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Belarus
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.
Location: Eastern Europe, east of Poland Geographic coordinates: 53 00 N, 28 00 E Map references: Commonwealth of Independent States Area:
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Kansas Land boundaries:
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:
Natural resources: forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas Land use:
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:
Geography - note: landlocked
Population: 10,366,719 (July 2000 est.) Age structure:
Population growth rate: -0.17% (2000 est.) Birth rate: 9.27 births/1,000 population (2000 est.) Death rate: 13.96 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.) Net migration rate: 3.01 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.) Sex ratio:
Infant mortality rate: 14.63 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.) Life expectancy at birth:
Total fertility rate: 1.25 children born/woman (2000 est.) Nationality:
Ethnic groups: Byelorussian 77.9%, Russian 13.2%, Polish 4.1%, Ukrainian 2.9%, other 1.9% Religions: Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.) Languages: Byelorussian, Russian, other Literacy:
Country name:
Data code: BO 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)
Independence: 25 August 1991 (Belarusian Supreme Soviet declaration of independence from the Soviet Union) National holiday: Independence Day, 3 July (1944); note - represents Minsk liberation from German occupation 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:
Legislative branch:
bicameral Parliament or Natsionalnoye Sobranie consists of the Council of the Republic or Soviet Respubliki (64 seats; eight appointed by the president and 56 indirectly elected by deputies of local councils for four-year terms) and the Chamber of Representatives or Palata Pretsaviteley (110 seats; note - present members came from the former Supreme Soviet which LUKASHENKO disbanded in November 1996)
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 [Aleksandr PAVLOV, acting chairman]; Belarusian Communist Party or KPB [Viktor CHIKIN, chairman]; Belarusian Green Party or BPZ [Mikalay KARTASH, chairman]; Belarusian Labor Party or BPP [Aleksandr BUKHVOSTOV, chairman]; Belarusian Patriotic Movement (Belarusian Patriotic Party) or BPR [Anatoliy BARANKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Popular Front or BNF [Vintsuk VYACHORKA, chairman]; Belarusian Social-Democrat or SDBP [Nikolay STATKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Social-Democratic Party Hramada [Stanislav SHUSHKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Social Sports Party or BSSP [Aleksandr ALEKSANDROVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Socialist Party [Vyacheslav KUZNETSOV]; Civic Accord Bloc (United Civic Party) or CAB [Stanislav BOGDANKEVICH, chairman]; Ecological Party or BEP [Liudmila YELIZAROVA, chairperson]; Liberal-Democratic Party or LDPB [Sergei GAYDUKEVICH, chairman]; Party of All-Belarusian Unity and Concord or UPNAZ [Dmitriy BULAKOV, chairman]; Party of Communists Belarusian or PKB [Sergei KALYAKIN, chairman]; Party of Popular Accord or PPA [Leanid SECHKA]; Republican Party of Labor and Justice or RPPS [Anatoliy NETYLKIN, chairman]; Women's Party Nadezhda [Valentina POLEVIKOVA, chairperson] 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, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (applicant) Diplomatic representation in the US:
Diplomatic representation from the US:
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
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 re-imposed 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, 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 - $55.2 billion (1999 est.) GDP - real growth rate: 1.5% (1999 est.) GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $5,300 (1999 est.) GDP - composition by sector:
Population below poverty line: 22% (1995 est.) Household income or consumption by percentage share:
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 295% (1999 est.) Labor force: 4.3 million (1998) Labor force - by occupation: industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA% Unemployment rate: 2.3% officially registered unemployed (December 1998); large number of underemployed workers Budget:
Industries: metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earth movers, motorcycles, TV sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators Industrial production growth rate: 8% (1999 est.) Electricity - production: 21.893 billion kWh (1998) Electricity - production by source:
Electricity - consumption: 28.66 billion kWh (1998) Electricity - exports: 2.3 billion kWh (1998) Electricity - imports: 10.6 billion kWh (1998) Agriculture - products: grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk Exports: $6 billion (f.o.b., 1999) Exports - commodities: machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, textiles, foodstuffs Exports - partners: Russia 66%, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Lithuania (1998) Imports: $6.4 billion (c.i.f., 1999) Imports - commodities: mineral products, machinery and equipment, metals, chemicals, foodstuffs Imports - partners: Russia 54%, Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Lithuania (1998) Debt - external: $1.1 billion (1998 est.) Economic aid - recipient: $194.3 million (1995) Currency: Belarusian rubel (BR) Exchange rates: Belarusian rubels per US$1 - 730,000 (15 December 1999), 139,000 (25 January 1999), 46,080 (2nd qtr 1998), 25,964 (1997), 15,500 (yearend 1996), 11,500 (yearend 1995) Fiscal year: calendar year
Telephones - main lines in use: 2.537 million (1997) Telephones - mobile cellular: 8,000 (1999) Telephone system:
the Ministry of Telecommunications controls all telecommunications through its carrier (a joint stock company) Beltelcom which is a monopoly
Radio broadcast stations: AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998) Radios: 3.02 million (1997) Television broadcast stations: 17 (1997) Televisions: 2.52 million (1997) Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (1999)
Railways:
Highways:
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: 118 (1996 est.) Airports - with paved runways:
Airports - with unpaved runways:
Military branches: Army, Air Force, Air Defense Force, Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age Military manpower - availability:
Military manpower - fit for military service:
Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $156 million (FY98) Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.2% (FY98)
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 Please click here for a guide to the country profiles Click here for all other countries
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