1992 Edition

Climate

mild and moist; transitional between continental and maritime

Coastline

none - landlocked

Comparative area

slightly smaller than Kansas

Disputes

none

Environment

southern part of Belarus highly contaminated with fallout from 1986 nuclear reactor accident at Chernobyl'

Land area

207,600 km2

Land boundaries

3,098 km total; Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 605 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km

Land use

arable land NA%; permanent crops NA%; meadows and pastures NA%; forest and woodland NA%; other NA%; includes irrigated NA%

Maritime claims

none - landlocked

Natural resources

forest land and peat deposits

Note

landlocked

Terrain

generally flat and contains much marshland

Total area

207,600 km2

Birth rate

15 births/1,000 population (1992)

Death rate

11 deaths/1,000 population (1992)

Ethnic divisions

Byelorussian 77.9%, Russian 13.2%, Poles 4.1%, Ukrainian 2.9%, Jews 1.1%, other 0.8%

Infant mortality rate

20 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)

Labor force

5,418,000; industry and construction 42%, agriculture and forestry 20%, other 38% (1990)

Languages

Byelorussian NA%, Russian NA%, other NA%

Life expectancy at birth

66 years male, 76 years female (1992)

Literacy

NA% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write

Nationality

noun - Belarusian(s); adjective - Belarusian

Net migration rate

1 migrant/1,000 population (1992)

Organized labor

NA

Population

10,373,881 (July 1992), growth rate 0.5% (1992)

Religions

Russian Orthodox NA%, unknown NA%, none NA%, other NA%

Total fertility rate

2.1 children born/woman (1992)

Administrative divisions

6 oblasts (oblastey, singular - oblast'); Brest, Gomel', Grodno, Minsk, Mogilev, Vitebsk; note - all oblasts have the same name as their administrative center

Capital

Mensk

Chief of State

Chairman of the Supreme Soviet Stanislav S. SHUSHKEVICH (since NA 1991)

Communists

NA

Constitution

adopted April 1978

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador Martynov; Chancery at NA NW, Washington, DC 200__; telephone NA US: Ambassador (vacant); David SWARTZ, Charge d'Affaires; Embassy at Hotel Belarus (telephone 8-011-7-0172-69-08-02) plus 7 hours; (mailing address is APO New York is 09862); telephone NA

Executive branch

NA

Flag

white, red, and white

Head of Government

Prime Minister Vyacheslav F. KEBICH (since NA April 1990), First Deputy Prime Minister Mikhail MYASNIKOVICH (since early 1991)

Independence

1 January 1919 Belorussian Republic; 30 December 1922 joined with the USSR; 25 August 1991 redeclared independence

Judicial branch

NA

Legal system

based on civil law system

Legislative branch

unicameral with 360 seats

Long-form name

Republic of Belarus

Member of

CE, CIS, CSCE, ECE, IAEA, ILO, INMARSAT, IOC, ITU, NACC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

National holiday

24 August (1991)

Other political or pressure groups

NA

Political parties and leaders

Belarusian Popular Front, Zenon POZNYAK, chairman; United Democratic Party, Stanislav GUSAK, co-chairman; Social Democratic Gramada, Mikhail TKACHEV, chairman; Belarus Workers Union, Mikhail SOBOL, Chairman

President

NA

Suffrage

universal at age 18

Supreme Soviet

last held 4 March 1990 (next to be held NA); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (360 total) number of seats by party NA; note - 50 seats are for public bodies

Type

republic

Agriculture

accounts for 5.7% of total agricultural output of former Soviet Union; employs 29% of the labor force; in 1988 produced the following (in percent

(3.0%), meat (6.0%), milk (7.0%); net exporter of meat, milk, eggs, flour, and potatoes

of total Soviet production)

grain (3.6%), potatoes (12.2%), vegetables

Budget

revenues $NA million; expenditures $NA million, including capital expenditures of $NA million

Currency

as of May 1992, retaining ruble as currency

Economic aid

NA

Electricity

7,500,000 kW capacity; 38,700 million kWh produced, 3,770 kWh per capita (1991)

Exchange rates

NA

Exports

$4.3 billion (f.o.b., 1990) commodities: machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs partners: NA

External debt

$2.6 billion (end of 1991)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

NA - $NA, per capita $NA; real growth rate --2% (1991)

Illicit drugs

illicit producer of opium mostly for the domestic market; transshipment point for illicit drugs to Western Europe

Imports

$5.6 billion (c.i.f., 1990) commodities: machinery, chemicals, textiles partners: NA

Industrial production

growth rate --1.5% (1991)

Industries

employ about 27% of labor force and produce a wide variety of products essential to the other states; products include (in percent share of total

(11%); off-highway dump trucksup 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

output of former Soviet Union)

tractors(12%); metal-cutting machine tools

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

81% (1991)

Overview

In many ways Belarus resembles the three Baltic states, for example, in its industrial competence, its higher-than-average standard of living, and its critical dependence on the other former Soviet states for fuels and raw materials. Belarus ranks fourth in gross output among the former Soviet republics, producing 4% of the total GDP and employing 4% of the labor force. Once a mainly agricultural area, it now supplies important producer and consumer goods - sometimes as the sole producer - to the other states. The soil in Belarus is not as fertile as the black earth of Ukraine, but by emphasizing favorable crops and livestock (especially pigs and chickens), Belarus has become a net exporter to the other republics of meat, milk, eggs, flour, and potatoes. Belarus produces only small amounts of oil and gas and receives most of its fuel from Russia through the Druzhba oil pipeline and the Northern Lights gas pipeline. These pipelines transit Belarus enroute to Eastern Europe. Belarus produces petrochemicals, plastics, synthetic fibers (nearly 30% of former Soviet output), and fertilizer (20% of former Soviet output). Raw material resources are limited to potash and peat deposits. The peat (more than one-third of the total for the former Soviet Union) is used in domestic heating as boiler fuel for electric power stations and in the production of chemicals. The potash supports fertilizer production.

Unemployment rate

NA%

Airports

NA

Civil air

NA major transport aircraft

Highways

98,200 km total (1990); 66,100 km hard surfaced, 32,100 km earth

Inland waterways

NA km

Merchant marine

none - landlocked

Pipelines

NA

Ports

none - landlocked

Railroads

5,570 km (includes NA km electrified); does not include industrial lines (1990)

Telecommunications

telephone network has 1.7 million lines, 15% of which are switched automatically; Minsk has 450,000 lines; telephone density is approximately 17 per 100 persons; as of 31 January 1990, 721,000 applications from households for telephones were still unsatisfied; international connections to other former Soviet republics are by landline or microwave and to other countries by leased connection through the Moscow international gateway switch

Branches

Republic Security Forces (internal and border troops); CIS Forces (Ground, Air, Air Defense, Strategic Rocket)

Defense expenditures

$NA, NA% of GDP

Manpower availability

males 15-49, NA; NA fit for military service; NA reach military age (18) annually