Match 26 DB Rec# - 7,478 Dataset-WOFACT
Title :Belarus
Text :
Belarus
Geography
Location:
Eastern Europe, east of Poland
Map references:
Commonwealth of Independent States - European States
Area:
total area:
207,600 sq km
land area:
207,600 sq km
comparative area:
slightly smaller than Kansas
Land boundaries:
total 3,098 km, Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 605 km, Russia 959
km, Ukraine 891 km
Coastline:
0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims:
none; landlocked
International disputes:
none
Climate:
cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and
maritime
Terrain:
generally flat and contains much marshland
Natural resources:
forest land, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas
Land use:
arable land:
29%
permanent crops:
1%
meadows and pastures:
15%
forest and woodland:
0%
other:
55%
Irrigated land:
1,490 sq km (1990)
Environment:
current issues:
soil pollution from pesticide use; southern part of the country 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 85, Biodiversity, Environmental Modification, Marine
Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection; signed, but not ratified
- Climate Change, Law of the Sea
Note:
landlocked
People
Population:
10,437,418 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years:
22% (female 1,126,062; male 1,166,439)
15-64 years:
65% (female 3,494,891; male 3,293,196)
65 years and over:
13% (female 913,508; male 443,322) (July 1995 est.)
Population growth rate:
0.3% (1995 est.)
Birth rate:
12.98 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Death rate:
11.23 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Net migration rate:
1.27 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
18.6 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
71.03 years
male:
66.36 years
female:
75.93 years (1995 est.)
Total fertility rate:
1.87 children born/woman (1995 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Belarusian(s)
adjective:
Belarusian
Ethnic divisions:
Byelorussian 77.9%, Russian 13.2%, Polish 4.1%, Ukrainian 2.9%, other 1.9%
Religions:
Eastern Orthodox, other
Languages:
Byelorussian, Russian, other
Literacy:
age 15 and over can read and write (1989)
total population:
97%
male:
99%
female:
96%
Labor force:
4.887 million
by occupation:
industry and construction 40%, agriculture and forestry 21%, other 39%
(1992)
Government
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
Digraph:
BO
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)
note:
the administrative centers of the voblastsi are included in parentheses
Independence:
25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 27 July (1990)
Constitution:
adopted 15 March 1994; replaces constitution of April 1978
Legal system:
based on civil law system
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state:
President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994); election held June 24
and 10 July 1994 (next to be held NA 1999); Aleksandr LUKASHENKO 80%,
Vyacheslav KEBICH 14%
head of government:
Prime Minister Mikhail CHIGIR (since July 1994); Deputy Prime Ministers
Vladimir GARKUN, Viktor GONCHAR, Sergey LING, Mikhail MYASNIKOVICH, Valeriy
KOKAREV (since NA)
cabinet:
Council of Ministers
note:
first presidential elections took place in June-July 1994
Legislative branch:
unicameral
Supreme Soviet:
elections last held 4 April 1990 (next to be held 14 May 1995); 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
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court
Government
Political parties and leaders:
Belarusian Popular Front (BPF), Zenon POZNYAK, chairman; Party of Popular
Accord, Gennadiy KARPENKO; Union of Belarusian Entreprenuers, V. N.
