Angola (2003) | Belarus (2001) | |
Administrative divisions | 18 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia); Bengo, Benguela, Bie, Cabinda, Cuando Cubango, Cuanza Norte, Cuanza Sul, Cunene, Huambo, Huila, Luanda, Lunda Norte, Lunda Sul, Malanje, Moxico, Namibe, Uige, Zaire | 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: voblasti have the administrative center name following in parentheses |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 43.5% (male 2,363,829; female 2,317,610)
15-64 years: 53.7% (male 2,941,999; female 2,842,923) 65 years and over: 2.8% (male 134,330; female 165,780) (2003 est.) |
0-14 years:
17.93% (male 947,820; female 908,210) 15-64 years: 68.21% (male 3,428,920; female 3,631,290) 65 years and over: 13.86% (male 473,992; female 959,962) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | bananas, sugarcane, coffee, sisal, corn, cotton, manioc (tapioca), tobacco, vegetables, plantains; livestock; forest products; fish | grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk |
Airports | 243 (2002) | 136 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 32
over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 8 1,524 to 2,437 m: 14 914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
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 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 211
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 30 914 to 1,523 m: 95 under 914 m: 80 (2002) |
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 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 1,246,700 sq km
land: 1,246,700 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total:
207,600 sq km land: 207,600 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly less than twice the size of Texas | slightly smaller than Kansas |
Background | Civil war has been the norm in Angola since independence from Portugal in 1975. A 1994 peace accord between the government and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) provided for the integration of former UNITA insurgents into the government and armed forces. A national unity government was installed in April of 1997, but serious fighting resumed in late 1998, rendering hundreds of thousands of people homeless. Up to 1.5 million lives may have been lost in fighting over the past quarter century. The death of insurgent leader Jonas SAVIMBI in 2002 and a subsequent cease-fire with UNITA may bode well for the country. | 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 but, to date, neither side has actively sought to implement the accord. |
Birth rate | 45.57 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 9.57 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $928 million
expenditures: $2.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $963 million (1992 est.) |
revenues:
$4 billion expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.) |
Capital | Luanda | Minsk |
Climate | semiarid in south and along coast to Luanda; north has cool, dry season (May to October) and hot, rainy season (November to April) | cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime |
Coastline | 1,600 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | 11 November 1975; revised 7 January 1978, 11 August 1980, 6 March 1991, and 26 August 1992 | 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 | conventional long form: Republic of Angola
conventional short form: Angola local long form: Republica de Angola local short form: Angola former: People's Republic of Angola |
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 | kwanza (AOA) | Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR) |
Death rate | 25.83 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 13.97 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $9.9 billion (2002 est.) | $1 billion (2000 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Christopher William DELL
embassy: number 32 Rua Houari Boumedienne (in the Miramar area of Luanda), Luanda mailing address: international mail: Caixa Postal 6468, Luanda; pouch: American Embassy Luanda, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-2550 telephone: [244] (2) 445-481, 447-028, 446-224 FAX: [244] (2) 446-924 |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Michael KOZAK embassy: 46 Starovilenskaya St., Minsk 220002 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [375] (17) 210-12-83 FAX: [375] (17) 234-7853 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Josefina Perpetua Pitra DIAKIDI
chancery: 2108 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 785-1156 FAX: [1] (202) 785-1258 consulate(s) general: Houston and New York |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Valeriy TSEPAKLO 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 | gives shelter to thousands of refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo while thousands of Angolan refugees still remain in neighboring states as a consequence of the protracted civil wars in both states | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $383.5 million (1999) | $194.3 million (1995) |
