Belarus

Internet country code

.by

Internet hosts

33,641 (2006)

Internet users

3,394,400 (2005)

Radio broadcast stations

AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998)

Telephone system

general assessment: Belarus lags behind its neighbors in upgrading telecommunications infrastructure; state-owned Beltelcom, is the sole provider of fixed line local and long distance service; modernization of the network to digital switching progressing slowly domestic: fixed line penetration is improving although rural areas continue to be underserved; four GSM wireless networks are experiencing rapid growth; strict government controls on telecommunications technologies international: country code - 375; 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

3,284,300 (2005)

Telephones - mobile cellular

4.098 million (2005)

Television broadcast stations

47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995)

Agriculture - products

grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk

Budget

revenues: $5.903 billion expenditures: $6.343 billion; including capital expenditures of $180 million (2005 est.)

Currency (code)

Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR)

Current account balance

$852 million (2005 est.)

Debt - external

$4.662 billion (30 June 2005 est.)

Distribution of family income - Gini index

30.4 (2000)

Economic aid - recipient

$194.3 million (1995)

Economy - overview

Belarus's economy in 2005 posted 8% growth. The government has succeeded in lowering inflation over the past several years. Trade with Russia - by far its largest single trade partner - decreased in 2005, largely as a result of a change in the way the Value Added Tax (VAT) on trade was collected. Trade with European countries increased. 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 enterprises. During 2005, the government re-nationalized a number of private companies. In addition, businesses have been subject to pressure by central and local governments, e.g., arbitrary changes in regulations, numerous rigorous inspections, retroactive application of new business regulations, and arrests of "disruptive" businessmen and factory owners. A wide range of redistributive policies has helped those at the bottom of the ladder; the Gini coefficient is among the lowest in the world. Because of these restrictive economic policies, Belarus has had trouble attracting foreign investment, which remains low. Growth has been strong in recent years, despite the roadblocks in a tough, centrally directed economy with a high, but decreasing, rate of inflation. Belarus continues to receive heavily discounted oil and natural gas from Russia. Much of Belarus' growth can be attributed to the re-export of Russian oil at market prices.

Electricity - consumption

34.3 billion kWh (2004)

Electricity - exports

800 million kWh (2004)

Electricity - imports

7 billion kWh (2003)

Electricity - production

30 billion kWh (2004)

Exchange rates

Belarusian rubles per US dollar - 2,150 (2005), 2,160.26 (2004), 2,051.27 (2003), 1,790.92 (2002), 1,390 (2001)

Exports

$16.14 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Exports - commodities

machinery and equipment, mineral products, chemicals, metals, textiles, foodstuffs

Exports - partners

Russia 38.5%, Ukraine 7.8%, Poland 7.1%, Latvia 4.2%, UK 4.1%, China 4.1% (2005)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP (official exchange rate)

$26.69 billion (2005 est.)

GDP (purchasing power parity)

$73.09 billion (2005 est.)

GDP - composition by sector

agriculture: 9.3% industry: 31.6% services: 59.1% (2005 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP)

$7,100 (2005 est.)

GDP - real growth rate

9.2% (2005 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%: 5.1% highest 10%: 20% (1998)

Imports

$16.94 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Imports - commodities

mineral products, machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, metals

Imports - partners

Russia 57.9%, Germany 9.7%, Ukraine 6.4%, Poland 5.2% (2005)

Industrial production growth rate

15.6% (2005 est.)

Industries

metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, televisions, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

10.3% (2005 est.)

Investment (gross fixed)

24.8% of GDP (2005 est.)

Labor force

4.3 million (31 December 2005)

Labor force - by occupation

agriculture: 14% industry: 34.7% services: 51.3% (2003 est.)

Natural gas - consumption

20.5 billion cu m (2005 est.)

Natural gas - exports

0 cu m (2004 est.)

Natural gas - imports

20.5 billion cu m (2005 est.)

Natural gas - production

250 million cu m (2004 est.)

Oil - consumption

252,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - exports

14,500 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - imports

360,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)

Oil - production

36,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)

Population below poverty line

27.1% (2003 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

$1.215 billion (2005 est.)

