1994 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1994 (Project Gutenberg)
Introduction
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: the administrative centers of the voblastsi are included in parentheses
Agriculture
accounts for almost 25% of GDP and 5.7% of total agricultural output of former Soviet Union; employs 21% of the labor force; in 1988 produced the following (in percent of total Soviet production): grain (3.6%), potatoes (12.2%), vegetables (3.0%), meat (6.0%), milk (7.0%); net exporter of meat, milk, eggs, flour, potatoes
Airports
total: 124 usable: 55 with permanent-surface runways: 31 with runways over 3,659 m: 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 28 with runways 1,060-2,439 m: 20 note: a C-130 can land on a 1,060-m airstrip
Area
total area: 207,600 sq km land area: 207,600 sq km comparative area: slightly smaller than Kansas
Birth rate
13.12 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Branches
Army, Air Forces, Air Defense Forces, Security Forces (internal and border troops)
Budget
revenues: $NA expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Capital
Minsk
Climate
cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime
Coastline
0 km (landlocked)
Constitution
adopted 15 March 1994; replaces constitution of April 1978
Currency
Belarusian rubel note: the government signed a framework agreement with Russia for a monetary union in January 1994, but a schedule and mechanism for merging the two monetary systems and replacing Belarusian rubels with Russian rubles have not been worked out
Death rate
11.16 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Defense expenditures
56.5 billion rubles, NA% of GDP (1993 est.); note - conversion of the military budget into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading results
Digraph
BO
Diplomatic representation in US
chief of mission: Ambassador Sergey Nikolayevich MARTYNOV chancery: 1619 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: (202) 986-1604
Economic aid
$NA
Electricity
capacity: 8,025,000 kW production: 37.6 billion kWh consumption per capita: 3,626 kWh (1992)
Environment
current issues: soil pollution from pesticide use; southern part of Belarus contaminated with fallout from 1986 nuclear reactor accident at Chornobyl' natural hazards: NA international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur, Biodiversity, Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection; signed, but not ratified - Climate Change, Law of the Sea
Ethnic divisions
Byelorussian 77.9%, Russian 13.2%, Polish 4.1%, Ukrainian 2.9%, other 1.9%
Exchange rates
NA
Executive branch
chief of state: President-elect Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (elected 10 July 1994, but not yet inaugurated) election held June 24 and 10 July 1994 (next to be held NA); Aleksandr LUKASHENKO 80%, Vyacheslav KEBICH 14% head of government: Prime Minister Vyacheslav F. KEBICH (since NA April 1990; offered his resignation on the election of LUCHASHENKO), First Deputy Prime Minister Mikhail MYASNIKOVICH (since NA 1991) cabinet: Council of Ministers note: first presidential elections took place in June-July 1994
Exports
$710 million to outside of the FSU countries (f.o.b., 1993) commodities: machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs partners: Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Bulgaria
External debt
$NA
FAX
(202) 986-1805)
Fiscal year
calendar year
Flag
three horizontal bands of white (top), red, and white
Highways
total: 98,200 km paved: 66,100 km unpaved: earth 32,100 km (1990)
Illicit drugs
illicit cultivator of opium poppy and cannabis; mostly for the domestic market; transshipment point for illicit drugs to Western Europe
Imports
$743 million from outside the FSU countries (c.i.f., 1993) commodities: fuel, industrial raw materials, textiles, sugar partners: Russia, Ukraine, Poland
Independence
25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)
Industrial production
growth rate -11% (1993); accounts for about 40% of GDP (1992)
Industries
employ about 40% of labor force and produce a wide variety of products including (in percent share of total output of former Soviet Union): tractors (12%); metal-cutting machine tools (11%); off-highway dump trucks up 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
Infant mortality rate
18.9 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
30% per month (1993)
Inland waterways
NA km
International disputes
none
Irrigated land
1,490 sq km (1990)
Judicial branch
Supreme Court
Labor force
4.887 million by occupation: industry and construction 40%, agriculture and forestry 21%, other 39% (1992)
Land boundaries
total 3,098 km, Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 605 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km
Land use
arable land: 29% permanent crops: 1% meadows and pastures: 15% forest and woodland: 0% other: 55%
Languages
Byelorussian, Russian, other
Legal system
based on civil law system
Legislative branch
unicameral
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 70.88 years male: 66.2 years female: 75.79 years (1994 est.)
