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. Since his election in July 1994 as the country's first president Aleksandr LUKASHENKO has steadily consolidated his power through authoritarian means. Government restrictions on freedom of speech and the press peaceful assembly and religion remain in place.

Geographic coordinates: 53 00 N 28 00 E

Map reference: Europe

Area
Total: 207,600 km²
Rank: 86
Land: 202,900 km²
Water: 4,700 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than Kansas

Land boundaries
Total: 3,306 km
Border countries: (5) Latvia 171 km; Lithuania 680 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
Extremes lowest point: Nyoman River 90 m
Extremes highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m

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

Land use
Arable land: 26.77%
Permanent crops: 0.6%
Other: 72.63% (2005)

Irrigated land: 1310 km² (2008)

Total renewable water resources: 58 km³ (1997)

Natural hazards: NA

Geography
Note: landlocked; glacial scouring accounts for the flatness of Belarusian terrain and for its 11,000 lakes

Population: 9,577,552 (July 2011 est.)
Rank: 88
Growth rate: -0.363% (2011 est.)
Growth rate rank: 218
Below poverty line: 27.1% (2003 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Belarusian
Adjective: Belarusian

Ethnic groups: Belarusian 81.2% Russian 11.4% Polish 3.9% Ukrainian 2.4% other 1.1% (1999 census)

Languages: Belarusian (official) 36.7% Russian (official) 62.8% other 0.5% (includes small Polish- and Ukrainian-speaking minorities) (1999 census)

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

Age structure
0-14 years: 14.2%
15-64 years: 71.7% (male 3,328,548/female 3,542,359)
65 years and over: 14.1% (male 427,086/female 920,381) (2011 est.)

Median age
Total: 39 years
Male: 36.1 years
Female: 42.1 years (2011 est.)

Population growth rate: -0.363% (2011 est.)
Rank: 218

Birth rate: 9.76 births/1000 population (2011 est.)
Rank: 195

Death rate: 13.77 deaths/1000 population (July 2011 est.)
Rank: 17

Net migration rate: 0.38 migrant(s)/1000 population (2011 est.)
Rank: 66

Urbanization
Urban population: 75% of total population
Rate of urbanization: 0.1% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

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-Sulfur 85 Biodiversity Climate Change Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol Desertification Endangered Species Environmental Modification Hazardous Wastes Law of the Sea Marine Dumping Ozone Layer Protection Ship Pollution Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.062 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.47 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.87 male(s)/female (2011 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 6.25 deaths/1000 live births
Rank: 173
Male: 7.24 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 5.19 deaths/1000 live births (2011 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 71.2 years
Rank: 139
Male: 65.57 years
Female: 77.18 years (2011 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.26 children born/woman (2011 est.)
Rank: 215

Drinking water source:

Physicians density: 4.869 physicians/1000 population (2007)
Rank: 5

Hospital bed density: 11.23 beds/1000 population (2007)
Rank: 4

Sanitation facility access:

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.3% (2009 est.)
Adult prevalence rate rank: 89
People living with hivaids: 17,000 (2009 est.)
People living with hivaids rank: 82
Deaths: fewer than 1000 (2009 est.)
Deaths rank: 69

Children under the age of 5 years underweight: 1.3% (2005)
Rank: 117

Education expenditures: 4.5% of GDP (2009)
Rank: 83

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 99.6%
Male: 99.8%
Female: 99.4% (1999 census)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Total: 15 years
Male: 14 years
Female: 15 years (2007)

Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Belarus
Conventional short form: Belarus
Local long form: Respublika Byelarus'
Local short form: Byelarus'
Former: Belorussian (Byelorussian) Soviet Socialist Republic

Government type: republic in name although in fact a dictatorship

Capital
Name: Minsk
Geographic coordinates: 53 54 N 27 34 E
Time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington DC during Standard Time)
Daylight saving time: +1hr begins last Sunday in March and will continue throughout 2011