Economy - overview | Angola has been an economy in disarray because of a quarter century of nearly continuous warfare. An apparently durable peace was established after the death of rebel leader Jonas SAVIMBI on February 22, 2002, but consequences from the conflict continue including the impact of wide-spread land mines. Subsistence agriculture provides the main livelihood for 85% of the population. Oil production and the supporting activities are vital to the economy, contributing about 45% to GDP and more than half of exports. Much of the country's food must still be imported. To fully take advantage of its rich natural resources - gold, diamonds, extensive forests, Atlantic fisheries, and large oil deposits - Angola will need to continue reforming government policies. While Angola made progress in bringing inflation down further, from 325% in 2000 to about 106% in 2002, the government has failed to make sufficient progress on reforms recommended by the IMF such as increasing foreign exchange reserves and promoting greater transparency in government spending. Increased oil production should bring about 6% GDP growth in 2003. | 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 enterprise. In addition to the burdens imposed by extremely high inflation, businesses have been subject to pressure on the part of central and local governments, e.g., arbitrary changes in regulations, numerous rigorous inspections, and retroactive application of new business regulations prohibiting practices that had been legal. Further economic problems are two consecutive bad harvests, 1998-99, and persistent trade deficits. Close relations with Russia, possibly leading to reunion, color the pattern of economic developments. For the time being, Belarus remains self-isolated from the West and its open-market economies. |
Electricity - consumption | 1.348 billion kWh (2001) | 27.647 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | 2.62 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2001) | 7.1 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 1.45 billion kWh (2001) | 24.911 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 36.4%
hydro: 63.6% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) |
fossil fuel:
99.9% hydro: 0.1% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Morro de Moco 2,620 m |
lowest point:
Nyoman River 90 m highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m |
Environment - current issues | overuse of pastures and subsequent soil erosion attributable to population pressures; desertification; deforestation of tropical rain forest, in response to both international demand for tropical timber and to domestic use as fuel, resulting in loss of biodiversity; soil erosion contributing to water pollution and siltation of rivers and dams; inadequate supplies of potable water | 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: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to:
Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
Ethnic groups | Ovimbundu 37%, Kimbundu 25%, Bakongo 13%, mestico (mixed European and Native African) 2%, European 1%, other 22% | Byelorussian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4% |
Exchange rates | kwanza per US dollar - 43.53 (2002), 22.06 (2001), 10.04 (2000), 2.79 (1999), 0.39 (1998); note - in December 1999 the kwanza was revalued with six zeroes dropped off the old value | Belarusian rubles per US dollar - 1,180 (yearend 2000), 730,000 (15 December 1999), 139,000 (25 January 1999), 46,080 (second quarter 1998), 25,964 (1997), 15,500 (yearend 1996); note - on 1 January 2000, the national currency was redenominated at one new ruble to 2,000 old rubles |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Jose Eduardo DOS SANTOS (since 21 September 1979); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Jose Eduardo DOS SANTOS (since 21 September 1979); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government; Fernando de Piedade Dias DOS SANTOS was appointed Prime Minister on 6 December 2002, but this is not a position of real power cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president elections: president elected by universal ballot for a NA-year term; President DOS SANTOS originally elected (in 1979) without opposition under a one-party system and stood for reelection in Angola's first multiparty elections 29-30 September 1992 (next to be held NA) election results: DOS SANTOS 49.6%, Jonas SAVIMBI 40.1%, making a run-off election necessary; the run-off was not held and SAVIMBI's National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) repudiated the results of the first election; the civil war resumed |
chief of state:
President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994) head of government: Prime Minister Vladimir YERMOSHIN (since 18 February 2000); First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey KOBYAKOV (since 13 March 2000); Deputy Prime Ministers Mikhail DEMCHUK (since 14 July 2000), Mikhail KHORSTOV (since 27 November 2000), Valeriy KOKOREV (since 23 August 1994), Leonid KOZIK (since 4 February 1997), Gennadiy NOVITSKIY (since 11 February 1997), Aleksandr POPKOV (since 10 November 1998) 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 (next to be held NA; according to the 1994 constitution, the next election should have been held in 1999, however LUKASHENKO extended his term to 2001 via the November 1996 referendum); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president election results: Aleksandr LUKASHENKO elected president; percent of vote - Aleksandr LUKASHENKO 85%, Vyacheslav KEBICH 15% |
Exports | NA (2001) | $7.4 billion (f.o.b., 2000) |
Exports - commodities | crude oil, diamonds, refined petroleum products, gas, coffee, sisal, fish and fish products, timber, cotton | machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, textiles, foodstuffs |
