| Belarus |
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Belarus | Introduction | Top of Page

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 but, to date, neither side has actively sought to implement the accord.

Belarus | Geography | Top of Page

Location: | Eastern Europe, east of Poland

Geographic coordinates: | 53 00 N, 28 00 E

Map references: | Commonwealth of Independent States

Area: | total: 207,600 sq km land: 207,600 sq km water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative: | slightly smaller than Kansas

Land boundaries: | total: 3,098 km border countries: 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 extremes: | lowest point: Nyoman River 90 m highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m

Natural resources: | forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas

Land use: | arable land: 29% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 15% forests and woodland: 34% other: 21% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: | 1,000 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: | NA

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

Environment - international agreements: | party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Geography - note: | landlocked

Belarus | People | Top of Page

Population: | 10,350,194 (July 2001 est.)

Age structure: | 0-14 years: 17.93% (male 947,820; female 908,210) 15-64 years: 68.21% (male 3,428,920; female 3,631,290) 65 years and over: 13.86% (male 473,992; female 959,962) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate: | -0.15% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: | 9.57 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: | 13.97 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: | 2.89 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Sex ratio: | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.49 male(s)/female total population: 0.88 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate: | 14.38 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 68.14 years male: 62.06 years female: 74.52 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: | 1.28 children born/woman (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | 0.28% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | 14,000 (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: | 400 (1999 est.)

Nationality: | noun: Belarusian(s) adjective: Belarusian

Ethnic groups: | Byelorussian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4%

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

Languages: | Byelorussian, Russian, other

Literacy: | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98% male: 99% female: 97% (1989 est.)

Belarus | Government | Top of Page

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 - when using a place name with the adjectival ending 'skaya' the word voblasts' should be added to the place name note: voblasti have the administrative center name following in parentheses

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

Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: | chief of state: President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994) head of government: Prime Minister Vladimir YERMOSHIN (since 18 February 2000); First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey KOBYAKOV (since 13 March 2000); Deputy Prime Ministers Mikhail DEMCHUK (since 14 July 2000), Mikhail KHORSTOV (since 27 November 2000), Valeriy KOKOREV (since 23 August 1994), Leonid KOZIK (since 4 February 1997), Gennadiy NOVITSKIY (since 11 February 1997), Aleksandr POPKOV (since 10 November 1998) cabinet: Council of Ministers elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; first election took place 23 June and 10 July 1994 (next to be held NA; according to the 1994 constitution, the next election should have been held in 1999, however LUKASHENKO extended his term to 2001 via the November 1996 referendum); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president election results: Aleksandr LUKASHENKO elected president; percent of vote - Aleksandr LUKASHENKO 85%, Vyacheslav KEBICH 15%

Legislative branch: | bicameral Parliament or Natsionalnoye Sobranie consists of the Council of the Republic or Soviet Respubliki (64 seats) and the Chamber of Representatives or Palata Pretsaviteley (110 seats) elections: last held October 2000 (next to be held NA) election results: party affiliation data unavailable; under present political conditions party designations are meaningless

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 [Semyon SHARETSKY, chairman]; 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 or SDBP [Nikolay STATKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Social-Democratic Party Hromada [Stanislav SHUSHKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Socialist Party [Vyacheslav KUZNETSOV]; Civic Accord Bloc (United Civic Party) or CAB [Stanislav BOGDANKEVICH, chairman]; 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 Nadezhda [Valentina POLEVIKOVA, chairperson]

Political pressure groups and leaders: | NA

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

Diplomatic representation in the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Valeriy TSEPAKLO chancery: 1619 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 986-1604 FAX: [1] (202) 986-1805 consulate(s) general: New York

Diplomatic representation from the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Michael KOZAK embassy: 46 Starovilenskaya St., Minsk 220002 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [375] (17) 210-12-83 FAX: [375] (17) 234-7853

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 the Belarusian national ornament in red

Belarus | Economy | Top of Page

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 extremely high inflation, businesses have been subject to pressure on the part of central and local governments, e.g., arbitrary changes in regulations, numerous rigorous inspections, and retroactive application of new business regulations prohibiting practices that had been legal. Further economic problems are two consecutive bad harvests, 1998-99, and persistent trade deficits. 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.

GDP: | purchasing power parity - $78.8 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: | 4% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita: | purchasing power parity - $7,500 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 13% industry: 46% services: 41% (1999 est.)

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

Household income or consumption by percentage share: | lowest 10%: 4.9% highest 10%: 19.4% (1993)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): | 200% (2000 est.)

Labor force: | 4.8 million (2000)

Labor force - by occupation: | industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA%

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

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

Industries: | metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earth movers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators

Industrial production growth rate: | 5% (2000 est.)

Electricity - production: | 24.911 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source: | fossil fuel: 99.9% hydro: 0.1% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999)

Electricity - consumption: | 27.647 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports: | 2.62 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports: | 7.1 billion kWh (1999)

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

Exports: | $7.4 billion (f.o.b., 2000)

Exports - commodities: | machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, textiles, foodstuffs

Exports - partners: | Russia 66%, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Lithuania (1998)

Imports: | $8.3 billion (f.o.b., 2000)

Imports - commodities: | mineral products, machinery and equipment, metals, chemicals, foodstuffs

Imports - partners: | Russia 54%, Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Lithuania (1998)

Debt - external: | $1 billion (2000 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: | $194.3 million (1995)

Currency: | Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR)

Currency code: | BYB/BYR

Exchange rates: | Belarusian rubles per US dollar - 1,180 (yearend 2000), 730,000 (15 December 1999), 139,000 (25 January 1999), 46,080 (second quarter 1998), 25,964 (1997), 15,500 (yearend 1996); note - on 1 January 2000, the national currency was redenominated at one new ruble to 2,000 old rubles

Fiscal year: | calendar year

Belarus | Communications | Top of Page

Telephones - main lines in use: | 2.313 million (1997)

Telephones - 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

Radio broadcast stations: | AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998)

Radios: | 3.02 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations: | 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995)

Televisions: | 2.52 million (1997)

Internet country code: | .by

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): | 4 (2000)

Internet users: | 10,000 (2000)

Belarus | Transportation | Top of Page

Railways: | total: 5,523 km broad gauge: 5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2000)

Highways: | total: 63,355 km paved: 60,567 km (these roads are said to be hard-surfaced, and include, in addition to conventionally paved roads, some that are surfaced with gravel or other coarse aggregate, making them trafficable in all weather) unpaved: 2,788 km (these roads are made of unstabilized earth and are difficult to negotiate in wet weather) (1998)

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

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

Ports and harbors: | Mazyr

Airports: | 136 (2000 est.)

Airports - with paved runways: | total: 33 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 19 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 11 (2000 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways: | total: 103 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 10 1,524 to 2,437 m: 11 914 to 1,523 m: 14 under 914 m: 65 (2000 est.)

Belarus | Military | Top of Page

Military branches: | Army, Air Force, Air Defense Force, Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards

Military manpower - military age: | 18 years of age

Military manpower - availability: | males age 15-49: 2,729,956 (2001 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service: | males age 15-49: 2,138,743 (2001 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually: | males: 86,396 (2001 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: | $156 million (FY98)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: | 1.2% (FY98)

Belarus | Transnational Issues | Top of Page

Disputes - international: | none

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