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Compare American Samoa (2003) - Belarus (2004)
Compare American Samoa (2003) z Belarus (2004)
| American Samoa (2003) | Belarus (2004) | |
 |  | |
| Administrative divisions | none (territory of the US); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are three districts and two islands* at the second order; Eastern, Manu'a, Rose Island*, Swains Island*, Western | 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 |
| Age structure | 0-14 years: 37.5% (male 13,557; female 12,818)
15-64 years: 57% (male 19,712; female 20,346) 65 years and over: 5.4% (male 2,081; female 1,746) (2003 est.) |
0-14 years: 16.3% (male 859,219; female 823,839)
15-64 years: 69.2% (male 3,469,926; female 3,662,203) 65 years and over: 14.5% (male 496,204; female 999,129) (2004 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | bananas, coconuts, vegetables, taro, breadfruit, yams, copra, pineapples, papayas; dairy products, livestock | grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk |
| Airports | 3 (2002) | 135 (2003 est.) |
| Airports - with paved runways | total: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
total: 50
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 21 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 under 914 m: 21 (2003 est.) |
| Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
total: 85
over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 64 (2003 est.) |
| Area | total: 199 sq km
land: 199 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Rose Island and Swains Island |
total: 207,600 sq km
land: 207,600 sq km water: 0 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly larger than Washington, DC | slightly smaller than Kansas |
| Background | Settled as early as 1000 B.C., Samoa was "discovered" by European explorers in the 18th century. International rivalries in the latter half of the 19th century were settled by an 1899 treaty in which Germany and the US divided the Samoan archipelago. The US formally occupied its portion - a smaller group of eastern islands with the excellent harbor of Pago Pago - the following year. | 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. |
| Birth rate | 23.26 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 10.52 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| Budget | revenues: $121 million (37% in local revenue and 63% in US grants)
expenditures: $127 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY96/97) |
revenues: $2.976 billion
expenditures: $3.211 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (2003 est.) |
| Capital | Pago Pago | Minsk |
| Climate | tropical marine, moderated by southeast trade winds; annual rainfall averages about 3 m; rainy season from November to April, dry season from May to October; little seasonal temperature variation | cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime |
| Coastline | 116 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
| Constitution | ratified 1966, in effect 1967 | 30 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: Territory of American Samoa
conventional short form: American Samoa abbreviation: AS |
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 |
| Currency | US dollar (USD) | Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR) |
| Death rate | 4.38 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 14.1 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| Debt - external | $NA | $851 million (2001 est.) |
| Dependency status | unincorporated and unorganized territory of the US; administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, US Department of the Interior | - |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | none (territory of the US) | chief of mission: Ambassador George A. KROL
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 | none (territory of 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 |
| Disputes - international | none | 1997 boundary treaty with Ukraine remains unratified over unresolved financial claims, preventing demarcation and diminishing border security; boundaries with Latvia and Lithuania remain undemarcated despite European Union financial support |
| Economic aid - recipient | important financial support from the US, more than $40 million in 1994 | $194.3 million (1995) |
| Economy - overview | This is a traditional Polynesian economy in which more than 90% of the land is communally owned. Economic activity is strongly linked to the US, with which American Samoa conducts most of its foreign trade. Tuna fishing and tuna processing plants are the backbone of the private sector, with canned tuna the primary export. Transfers from the US Government add substantially to American Samoa's economic well-being. Attempts by the government to develop a larger and broader economy are restrained by Samoa's remote location, its limited transportation, and its devastating hurricanes. Tourism, a developing sector, has been held back by the recurring financial difficulties in East Asia. | Belarus' economy in 2003 posted 6.1 percent growth and is likely to continue expanding through 2004, albeit at a slower growth rate. The Belarusian economy in 2004 is likely to be hampered by high inflation, persistent trade deficits, and ongoing rocky relations with Russia, Belarus' largest trading partner and energy supplier. 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. In addition, businesses have been subject to pressure on the part of 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. For the time being, Belarus remains self-isolated from the West and its open-market economies. |
| Electricity - consumption | 120.9 million kWh (2001) | 26.69 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | 300 million kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2001) | 4.3 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - production | 130 million kWh (2001) | 24.4 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) |
- |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Lata 966 m |
lowest point: Nyoman River 90 m
highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m |