Unemployment rate

1.6% officially registered unemployed; large number of underemployed workers (2005)

Area

total: 207,600 sq km land: 207,600 sq km water: 0 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-Sulfur 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

Irrigated land

1,310 sq km (2003)

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: 26.77% permanent crops: 0.6% other: 72.63% (2005)

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

Administrative divisions

6 provinces (voblastsi, singular - voblasts') and 1 municipality* (horad); Brest, Homyel', Horad Minsk*, Hrodna, Mahilyow, Minsk, Vitsyebsk note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers

Capital

name: Minsk geographic coordinates: 53 54 N, 27 34 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

Constitution

15 March 1994; revised by national referendum of 24 November 1996 giving the presidency greatly expanded powers and became effective 27 November 1996; revised again 17 October 2004 removing presidential term limits

Country name

conventional long form: Republic of Belarus conventional short form: Belarus local long form: Respublika Byelarus' local short form: Byelarus' former: Belorussian (Byelorussian) Soviet Socialist Republic

Diplomatic representation from the US

chief of mission: Ambassador Karen B. STEWART embassy: 46 Starovilenskaya St., Minsk 220002 mailing address: PSC 78, Box B Minsk, APO 09723 telephone: [375] (17) 210-12-83, 217-7347, 217-7348 FAX: [375] (17) 234-7853

Diplomatic representation in the US

chief of mission: Ambassador Mikhail KHVOSTOV chancery: 1619 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 986-1604 FAX: [1] (202) 986-1805 consulate(s) general: New York

Executive branch

chief of state: President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994) head of government: Prime Minister Sergei SIDORSKIY (since 19 December 2003); First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir SEMASHKO (since December 2003) 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; according to the 1994 constitution, the next election should have been held in 1999, however, Aleksandr LUKASHENKO extended his term to 2001 via a November 1996 referendum; subsequent election held 9 September 2001; an October 2004 referendum ended presidential term limits allowing president to run in a third election held on 19 March 2006; prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president election results: Aleksandr LUKASHENKO reelected president; percent of vote - Aleksandr LUKASHENKO 82.6%, Aleksandr MILINKEVICH 6%, Aleksandr KOZULIN 2.3%; note - election marred by electoral fraud

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 Belarusian national ornamentation in red

Government type

republic in name, although in fact a dictatorship

Independence

25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)

International organization participation

BSEC (observer), CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, MIGA, NAM, NSG, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO (observer)

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)

Legal system

based on civil law system

Legislative branch

bicameral National Assembly 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 four-year terms) and the Chamber of Representatives or Palata Predstaviteley (110 seats; members elected by universal adult suffrage to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 17 and 31 October 2004; international observers widely denounced the elections as flawed and undemocratic, based on massive government falsification; pro-LUKASHENKO candidates won every seat, after many opposition candidates were disqualified for technical reasons election results: Soviet Respubliki - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; Palata Predstaviteley - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA

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

pro-government parties: Agrarian Party or AP [Mikhail SHIMANSKY]; Belarusian Communist Party or KPB; Belarusian Patriotic Movement (Belarusian Patriotic Party) or BPR [Nikolai ULAKHOVICH, chairman]; Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus [Sergei GAYDUKEVICH]; Party of Labor and Justice [Viktor SOKOLOV]; Social-Sports Party [Vladimir ALEXANDROVICH] opposition parties: 10 Plus Coalition [Alyaksandr MILINKEVICH], includes: Belarusian Party of Communists or PKB [Syarhey KALYAKIN]; Belarusian Party of Labor (unregistered) [Aleksandr BUKHVOSTOV, Leonid LEMESHONAK]; Belarusian Popular Front or BPF [Vintsyuk VYACHORKA]; Belarusian Social-Democratic Gramada [Stanislav SHUSHKEVICH]; Green Party [Oleg GROMYKO]; Party of Freedom and Progress (unregistered) [Vladimir NOVOSYAD]; United Civic Party or UCP [Anatol LYABEDKA]; Women's Party "Nadezhda" [Valentina MATUSEVICH, chairperson] other opposition includes: Belarusian Social-Democratic Party Nardonaya Hromada or BSDP NH [Alyaksandr KOZULIN, chairman]; Christian Conservative BPF [Zyanon PAZNIAK]; Ecological Party of Greens [Mikhail KARTASH]; Party of Popular Accord [Sergei YERMAKK]; Republican Party [Vladimir BELAZOR]