Administrative divisions: 6 provinces (voblastsi singular - voblasts') and 1 municipality* (horad); Brest Homyel' (Gomel) Horad Minsk* (Minsk City) Hrodna (Grodno) Mahilyow (Mogilev) Minsk Vitsyebsk (Vitebsk)
Note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers; Russian spelling provided for reference when different from Belarusian

Independence: 25 August 1991 (from the 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: 15 March 1994; revised by national referendum 24 November 1996 giving the presidency greatly expanded powers; became effective 27 November 1996; revised again 17 October 2004 removing presidential term limits

Legal system: civil law system; note - nearly all major codes (civil civil procedure criminal criminal procedure family and labor) have been revised and came into force in 1999 or 2000

International law organization participation: has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO
Head of government: Prime Minister Mikhail MYASNIKOVICH (since 28 December 2010); First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir SEMASHKO (since December 2003)
Cabinet: Council of Ministers
Elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; first election took place on 23 June and 10 July 1994; according to the 1994 constitution the next election should have been held in 1999 however Aleksandr LUKASHENKO extended his term to 2001 via a November 1996 referendum; subsequent election held on 9 September 2001; an October 2004 referendum ended presidential term limits and allowed the president to run in a third (19 March 2006) and fourth election (19 December 2010); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president
Election results: Aleksandr LUKASHENKO reelected president; percent of vote - Aleksandr LUKASHENKO 79.7% Andrey SANNIKAU 2.6% other candidates 17.7%; note - election marred by electoral fraud

Legislative branch: bicameral National Assembly or Natsionalnoye Sobraniye consists of the Council of the Republic or Sovet Respubliki (64 seats; 56 members elected by regional and Minsk city councils and 8 members appointed by the president to serve four-year terms) and the Chamber of Representatives or Palata Predstaviteley (110 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
Elections: Palata Predstaviteley - last held on 28 September 2008 (next to be held in the spring of 2012); international observers determined that despite minor improvements the election ultimately fell short of democratic standards; pro-LUKASHENKO candidates won every seat
Election results: Sovet Respubliki - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; Palata Predstaviteley - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - KPB 6 AP 1 no affiliation 103

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
Progovernment parties: Belarusian Agrarian Party or AP [Mikhail SHIMANSKY]; Belarusian Patriotic Movement or BPR [Nikolay ULAKHOVICH chairman]; Communist Party of Belarus or KPB [Tatsyana HOLUBEVA]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Sergey GAYDUKEVICH]; Republican Party of Labor and Justice [Vasiliy ZADNEPRYANYY]
Opposition parties: Belarusian Christian Democracy Party [Pavel SEVERINETS] (unregistered); Belarusian Party of Communists or PKB [Sergey KALYAKIN]; Belarusian Party of Labor [Aleksandr BUKHVOSTOV] (unregistered); Belarusian Popular Front or BPF [Aleksey YANUKEVICH]; Belarusian Social-Democratic Hramada [Stanislav SHUSHKEVICH]; Belarusian Social Democratic Party Hramada ('Assembly') or BSDPH [Anatoliy LEVKOVICH]; Belarusian Social Democratic Party People's Assembly ('Narodnaya Hramada') [Nikolay STATKEVICH] (unregistered); Belarusian Women's Party Nadzeya ('Hope') [Yelena YESKOVA chairperson]; Christian Conservative Party or BPF [Zyanon PAZNIAK]; European Belarus Campaign [Andrey SANNIKOV]; Party of Freedom and Progress [Vladimir NOVOSYAD] (unregistered); 'Tell the Truth' Campaign [Vladimir NEKLYAYEV]; United Civic Party or UCP [Anatoliy LEBEDKO]

International organization participation: BSEC (observer) CBSS (observer) CEI CIS CSTO EAEC EAPC EBRD FAO GCTU IAEA IBRD ICAO ICRM IDA IFC IFRCS ILO IMF IMSO Interpol IOC IOM IPU ISO ITU ITUC MIGA NAM NSG OPCW OSCE PCA PFP SCO (dialogue member) UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UNWTO UPU WCO WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WTO (observer) ZC