| Environment - current issues | limited natural fresh water resources; the water division of the government has spent substantial funds in the past few years to improve water catchments and pipelines | 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 |
| Ethnic groups | Samoan (Polynesian) 89%, Caucasian 2%, Tongan 4%, other 5% | Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4% |
| Exchange rates | the US dollar is used | Belarusian rubles per US dollar - 1,790.92 (2003), 1,920 (2002), 1,390 (2001), 876.75 (2000), 248.795 (1999) |
| Executive branch | chief of state: President George W. BUSH of the US (since 20 January 2001) and Vice President Richard B. CHENEY (since 20 January 2001)
head of government: Governor Togiola TULAFONO (since 7 April 2003) following the death of Governor Tauese P. SUNIA on 26 March 2003; TULAFONO had been the Lieutenant Governor cabinet: NA elections: US president and vice president elected on the same ticket for four-year terms; governor and lieutenant governor elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms; election last held 7 November 2000 (next to be held NA November 2004) election results: Tauese P. SUNIA reelected governor; percent of vote - Tauese P. SUNIA (Democrat) 50.7%, Lealaifuaneva Peter REID (independent) 47.8% note: Togiola TULAFONO became acting governor 26 March 2003 upon the death of Governor Tauese P. SUNIA |
chief of state: President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994)
head of government: Prime Minister Sergei SIDORSKY (since 19 December 2003); First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir SEMASHKO (since December 2003); Deputy Prime Ministers Andrei KOBYAKOV (since December 2003), Vladimir DRAZHIN (since 24 September 2001), Ivan BAMBIZA (since 25 May 2004), Anatoly TYUTYUNOV (since July 2002) 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 LUKASHENKO extended his term to 2001 via a November 1996 referendum; new election held 9 September 2001; October 2004 referendum ended presidential term limits allowing president to run for a third term in September 2006; prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president election results: Aleksandr LUKASHENKO reelected president; percent of vote - Aleksandr LUKASHENKO 75.6%, Vladimir GONCHARIK 15.4% |
| Exports | NA (2001) | NA (2001) |
| Exports - commodities | canned tuna 93% | machinery and equipment, mineral products, chemicals, metals; textiles, foodstuffs |
| Exports - partners | Indonesia 71.1%, Japan 7.7%, Samoa 7.7%, Australia 6.7% (2002) | Russia 49.1%, UK 9.4%, Poland 4.4%, Germany 4.2%, Netherlands 4.2% (2003) |
| Fiscal year | 1 October - 30 September | calendar year |
| Flag description | blue, with a white triangle edged in red that is based on the outer side and extends to the hoist side; a brown and white American bald eagle flying toward the hoist side is carrying two traditional Samoan symbols of authority, a staff and a war club | 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 ornamention in red |
| GDP | purchasing power parity - $500 million (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $62.56 billion (2003 est.) |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
agriculture: 11.1%
industry: 36.4% services: 52.5% (2003 est.) |
| GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $8,000 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $6,100 (2003 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate | NA% | 6.8% (2003 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | 14 20 S, 170 00 W | 53 00 N, 28 00 E |
| Geography - note | Pago Pago has one of the best natural deepwater harbors in the South Pacific Ocean, sheltered by shape from rough seas and protected by peripheral mountains from high winds; strategic location in the South Pacific Ocean | 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 |
| Heliports | - | 1 (2003 est.) |
| Highways | total: 350 km
paved: 150 km unpaved: 200 km |
total: 74,385 km
paved: 66,203 km unpaved: 8,182 km (2000) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 5.1%
highest 10%: 20% (1998) |
| 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 |
| Imports | NA (2001) | NA (2001) |
| Imports - commodities | materials for canneries 56%, food 8%, petroleum products 7%, machinery and parts 6% | mineral products, machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, metals |
| Imports - partners | Australia 41%, New Zealand 23%, South Korea 18% (2002) | Russia 65.8%, Germany 7.1%, Ukraine 3.1% (2003) |
| Independence | none (territory of the US) | 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) |
| Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 5% (2003 est.) |
| Industries | tuna canneries (largely supplied by foreign fishing vessels), handicrafts | metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators |
| Infant mortality rate | total: 9.82 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 11.61 deaths/1,000 live births female: 7.93 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
total: 13.62 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 14.71 deaths/1,000 live births female: 12.47 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | NA% | 28.2% (2003 est.) |
| International organization participation | ESCAP (associate), Interpol (subbureau), IOC, SPC | CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MIGA, NAM, NSG, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (observer) |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
| Irrigated land | NA sq km | 1,150 sq km (1998 est.) |
| Judicial branch | High Court (chief justice and associate justices are appointed by the US Secretary of the Interior) | 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) |
| Labor force | 14,000 (1996) | 4.8 million (2000 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation | government 33%, tuna canneries 34%, other 33% (1990) | NA |
| Land boundaries | 0 km | 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: 5%
permanent crops: 10% other: 85% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 29.55%
permanent crops: 0.6% other: 69.85% (2001) |
| Languages | Samoan (closely related to Hawaiian and other Polynesian languages), English
note: most people are bilingual |
Belarusian, Russian, other |
| Legal system | NA | based on civil law system |
