2002 Edition
CIA World Factbook 2002 (Project Gutenberg)
Introduction
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; Belarus has agreed on the framework for implementation of the accord.
Geography
Area
total: 207,600 sq km water: 0 sq km land: 207,600 sq km
Area - comparative
slightly smaller than Kansas
Climate
cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime
Coastline
0 km (landlocked)
Elevation extremes
lowest point: Nyoman River 90 m highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m
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, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea
Geographic coordinates
53 00 N, 28 00 E
Geography - note
landlocked; glacial scouring accounts for the flatness of Belarusian terrain and for its 11,000 lakes; the country is geologically well endowed with extensive deposits of granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, and clay
Irrigated land
1,150 sq km (1998 est.)
Land boundaries
total: 2,900 km border countries: Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 407 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km
Land use
arable land: 30% permanent crops: 1% other: 69% (1998 est.)
Location
Eastern Europe, east of Poland
Map references
Europe
Maritime claims
none (landlocked)
Natural hazards
NA
Natural resources
forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay
Terrain
generally flat and contains much marshland
People and Society
Age structure
0-14 years: 17.3% (male 914,579; female 876,346) 15-64 years: 68.6% (male 3,443,859; female 3,643,628) 65 years and over: 14.1% (male 482,624; female 974,346) (2002 est.)
Birth rate
9.86 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate
13.99 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Ethnic groups
Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4%
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate
0.28% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths
400 (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS
14,000 (1999 est.)
Infant mortality rate
14.12 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)
Languages
Belarusian, Russian, other
Life expectancy at birth
74.56 years (2002 est.) male: Total fertility rate: 1.31 children born/woman (2002 est.)
Literacy
definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98% male: 99% female: 97% (1989 est.)
Nationality
noun: Belarusian(s) adjective: Belarusian
Net migration rate
2.78 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Population
10,335,382 (July 2002 est.)
Population growth rate
-0.14% (2002 est.)
Religions
Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.)
Sex ratio
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.5 male(s)/female total population: 0.88 male(s)/female (2002 est.)
Government
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: Independence: 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)
Capital
Minsk
Constitution
30 March 1994; revised by national referendum of 24 November 1996 giving the presidency greatly expanded powers and became effective 27 November 1996
Country name
Republic of Belarus conventional short form: Socialist Republic local long form: Respublika Byelarus'
Diplomatic representation from the US
chief of mission: Ambassador Michael KOZAK embassy: 46 Starovilenskaya use embassy street address telephone:
Diplomatic representation in the US
chief of mission: Ambassador Valeriy V. TSEPAKLO chancery: 1619 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 consulate(s) general: New York FAX: [1] (202) 986-1805 telephone: [1] (202) 986-1604
Executive branch
chief of state: President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994) head of government: Prime Minister Gennadiy NOVITSKIY (since 1 October 2001); Deputy Prime Ministers Andrei KOBYAKOV (since 13 March 2000), Aleksandr POPKOV (since 10 November 1998), Sergei SIDORSKY (since NA September 2001), Vladimir DRAZHIN (since NA September 2001) cabinet: president; percent of vote - Aleksandr LUKASHENKO 75.6%, Vladimir GONCHARIK 15.4% elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; first election took place 23 June and 10 July 1994; according to the 1994 constitution, the next election should have been held in 1999, however LUKASHENKO extended his term to 2001 via a November 1996 referendum; new election held 9 September 2001 (next election to be held by September 2006); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president
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
Government type
republic
International organization participation
CCC, CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NAM, NSG, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (observer)
Legal system
based on civil law system
Legislative branch
bicameral Parliament or Natsionalnoye Sobranie consists of the Council of the Republic or Soviet Respubliki (64 seats; 56 members elected by regional councils and 8 members appointed by the president, all for 4-year terms) and the Chamber of Representatives or Palata Pretsaviteley (110 seats; members elected by universal adult suffrage to serve 4-year terms) election results: party affiliation data unavailable; under present political conditions party designations are meaningless elections: 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)
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
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 Party or SDBP [Nikolay STATKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Social-Democratic Party or 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 or "Nadezhda" [Valentina POLEVIKOVA, chairperson]
Political pressure groups and leaders
NA
Suffrage
18 years of age; universal
Economy
Agriculture - products
grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk
Budget
revenues: $4 billion expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.)
Currency
Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR)
Currency code
BYB/BYR
Debt - external
$770 million (2001 est.)
Distribution of family income - Gini index
21.7 (1998)
Economic aid - recipient
$194.3 million (1995)
Electricity - consumption
26.78 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports
300 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports
4.15 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - production
24.66 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source
fossil fuel: 99.51% hydro: 0.08% other: 0.41% (2000) nuclear: 0%
Exchange rates
Belarusian rubles per US dollar - 1,590 (yearend 2001), 1,531.000 (November 2001), 876.750 (2000), 248.795 (1999), 46.127 (1998), 26.020 (1997); note - on 1 January 2000, the national currency was redenominated at one new ruble to 2,000 old rubles
Exports
$7.5 billion (f.o.b., 2001)
Exports - commodities
machinery and equipment, mineral products, chemicals, textiles, foodstuffs, metals
Exports - partners
Russia 51%, Ukraine 8%, Poland 4%, Germany 3% (2000)
Fiscal year
calendar year
GDP
purchasing power parity - $84.8 billion (2001 est.)
GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 13% industry: 42% services: 45% (2000)
GDP - per capita
purchasing power parity - $8,200 (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate
4.1% (2001 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share
lowest 10%: 5.1% highest 10%: 20% (1998)
Imports
$8.1 billion (f.o.b., 2001)
Imports - commodities
mineral products, machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, metals
Imports - partners
Russia 65%, Germany 7%, Poland 3% (2000)
Industrial production growth rate
5.4% (2001 est.)
Industries
metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
46.1% (2001 est.)
Labor force
4.8 million (2000)
Labor force - by occupation
industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA%
Population below poverty line
22% (1995 est.)
Unemployment rate
2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers
Communications
Internet country code
.by
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
23 (2002)
Internet users
180,000 (2001)
Radio broadcast stations
AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998)
Radios
3.02 million (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
Telephones - main lines in use
2.313 million (1997)
Telephones - mobile cellular
8,167 (1997)
Television broadcast stations
47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995)
Televisions
2.52 million (1997)
Transportation
Airports
136 (2001)
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 (2001)
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 (2001)
Highways
total: 98,200 km paved: 66,100 km (includes some all-weather gravel-surfaced roads) unpaved: 32,100 km (these roads are made of unstabilized earth and are difficult to negotiate in wet weather) (1990)
Pipelines
crude oil 1,470 km; refined products 1,100 km; natural gas 1,980 km (1992)
Ports and harbors
Mazyr
Railways
total: 5,523 km broad gauge: 5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2000 est.)
Waterways
NA km; note - Belarus has extensive and widely used canal and river systems
Military and Security
Military branches
Army, Air Force (including air defense), Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards
Military expenditures - dollar figure
$156 million (FY98)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP
1% (FY01)
Military manpower - availability
males age 15-49: 2,744,267 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service
males age 15-49: 2,149,873 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - military age
18 years of age (2002 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually
males: 86,396 (2002 est.)
Transnational Issues
Disputes - international
boundary demarcation with Latvia and Lithuania is pending European Union funding
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 This page was last updated on 1 January 2002 Solomon Islands