Literacy
age 9-49 can read and write (1979) total population: 100% male: 100% female: 100%
Location
Eastern Europe, between Poland and Russia
Manpower availability
males age 15-49 2,520,487; fit for military service 1,981,749; reach military age (18) annually 71,922 (1994 est.)
Map references
Asia, Commonwealth of Independent States - European States, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World
Maritime claims
none; landlocked
Member of
CBSS (observer), CE (guest), CEI (participating), CIS, CSCE, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IFC, ILO, IMF, INMARSAT, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), IOC, ITU, NACC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO
Merchant marine
claims 5% of former Soviet fleet
Names
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
National holiday
Independence Day, 27 July (1990)
National product
GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $61 billion (1993 estimate from the UN International Comparison Program, as extended to 1991 and published in the World Bank's World Development Report 1993; and as extrapolated to 1993 using official Belarusian statistics, which are very uncertain because of major economic changes since 1990)
National product per capita
$5,890 (1993 est.)
National product real growth rate
-9% (1993 est.)
Nationality
noun: Belarusian(s) adjective: Belarusian
Natural resources
forest land, peat deposits
Net migration rate
1.27 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Note
landlocked
Overview
Belarus ranks among the most developed of the former Soviet states, with a relatively modern - by Soviet standards - and diverse machine building sector and a robust agriculture sector. It also serves as a transport link for Russian oil exports to the Baltic states and Eastern and Western Europe. The breakup of the Soviet Union and its command economy has resulted in a sharp economic contraction as traditional trade ties have collapsed. At the same time, the Belarusian Government has lagged behind most other former Soviet states in economic reform; privatization has barely begun; the agriculture sector remains highly subsidized; the state retains control over many prices; and the system of state orders and distribution persists. Meanwhile, the national bank continues to pour credits into inefficient enterprises, fueling inflation and weakening incentives to improve performance. The government is pinning its hopes on reintegration with the Russian economy, but such a path would only partially restore traditional trade ties. Until economic reform is embraced, Belarus will continue in its economic morass.
Pipelines
crude oil 1,470 km; refined products 1,100 km; natural gas 1,980 km (1992)
Political parties and leaders
Belarusian Popular Front (BPF), Zenon PAZNYAK, chairman; United Democratic Party of Belarus (UDPB), Aleksandr DOBROVOLSKIY, chairman; Social Democratic Party of Belarus (SDBP), Mikhail TKACHEV, chairman; Belarus Workers Union, Mikhail SOBOL, Chairman; Belarus Peasants Party; Party of People's Unity, Gennadiy KARPENKO; Movement for Democracy, Social Progress, and Justice (DSPS; includes the Communist Party), Viktor CHIKIN, chairman
Population
10,404,862 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate
0.32% (1994 est.)
Ports
none; landlocked
Railroads
5,570 km; does not include industrial lines (1990)
Religions
Eastern Orthodox, other
Suffrage
18 years of age; universal
Supreme Soviet
elections last held 4 April 1990 (next to be held NA); results - Communists 87%; seats - (360 total) number of seats by party NA; note - 50 seats are for public bodies; the Communist Party obtained an overwhelming majority
Telecommunications
telephone service in Belarus is inadequate for the purposes of either business or the population; total number of telephones 1,849,000 (31 December 1991); telephone density - 18 for each 100 persons; about 70% of the telephones are in homes; over 750,000 applications from households for telephones remain unsatisfied (1992); new investment centers on international connections and business needs; the new BelCel NMT 450 cellular system (a joint venture) is now operating in Minsk but progress has been slower in establishing an INTELSAT earth station; international traffic still relies on the Moscow international gateway switch; broadcast receivers - television 3,538,000, radio 3,140,000, radio receivers with multiple speaker systems for program diffusion 5,615,000
Terrain
generally flat and contains much marshland
Total fertility rate
1.88 children born/woman (1994 est.)
Type
republic
Unemployment rate
1.4% officially registered unemployed (December 1993); large numbers of underemployed workers
US diplomatic representation
chief of mission: (vacant); Charge d'Affaires George KROL embassy: Starovilenskaya #46, Minsk mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: 7-0172-34-65-37