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador ; Charge d'Affaires Oleg KRAVCHENKO
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 consulate general: New York
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador ; Charge d'Affaires Michael SCANLAN
From the us embassy: 46 Starovilenskaya Street Minsk 220,002
From the us mailing address: PSC 78 Box B Minsk APO 9,723
From the us telephone: [375] (17) 210-12-83 217-7,347 through 7,348
From the us fax: [375] (17) 334-7,853

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 Belarusian national ornamentation in red; the red band color recalls past struggles from oppression the green band represents hope and the many forests of the country

National symbols: mounted knight known as Pahonia (the Chaser)

National anthem
Name: 'My Bielarusy'
Lyricsmusic: Mikhas KLIMKOVICH and Uladzimir KARYZNA/Nester SAKALOUSKI
Note: music adopted 1955 lyrics adopted 2002; after the fall of the Soviet Union Belarus kept the music of its Soviet-era anthem but adopted new lyrics; also known as 'Dziarzauny himn Respubliki Bielarus' (State Anthem of the Republic of Belarus)

Economy overview: Belarus has seen limited 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 enterprises. Since 2005 the government has re-nationalized a number of private companies. In addition businesses have been subjected to pressure by central and local governments including arbitrary changes in regulations numerous rigorous inspections retroactive application of new business regulations and arrests of 'disruptive' businessmen and factory owners. Continued state control over economic operations hampers market entry for businesses both domestic and foreign. Government statistics indicate GDP growth was strong surpassing 10% in 2008 despite the roadblocks of a tough centrally directed economy with a high rate of inflation and a low rate of unemployment. However the global crisis pushed the country into recession in 2009 and GDP grew only 0.2% for the year. Slumping foreign demand hit the industrial sector hard. Minsk has depended on a standby-agreement with the IMF to assist with balance of payments shortfalls. In line with IMF conditions in 2009 Belarus devalued the ruble more than 40% and tightened some fiscal and monetary policies. On 1 January 2010 Russia Kazakhstan and Belarus launched a customs union with unified trade regulations and customs codes still under negotiation. In late January Russia and Belarus amended their 2007 oil supply agreement. The new terms raised prices for above quota purchases increasing Belarus' current account deficit. GDP grew 4.8% in 2010 in part on the strength of renewed export growth. In December 2010 Belarus Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement to form a Common Economic Space and Russia removed all Belarusian oil duties.

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Rank: 61
Note: data are in 2010 US dollars

Real gdp growth rate:
Rank: 25

Real gdp per capita:
Rank: 88
Note: data are in 2010 US dollars

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 9.5%
Industry: 44.8%
Services: 45.8% (2010 est.)

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

Industries: metal-cutting machine tools tractors trucks earthmovers motorcycles televisions synthetic fibers fertilizer textiles radios refrigerators

Industrial production growth rate: 10.5% (2010 est.)
Rank: 24

Labor force: 5 million (2009)
Rank: 74
By occupation agriculture: 14%
By occupation industry: 34.7%
By occupation services: 51.3% (2003 est.)

Unemployment rate: 1.6% (2005)
Rank: 5
Note: official registered unemployed; large number of underemployed workers

Population below poverty line: 27.1% (2003 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 3.8%
Highest 10: 21.9% (2008)

Distribution of family income gini index: 21.7 (1998)
Rank: 129

Budget
Revenues: $23.59 billion
Expenditures: $24.7 billion (2010 est.)
Surplus or deficit: -2% of GDP (2010 est.)
Surplus or deficit rank: 76

Taxes and other revenues: 43.1% of GDP (2010 est.)
Rank: 31

Inflation rate consumer prices: 12.9% (2009 est.)
Rank: 186

Central bank discount rate: 13.5% (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 18

Commercial bank prime lending rate: 11.675% (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 88

Stock of narrow money: $3.949 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 93