Political pressure groups and leaders

Assembly of Pro-Democratic NGOs [Sergey MATSKEVICH]; Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions [Alyaksandr YAROSHUK]; Belarusian Helsinki Committee [Tatiana PROTKO]; Belarusian Organization of Working Women [Irina ZHIKHAR]; Charter 97 [Andrey SANNIKOV]; Lenin Communist Union of Youth (youth wing of the Belarusian Party of Communists or PKB); National Strike Committee of Entrepreneurs [Aleksandr VASILYEV, Valery LEVONEVSKY]; Partnership NGO [Nikolay ASTREYKA]; Perspektiva kiosk watchdog NGO [Anatol SHUMCHENKO]; Vyasna [Ales BYALATSKY]; Women's Independent Democratic Movement [Ludmila PETINA]; Youth Front (Malady Front) [Dzmitryy DASHKEVICH, Syarhey BAKHUN]; Zubr youth group [Vladimir KOBETS]

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

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. Although Belarus agreed to a framework to carry out the accord, serious implementation has yet to take place. Since his election in July 1994 as the country's first president, Alexander LUKASHENKO has steadily consolidated his power through authoritarian means. Government restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, peaceful assembly, and religion continue.

Manpower available for military service

males age 18-49: 2,520,644 females age 18-49: 2,564,696 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service

males age 18-49: 1,657,984 females age 18-49: 2,102,793 (2005 est.)

Manpower reaching military service age annually

males age 18-49: 85,202 females age 18-49: 82,037 (2005 est.)

Military branches

Belarus Armed Forces: Land Force, Air and Air Defense Force (2006)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP

1.4% (FY02)

Military service age and obligation

18-27 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation - 18 months (2005)

Age structure

0-14 years: 15.7% (male 825,823/female 791,741) 15-64 years: 69.7% (male 3,490,442/female 3,682,950) 65 years and over: 14.6% (male 498,976/female 1,003,079) (2006 est.)

Birth rate

11.16 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate

14.02 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Ethnic groups

Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish 3.9%, Ukrainian 2.4%, other 1.1% (1999 census)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate

0.3% (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths

1,000 (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS

15,000 (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 13 deaths/1,000 live births male: 13.92 deaths/1,000 live births female: 12.03 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Languages

Belarusian, Russian, other

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 69.08 years male: 63.47 years female: 74.98 years (2006 est.)

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99.6% male: 99.8% female: 99.5% (2003 est.)

Median age

total: 37.2 years male: 34.5 years female: 39.9 years (2006 est.)

Nationality

noun: Belarusian(s) adjective: Belarusian

Net migration rate

2.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Population

10,293,011 (July 2006 est.)

Population growth rate

-0.06% (2006 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 (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate

1.43 children born/woman (2006 est.)

Disputes - international

1997 boundary treaty with Ukraine remains unratified over unresolved financial claims, preventing demarcation and diminishing border security; the whole boundary with Latvia and more than half the boundary with Lithuania remains undemarcated; discussions toward economic and political union with Russia proceed slowly

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; a small and lightly regulated financial center; new anti-money-laundering legislation does not meet international standards; few investigations or prosecutions of money-laundering activities

Airports

86 (2006)

Airports - with paved runways

total: 41 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 22 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 12 (2006)

Airports - with unpaved runways

total: 45 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 6 under 914 m: 35 (2006)

Heliports

1 (2006)

Pipelines

gas 5,223 km; oil 2,321 km; refined products 1,686 km (2006)

Ports and terminals

Mazyr

Railways

total: 5,512 km broad gauge: 5,497 km 1.520-m gauge (874 km electrified) standard gauge: 15 km 1.435 m (2005)

Roadways

total: 93,055 km paved: 93,055 km (2003)

Waterways

2,500 km (use limited by location on perimeter of country and by shallowness) (2003)