KARYAGIN; Belarusian Party of Communists, Vasiliy NOVIKOV, Viktor CHIKIN,
chairmen; Belarus Peasant Party, Yevgeniy LUGIN, chairman; Belarusian
Socialist Party, Vyacheslav KUZNETSOV, chairman; Belarusian Social Democrat
Party (SDBP), Oleg TRUSOV, Stanislav SHUSHKEVICH, chairmen; Agrarian Party
of Belarus, Aleksandr DUBKO; United Democratic Party of Belarus (UDPB),
Aleksandr DOBROVOLSKIY, chairman; Independent Trade Unions, Sergey
ANTONCHIK, chairman
Member of:
CCC, CE (guest), CEI (associate members), CIS, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO,
IFC, ILO, IMF, INMARSAT, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), INTERPOL, IOC, ISO,
ITU, NACC, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Sergey Nikolayevich MARTYNOV
chancery:
1619 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009
telephone:
[1] (202) 986-1604
FAX:
[1] (202) 986-1805
consulate(s) general:
New York
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Kenneth Spencer YALOWITZ
embassy:
Starovilenskaya #46, Minsk
mailing address:
use embassy street address
telephone:
[7] (0172) 34-65-37
Flag:
three horizontal bands of white (top), red, and white
Economy
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. The
Belarusian government has lagged behind the governments of most other former
Soviet states in economic reform, with privatization almost nonexistent. The
system of state orders and distribution persists. In mid-1994, the
Belarusian government embarked on an austerity program with IMF support to
slash state credits and consumer subsidies in order to bring down the budget
deficit and reduce inflation. However, despite its promising start, the
regime's drive to reinvigorate the economy has fallen short, and the IMF has
criticized its failure to implement the reforms that the Fund had
negotiated. As a result, the IMF has suspended talks on introducing a
stand-by arrangement. Economic relations with Russia, which will have an
important bearing on the future course of the economy, will be strengthened
if Minsk adopts the necessary legislation to implement a customs union
agreed to in January 1995.
National product:
GDP - purchasing power parity - $53.4 billion (1994 estimate as extrapolated
from World Bank estimate for 1992)
National product real growth rate:
-20% (1994)
National product per capita:
$5,130 (1994 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
29% per month (1994)
Unemployment rate:
1.4% officially registered unemployed (December 1993); large numbers of
underemployed workers
Budget:
revenues:
$NA
expenditures:
$NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Exports:
$968 million to outside of the FSU countries (f.o.b., 1994)
commodities:
machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs
partners:
Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Bulgaria
Imports:
$534 million from outside the FSU countries (c.i.f., 1994)
commodities:
fuel, natural gas, industrial raw materials, textiles, sugar
partners:
Russia, Ukraine, Poland
External debt:
$1.5 billion (July 1994 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate -19% (1994); accounts for about 40% of GDP (1992)
Electricity:
capacity:
7,010,000 kW
production:
31.4 billion kWh
Economy
consumption per capita:
3,010 kWh (1994)
Industries:
employ about 40% of labor force and produced 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
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
Illicit drugs:
illicit cultivator of opium poppy and cannabis; mostly for the domestic
market; transshipment point for illicit drugs to Western Europe
Economic aid:
$NA
Currency:
Belarusian rubel (BR)
Exchange rates:
Belarusian rubels per US$1 - 10,600 (end December 1994)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Transportation
Railroads:
total:
5,570 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines
broad gauge:
5,570 km 1.520-m gauge (1990)
Highways:
total:
98,200 km
paved:
66,100 km
unpaved:
earth 32,100 km (1990)
Inland waterways:
NA km
Pipelines:
crude oil 1,470 km; refined products 1,100 km; natural gas 1,980 km (1992)
Ports:
Mazyr
Merchant marine:
note:
claims 5% of former Soviet fleet
Airports:
total:
118
with paved runways over 3,047 m:
2
with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m:
18
with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m:
5
with paved runways under 914 m:
11
with unpaved runways over 3,047 m:
1
with unpaved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m:
6
with unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m:
4
with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m:
9
with unpaved runways under 914 m:
62
Communications
Telephone system:
1,849,000 telephones (December 1991); 18 telephones/100 persons; telephone
service inadequate for the purposes of either business or the population;
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
local:
NA
intercity:
NA
international:
international traffic is carried by the Moscow international gateway switch
and also by 2 satellite earth stations near Minsk - INTELSAT (through
Canada) and EUTELSAT (through the UK)
Radio:
broadcast stations:
AM NA, FM NA, shortwave 0
radios:
3.14 million (5,615,000 with multiple speaker systems for program diffusion)
Television:
broadcast stations:
NA
televisions:
3.538 million
Defense Forces
Branches:
Army, Air Force, Air Defense Force, Republic Security Forces (internal and
border troops)
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49 2,550,500; males fit for military service 1,999,138; males
reach military age (18) annually 71,808 (1995 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
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The printed version of this item can be found under the title:
The World Factbook 1995,
SuDoc No: PREX 3.15:995
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