Stock of broad money: $13.31 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 89

Stock of domestic credit: $16.55 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 73

Market value of publicly traded shares: $NA

Current account balance: -$6.39 billion (2009 est.)
Rank: 180

Exports: $21.36 billion (2009 est.)
Rank: 64
Commodities: machinery and equipment mineral products chemicals metals textiles foodstuffs
Partners: Russia 38.9% Netherlands 11% Ukraine 10.2% (2010)

Imports: $28.32 billion (2009 est.)
Rank: 57
Commodities: mineral products machinery and equipment chemicals foodstuffs metals
Partners: Russia 51.8% Germany 6.8% Ukraine 5.4% China 4.8% (2010)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $4.831 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 99

Debt external: $22.13 billion (31 December 2010 est.)
Rank: 67

Exchange rates:

Electricity
Production: 32.95 billion kWh (2008 est.)
Production rank: 62
Consumption: 31.07 billion kWh (2008 est.)
Consumption rank: 59
Exports: 5.245 billion kWh (2008 est.)
Imports: 1.84 billion kWh (2008 est.)

Natural gas
Production: 150 million m³ (2009 est.)
Production rank: 77
Consumption: 17.75 billion m³ (2009 est.)
Consumption rank: 37
Exports: 0 m³ (2009 est.)
Exports rank: 64
Imports: 17.6 billion m³ (2009 est.)
Imports rank: 15
Proven reserves: 2.832 billion m³ (1 January 2011 est.)
Proven reserves rank: 95

Telephones
Main lines in use: 4.139 million (2010)
Main lines in use rank: 40
Mobile cellular: 10.333 million (2010)
Mobile cellular rank: 69

Telephone system
General assessment: Belarus lags behind its neighbors in upgrading telecommunications infrastructure; modernization of the network progressing with roughly two-thirds of switching equipment now digital
Domestic: state-owned Beltelcom is the sole provider of fixed-line local and long distance service; fixed-line teledensity is improving although rural areas continue to be underserved; multiple GSM mobile-cellular networks are experiencing rapid growth; mobile-cellular teledensity now exceeds 100 telephones per 100 persons
International: country code - 375; 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); 3 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 (2008)

Broadcast media: 4 state-controlled national TV channels; Polish and Russian TV broadcasts are available in some areas; state-run Belarusian Radio operates 3 national networks and an external service; Russian and Polish radio broadcasts are available (2007)

Internet
Country code: .by
Hosts: 147,311 (2010)
Hosts rank: 71
Users: 2.643 million (2009)
Users rank: 69

Military expenditures: 1.4% of GDP (2005 est.)
Rank: 104

Military service age and obligation: 18-27 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation - 12-18 months depending on academic qualifications (2010)

Airports: 67 (2010)
Rank: 74
With paved runways total: 35
With paved runways over 3047 m: 2
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 22
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 3
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 1
With paved runways under 914 m: 7 (2010)
With unpaved runways total: 32
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 2
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 2
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 27 (2010)

Heliports: 1 (2010)

Pipelines: gas 5,250 km; oil 1528 km; refined products 1730 km (2010)

Railways
Total: 5,537 km
Rank: 32
Broad gauge: 5,512 km 1.520-m gauge (874 km electrified)
Standard gauge: 25 km 1.435-m gauge (2010)

Roadways
Total: 94,797 km
Rank: 47
Paved: 84,028 km
Unpaved: 10,769 km (2005)

Waterways: 2,500 km (use limited by its location on the perimeter of the country and by its shallowness) (2003)
Rank: 35

Ports and terminals: Mazyr

Disputes international: boundary demarcated with Latvia and Lithuania; Poland seeks enhanced demarcation and security along this Schengen hard border with financial assistance from the EU

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; a small and lightly regulated financial center; anti-money-laundering legislation does not meet international standards and was weakened further when know-your-customer requirements were curtailed in 2008; few investigations or prosecutions of money-laundering activities (2008)