Exports - partners | US 41.2%, China 13.7%, France 8%, Belgium 6.3%, Taiwan 6.3%, Japan 4.9%, Spain 4.3% (2002) | Russia 66%, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Lithuania (1998) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and black with a centered yellow emblem consisting of a five-pointed star within half a cogwheel crossed by a machete (in the style of a hammer and sickle) | 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 |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $18.36 billion (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $78.8 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 8%
industry: 67% services: 25% (2001 est.) |
agriculture:
13% industry: 46% services: 41% (1999 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,700 (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $7,500 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 9.4% (2002 est.) | 4% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 12 30 S, 18 30 E | 53 00 N, 28 00 E |
Geography - note | the province of Cabinda is an exclave, separated from the rest of the country by the Democratic Republic of the Congo | landlocked |
Highways | total: 51,429 km
paved: 5,349 km unpaved: 46,080 km (1999) |
total:
63,355 km paved: 60,567 km (these roads are said to be hard-surfaced, and include, in addition to conventionally paved roads, some that are surfaced with gravel or other coarse aggregate, making them trafficable in all weather) unpaved: 2,788 km (these roads are made of unstabilized earth and are difficult to negotiate in wet weather) (1998) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%:
4.9% highest 10%: 19.4% (1993) |
Illicit drugs | used as a transshipment point for cocaine destined for Western Europe and other African states | 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 |
Imports | NA (2001) | $8.3 billion (f.o.b., 2000) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and electrical equipment, vehicles and spare parts; medicines, food, textiles, military goods | mineral products, machinery and equipment, metals, chemicals, foodstuffs |
Imports - partners | Portugal 20.2%, US 13.9%, South Africa 12.4%, France 6.7%, Brazil 5.8%, Belgium 5.3%, Netherlands 4% (2002) | Russia 54%, Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Lithuania (1998) |
Independence | 11 November 1975 (from Portugal) | 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) |
Industrial production growth rate | 1% | 5% (2000 est.) |
Industries | petroleum; diamonds, iron ore, phosphates, feldspar, bauxite, uranium, and gold; cement; basic metal products; fish processing; food processing; brewing; tobacco products; sugar; textiles | metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earth movers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators |
Infant mortality rate | total: 193.82 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 206.26 deaths/1,000 live births female: 180.76 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
14.38 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 106% (2002 est.) | 200% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, AfDB, CEEAC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAS (observer), OAU, SADC, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | CCC, CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Inmarsat, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NAM, NSG, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (observer) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | 4 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 750 sq km (1998 est.) | 1,000 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Tribunal da Relacao (judges are appointed by the president) | 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 | 5 million (1997 est.) | 4.8 million (2000) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 85%, industry and services 15% (1997 est.) | industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA% |
Land boundaries | total: 5,198 km
border countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo 2,511 km (of which 225 km is the boundary of discontiguous Cabinda Province), Republic of the Congo 201 km, Namibia 1,376 km, Zambia 1,110 km |
total:
3,098 km border countries: Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 605 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km |
Land use | arable land: 2.41%
permanent crops: 0.4% other: 97.19% (1998 est.) |
arable land:
29% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 15% forests and woodland: 34% other: 21% (1993 est.) |
Languages | Portuguese (official), Bantu and other African languages | Byelorussian, Russian, other |
Legal system | based on Portuguese civil law system and customary law; recently modified to accommodate political pluralism and increased use of free markets | based on civil law system |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Assembly or Assembleia Nacional (220 seats; members elected by proportional vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 29-30 September 1992 (next to be held NA) election results: percent of vote by party - MPLA 54%, UNITA 34%, others 12%; seats by party - MPLA 129, UNITA 70, PRS 6, FNLA 5, PLD 3, others 7 |
bicameral Parliament or Natsionalnoye Sobranie consists of the Council of the Republic or Soviet Respubliki (64 seats) and the Chamber of Representatives or Palata Pretsaviteley (110 seats)
elections: last held October 2000 (next to be held NA) election results: party affiliation data unavailable; under present political conditions party designations are meaningless |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 36.96 years
