a November 1996 referendum; new election held 9 September 2001 (next election to be held by September 2006); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president

Legislative branch
Election results: party affiliation data unavailable; under present political conditions party designations are meaningless
Elections: last held October 2000 (next to be held NA 2004)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president); Constitutional Court (half of the judges appointed by the president and half appointed by the Chamber of Representatives)

Political parties and leaders: Agrarian Party or AP [Mikhail SHIMANSKY]; Belarusian Communist Party or KPB [Viktor CHIKIN chairman]; Belarusian Ecological Green Party (merger of Belarusian Ecological Party and Green Party of Belarus) [leader NA]; Belarusian Patriotic Movement (Belarusian Patriotic Party) or BPR [Anatoliy BARANKEVICH chairman]; Belarusian Popular Front or BNF [Vintsuk VYACHORKA]; Belarusian Social-Democrat Party or SDBP [Nikolay STATKEVICH chairman]; Belarusian Social-Democratic Party or Hromada [Stanislav SHUSHKEVICH chairman]; Belarusian Socialist Party [Vyacheslav KUZNETSOV]; Civic Accord Bloc (United Civic Party) or CAB [Anatol LIABEDZKA]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDPB [Sergei GAYDUKEVICH chairman]; Party of Communists Belarusian or PKB [Sergei KALYAKIN chairman]; Republican Party of Labor and Justice or RPPS [Anatoliy NETYLKIN chairman]; Social-Democrat Party of Popular Accord or PPA [Leanid SECHKA]; Women's Party or 'Nadezhda' [Valentina POLEVIKOVA chairperson]

International organization participation: CEI CIS EAPC EBRD ECE IAEA IBRD ICAO ICRM IFC IFRCS ILO IMF Interpol IOC IOM (observer) ISO ITU NAM NAM (observer) NSG OPCW OSCE PCA PFP UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UPU WCO WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WTrO (observer)

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Mikhail KHVOSTOV
In the us chancery: 1619 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,009
In the us consulates general: New York
In the us fax: [1] (202) 986-1805
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 986-1604
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Michael G. KOZAK
From the us embassy: 46 Starovilenskaya St., Minsk 220,002
From the us mailing address: PSC 78, Box B Minsk, APO 9,723
From the us telephone: [375] (17) 210-12-83
From the us fax: [375] (17) 234-7,853

Flag description: red horizontal band (top) and green horizontal band one-half the width of the red band; a white vertical stripe on the hoist side bears a Belarusian national ornament in red

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: Belarus has seen little structural reform since 1995 when President LUKASHENKO launched the country on the path of 'market socialism.' In keeping with this policy LUKASHENKO reimposed administrative controls over prices and currency exchange rates and expanded the state's right to intervene in the management of private enterprise. In addition to the burdens imposed by high inflation and persistent trade deficits businesses have been subject to pressure on the part of central and local governments e.g. arbitrary changes in regulations numerous rigorous inspections retroactive application of new business regulations and arrests of 'disruptive' businessmen and factory owners. A wide range of redistributive policies has helped those at the bottom of the ladder. Close relations with Russia possibly leading to reunion color the pattern of economic developments. For the time being Belarus remains self-isolated from the West and its open-market economies.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 4.7% (2002 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $8,700 (2002 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 15%
Industry: 40%
Services: 45% (2002 est.)

Agriculture products: grain potatoes vegetables sugar beets flax; beef milk

Industries: metal-cutting machine tools tractors trucks earthmovers motorcycles television sets chemical fibers fertilizer textiles radios refrigerators

Industrial production growth rate: 2.5% (2002 est.)

Labor force: 4.8 million (2000)
By occupation industry and construction: NA%
By occupation agriculture and forestry: NA%
By occupation services: NA%

Unemployment rate: 2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: 22% (1995 est.)

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 5.1%
Highest 10: 20% (1998)

Distribution of family income gini index: 21.7 (1998)

Budget
Revenues: $4 billion
Expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 42.8% (2002 est.)

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: $7.7 billion f.o.b. (2002)
Commodities: machinery and equipment mineral products chemicals metals; textiles foodstuffs
Partners: Russia 50.8% Latvia 7.3% Ukraine 6.3% Lithuania 4.1% Germany 4.1% (2002)

Imports: $8.8 billion f.o.b. (2002)
Commodities: mineral products machinery and equipment chemicals foodstuffs metals
Partners: Russia 68.2% Germany 9.4% Ukraine 3.2% (2002)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $851 million (2001 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Belarusian rubles per US dollar - NA (2002) 1390 (2001) 876.75 (2000) 248.8 (1999) 46.13 (1998)


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Electricity
Production: 24.4 billion kWh (2001)
Production by source fossil fuel: 99.5%
Production by source hydro: 0.1%
Production by source other: 0.4% (2001)
Production by source nuclear: 0%
Consumption: 26.69 billion kWh (2001)
Exports: 300 million kWh (2001)
Imports: 4.3 billion kWh (2001)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas
Production: 200 million m³ (2001 est.)
Consumption: 18 billion m³ (2001 est.)
Exports: 0 m³ (2001 est.)
Imports: 17.8 billion m³ (2001 est.)

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Main lines in use: 2.313 million (1997)
Mobile cellular: 8,167 (1997)

Telephone system
General assessment: the Ministry of Telecommunications controls all telecommunications through its carrier (a joint stock company) Beltelcom which is a monopoly
Domestic: local - Minsk has a digital metropolitan network and a cellular NMT-450 network; waiting lists for telephones are long; local service outside Minsk is neglected and poor; intercity - Belarus has a partly developed fiber-optic backbone system presently serving at least 13 major cities (1998); Belarus's fiber optics form synchronous digital hierarchy rings through other countries' systems; an inadequate analog system remains operational
International: Belarus is a member of the Trans-European Line (TEL), Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) fiber-optic line, and has access to the Trans-Siberia Line (TSL); three fiber-optic segments provide connectivity to Latvia, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine; worldwide service is available to Belarus through this infrastructure; additional analog lines to Russia; Intelsat, Eutelsat, and Intersputnik earth stations

Broadcast media

Internet
Country code: .by
Service providers isps: 23 (2002)
Users: 422,000 (2002)

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $176.1 million (FY02)
Percent of gdp: 1.4% (FY02)

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: 124 (2002)
With paved runways total: 28
With paved runways over 3047 m: 2
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 21
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 4
With paved runways under 914 m: 1 (2002)
With unpaved runways total: 96
With unpaved runways over 3047 m: 3
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 1
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 11
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 14
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 67 (2002)

Heliports

Pipelines: gas 4,519 km; oil 1811 km; refined products 1686 km (2003)

Railways
Total: 5,523 km
Broad gauge: 5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2002)

Roadways

Waterways: NA km; note - Belarus has extensive and widely used canal and river systems

Merchant marine

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: 1997 boundary treaty with Ukraine remains unratified over unresolved financial claims preventing demarcation and encouraging illegal border crossing; boundaries with Latvia and Lithuania remain undemarcated despite European Union financial support

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: limited cultivation of opium poppy and cannabis mostly for the domestic market; transshipment point for illicit drugs to and via Russia and to the Baltics and Western Europe; lax money-laundering and banking regulations