| Legislative branch | bicameral Fono or Legislative Assembly consists of the House of Representatives (21 seats - 20 of which are elected by popular vote and 1 is an appointed, nonvoting delegate from Swains Island; members serve two-year terms) and the Senate (18 seats; members are elected from local chiefs and serve four-year terms)
elections: House of Representatives - last held 7 November 2002 (next to be held NA November 2004); Senate - last held 7 November 2000 (next to be held NA November 2004) election results: House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - independents 18 note: American Samoa elects one nonvoting representative to the US House of Representatives; election last held 7 November 2002 (next to be held NA November 2004); results - Eni F. H. FALEOMAVAEGA (Democrat) reelected as delegate |
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 Predstaviteliy (110 seats; members elected by universal adult suffrage to serve 4-year terms)
elections: last held 18 March and 1 April 2001 and 17 and 31 October 2004 (bi-election will be held March 2005 to fill one unfilled seat in the Palata Predstaviteliy); international observers widely denounced the October 2004 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 Pretsaviteley - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population: 75.75 years
male: 71.35 years female: 80.41 years (2003 est.) |
total population: 68.57 years
male: 62.79 years female: 74.65 years (2004 est.) |
| Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97% male: 98% female: 97% (1980 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.6% male: 99.8% female: 99.5% (2003 est.) |
| Location | Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about half way between Hawaii and New Zealand | Eastern Europe, east of Poland |
| Map references | Oceania | Europe |
| Maritime claims | exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
none (landlocked) |
| Merchant marine | none (2002 est.) | - |
| Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the US | - |
| Military branches | - | Army, Air and Air Defense Force |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $176.1 million (FY02) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 1.4% (FY02) |
| Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 2,764,856 (2004 est.) |
| Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 2,164,923 (2004 est.) |
| Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 86,716 (2004 est.) |
| National holiday | Flag Day, 17 April (1900) | 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 |
| Nationality | noun: American Samoan(s)
adjective: American Samoan |
noun: Belarusian(s)
adjective: Belarusian |
| Natural hazards | typhoons common from December to March | NA |
| Natural resources | pumice, pumicite | forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay |
| Net migration rate | 3.29 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 2.54 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| Pipelines | - | gas 5,223 km; oil 2,443 km; refined products 1,686 km (2004) |
| Political parties and leaders | Democratic Party [leader NA]; Republican Party [leader NA] | Pro-government parties: Agrarian Party or AP; Belarusian Communist Party or KPB; Belarusian Patriotic Movement (Belarusian Patriotic Party) or BPR [Anatoliy BARANKEVICH, chairman]; Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus [Sergei GAYDUKEVICH]; Social-Sports Party; Opposition parties: Belarusian Popular Front or BNF [Vintsuk VYACHORKA]; Belarusian Social-Democrat Party Narodnaya Gromada or BSDP NG [Nikolay STATKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Social-Democratic Party Hromada [Stanislav SHUSHKEVICH, chairman]; United Civic Party or UCP [Anatol LEBEDKO]; Party of Communists Belarusian or PKB [Sergei KALYAKIN, chairman]; Women's Party "Nadezhda" [Valentina MATUSEVICH, chairperson]
note: the opposition Belarusian Party of Labor [Aleksandr BUKHVOSTOV] was liquidated in August 2004, but remains active |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
| Population | 70,260 (July 2003 est.) | 10,310,520 (July 2004 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | NA% | 22% (1995 est.) |
| Population growth rate | 2.22% (2003 est.) | -0.11% (2004 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | Aunu'u (new construction), Auasi, Faleosao, Ofu, Pago Pago, Ta'u | Mazyr |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998) |
| Railways | 0 km | total: 5,523 km
broad gauge: 5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2003) |
| Religions | Christian Congregationalist 50%, Roman Catholic 20%, Protestant and other 30% | Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.) |
| Sex ratio | at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.19 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
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 (2004 est.) |
| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
| Telephone system | general assessment: NA
domestic: good telex, telegraph, facsimile and cellular telephone services; domestic satellite system with 1 Comsat earth station international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) |
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' fiber optics form synchronous digital hierarchy rings through other countries' systems; an inadequate analog system remains operational 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 | 13,000 (1997) | 3,071,300 (2003) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 2,550 (1997) | 1.118 million (2003) |
| Television broadcast stations | 1 (1997) | 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995) |
| Terrain | five volcanic islands with rugged peaks and limited coastal plains, two coral atolls (Rose Island, Swains Island) | generally flat and contains much marshland |
| Total fertility rate | 3.3 children born/woman (2003 est.) | 1.36 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | 6% (2000) | 2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers (2003 est.) |
| Waterways | none | 2,500 km (use limited by location on perimeter of country and by shallowness) (2003) |
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