male: 36.13 years female: 37.83 years (2003 est.) |
total population:
68.14 years male: 62.06 years female: 74.52 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 42% male: 56% female: 28% (1998 est.) |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98% male: 99% female: 97% (1989 est.) |
Location | Southern Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Namibia and Democratic Republic of the Congo | Eastern Europe, east of Poland |
Map references | Africa | Commonwealth of Independent States |
Maritime claims | contiguous zone: 24 NM
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | total: 8 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 30,311 GRT/48,924 DWT
ships by type: cargo 7, petroleum tanker 1 (2002 est.) |
- |
Military branches | Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, National Police Force | Army, Air Force, Air Defense Force, Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $222.7 million (FY02) | $156 million (FY98) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 5.4% (FY02) | 1.2% (FY98) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 2,568,082 (2003 est.) | males age 15-49:
2,729,956 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 1,290,884 (2003 est.) | males age 15-49:
2,138,743 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age (2003 est.) | 18 years of age |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 109,752 (2003 est.) | males:
86,396 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 11 November (1975) | 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: Angolan(s)
adjective: Angolan |
noun:
Belarusian(s) adjective: Belarusian |
Natural hazards | locally heavy rainfall causes periodic flooding on the plateau | NA |
Natural resources | petroleum, diamonds, iron ore, phosphates, copper, feldspar, gold, bauxite, uranium | forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 2.89 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | gas 214 km; liquid natural gas 14 km; liquid petroleum gas 30 km; oil 845 km; refined products 56 km (2003) | crude oil 1,470 km; refined products 1,100 km; natural gas 1,980 km (1992) |
Political parties and leaders | Liberal Democratic Party or PLD [Analia de Victoria PEREIRA]; National Front for the Liberation of Angola or FNLA [disputed leadership: Lucas NGONDA, Holden ROBERTO]; National Union for the Total Independence of Angola or UNITA [interim leader: PAULO Lukamba "Gato"], largest opposition party has engaged in years of armed resistance; Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola or MPLA [Jose Eduardo DOS SANTOS], ruling party in power since 1975; Social Renewal Party or PRS [disputed leadership: Eduardo KUANGANA, Antonio MUACHICUNGO]
note: about a dozen minor parties participated in the 1992 elections but only won a few seats and have little influence in the National Assembly |
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 or SDBP [Nikolay STATKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Social-Democratic Party 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 Nadezhda [Valentina POLEVIKOVA, chairperson] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda or FLEC [N'zita Henriques TIAGO; Antonio Bento BEMBE]
note: FLEC is waging a small-scale, highly factionalized, armed struggle for the independence of Cabinda Province |
NA |
Population | 10,766,471 (July 2003 est.) | 10,350,194 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 22% (1995 est.) |
Population growth rate | 1.97% (2003 est.) | -0.15% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Ambriz, Cabinda, Lobito, Luanda, Malongo, Mocamedes, Namibe, Porto Amboim, Soyo | Mazyr |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 21, FM 6, shortwave 7 (2000) | AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998) |
Radios | - | 3.02 million (1997) |
Railways | total: 2,761 km
narrow gauge: 2,638 km 1.067-m gauge; 123 km 0.600-m gauge (2002) |
total:
5,523 km broad gauge: 5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2000) |
Religions | indigenous beliefs 47%, Roman Catholic 38%, Protestant 15% (1998 est.) | 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: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.49 male(s)/female total population: 0.88 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: telephone service limited mostly to government and business use; HF radiotelephone used extensively for military links
domestic: limited system of wire, microwave radio relay, and tropospheric scatter international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic 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'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 | 72,000 (1998) | 2.313 million (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 25,800 (2000) | 8,167 (1997) |
Television broadcast stations | 6 (2000) | 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995) |
Terrain | narrow coastal plain rises abruptly to vast interior plateau | generally flat and contains much marshland |
Total fertility rate | 6.38 children born/woman (2003 est.) | 1.28 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | extensive unemployment and underemployment affecting more than half the population (2001 est.) | 2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers |
Waterways | 1,295 km | NA km; note - Belarus has extensive and widely used canal and river systems |