Antigua and Barbuda (2006) | Belarus (2005) | |
Administrative divisions | 6 parishes and 2 dependencies*; Barbuda*, Redonda*, Saint George, Saint John, Saint Mary, Saint Paul, Saint Peter, Saint Philip | 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: 27.6% (male 9,716/female 9,375)
15-64 years: 68.5% (male 23,801/female 23,524) 65 years and over: 3.9% (male 1,020/female 1,672) (2006 est.) |
0-14 years: 16% (male 839,292/female 804,738)
15-64 years: 69.5% (male 3,481,432/female 3,672,991) 65 years and over: 14.6% (male 498,717/female 1,003,313) (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | cotton, fruits, vegetables, bananas, coconuts, cucumbers, mangoes, sugarcane; livestock | grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk |
Airports | 3 (2006) | 133 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2006) |
total: 50
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: 21 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2006) |
total: 83
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 64 (2004 est.) |
Area | total: 442.6 sq km (Antigua 280 sq km; Barbuda 161 sq km)
land: 442.6 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Redonda, 1.6 sq km |
total: 207,600 sq km
land: 207,600 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | 2.5 times the size of Washington, DC | slightly smaller than Kansas |
Background | The Siboney were the first to inhabit the islands of Antigua and Barbuda in 2400 B.C., but Arawak Indians populated the islands when Columbus landed on his second voyage in 1493. Early settlements by the Spanish and French were succeeded by the English who formed a colony in 1667. Slavery, established to run the sugar plantations on Antigua, was abolished in 1834. The islands became an independent state within the British Commonwealth of Nations in 1981. | 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 1995 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. |
Birth rate | 16.93 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) | 10.83 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $123.7 million
expenditures: $145.9 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
revenues: $3.326 billion
expenditures: $3.564 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (2004 est.) |
Capital | name: Saint John's
geographic coordinates: 17 06 N, 61 51 W time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Minsk |
Climate | tropical maritime; little seasonal temperature variation | cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime |
Coastline | 153 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | 1 November 1981 | 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: none
conventional short form: Antigua and Barbuda |
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 |
Death rate | 5.37 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) | 14.15 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | $427.3 million; note - data are for public external debt, not total external debt (2000) | $600 million (2004 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | the US does not have an embassy in Antigua and Barbuda (embassy closed 30 June 1994); the US Ambassador to Barbados is accredited to Antigua and Barbuda | 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 | chief of mission: Ambassador Deborah Mae LOVELL
chancery: 3216 New Mexico Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20016 telephone: [1] (202) 362-5122 FAX: [1] (202) 362-5225 consulate(s) general: Miami |
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; boundary with Latvia remains undemarcated but a third of the border with Lithuania was demarcated in 2004 |
Economic aid - recipient | $1.65 million (2004) | $194.3 million (1995) |
Economy - overview | Tourism continues to dominate the economy, accounting for more than half of GDP. Weak tourist arrival numbers since early 2000 have slowed the economy, however, and pressed the government into a tight fiscal corner. The dual-island nation's agricultural production is focused on the domestic market and constrained by a limited water supply and a labor shortage stemming from the lure of higher wages in tourism and construction. Manufacturing comprises enclave-type assembly for export with major products being bedding, handicrafts, and electronic components. Prospects for economic growth in the medium term will continue to depend on income growth in the industrialized world, especially in the US, which accounts for slightly more than one-third of tourist arrivals. | Belarus's economy in 2003-04 posted 6.1% and 6.4% growth. Still, the economy continues 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; the Gini coefficient is among the lowest in the world. For the time being, Belarus remains self-isolated from the West and its open-market economies. Growth has been strong in recent years, despite the roadblocks in a tough, centrally directed economy and the high, but decreasing, rate of inflation. Growth has been buoyed by increased Russian demand for generally noncompetitive Belarusian goods. |
Electricity - consumption | 93 million kWh (2003) | 34.3 billion kWh (2004) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2003) | 800 million kWh (2004) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2003) | 3.2 billion kWh (2003) |
Electricity - production | 100 million kWh (2003) | 30 billion kWh (2004) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Boggy Peak 402 m |
lowest point: Nyoman River 90 m
highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m |
Environment - current issues | water management - a major concern because of limited natural fresh water resources - is further hampered by the clearing of trees to increase crop production, causing rainfall to run off quickly | 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, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected 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 | black, British, Portuguese, Lebanese, Syrian | Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish 3.9%, Ukrainian 2.4%, other 1.1% (1999 census) |
Exchange rates | East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7 (2005), 2.7 (2004), 2.7 (2003), 2.7 (2002), 2.7 (2001)
note: fixed rate since 1976 |
Belarusian rubles per US dollar - 2,160.26 (2004), 2,051.27 (2003), 1,790.92 (2002), 1,390 (2001), 876.75 (2000) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Sir James B. CARLISLE (since 10 June 1993)
head of government: Prime Minister Winston Baldwin SPENCER (since 24 March 2004) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general chosen by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the governor general |
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) 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 bbl/day | 14,500 bbl/day (2003 est.) |
Exports - commodities | petroleum products 48%, manufactures 23%, machinery and transport equipment 17%, food and live animals 4%, other 8% | machinery and equipment, mineral products, chemicals, metals; textiles, foodstuffs |
Exports - partners | Spain 34%, Germany 20.7%, Italy 7.7%, Singapore 5.8%, UK 4.9% (2005) | Russia 47%, UK 8.3%, Netherlands 6.7%, Poland 5.3% (2004) |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | calendar year |
Flag description | red, with an inverted isosceles triangle based on the top edge of the flag; the triangle contains three horizontal bands of black (top), light blue, and white, with a yellow rising sun in the black band | 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 - composition by sector | agriculture: 3.8%
industry: 22% services: 74.3% (2002) |
agriculture: 11%
industry: 36.4% services: 52.6% (2004 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $6,800 (2004 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 3.8% (2005 est.) | 6.4% (2004 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 17 03 N, 61 48 W | 53 00 N, 28 00 E |
Geography - note | Antigua has a deeply indented shoreline with many natural harbors and beaches; Barbuda has a very large western harbor | 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 (2004 est.) |
Highways | - | total: 79,990 km
paved: 69,351 km unpaved: 10,639 km (2002) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 5.1%
highest 10%: 20% (1998) |
Illicit drugs | considered a minor transshipment point for narcotics bound for the US and Europe; more significant as an offshore financial center | 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 bbl/day | 360,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
Imports - commodities | food and live animals, machinery and transport equipment, manufactures, chemicals, oil | mineral products, machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, metals |
Imports - partners | US 21.1%, China 16.4%, Germany 13.3%, Singapore 12.7%, Spain 6.5% (2005) | Russia 68.2%, Germany 6.6%, Ukraine 3.3% (2004) |
Independence | 1 November 1981 (from UK) | 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) |
Industrial production growth rate | 6% (1997 est.) | 4% (2004 est.) |
Industries | tourism, construction, light manufacturing (clothing, alcohol, household appliances) | metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, televisions, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators |
Infant mortality rate | total: 18.86 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 22.71 deaths/1,000 live births female: 14.82 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
total: 13.37 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 14.3 deaths/1,000 live births female: 12.39 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 0.9% (2005 est.) | 17.4% (2004 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, MIGA, NAM (observer), OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO | 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, WTO (observer) |
Irrigated land | NA | 1,150 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (based in Saint Lucia; one judge of the Supreme Court is a resident of the islands and presides over the Court of Summary Jurisdiction); member Caribbean Court of Justice | 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 | 30,000 | 4.305 million (31 December 2003) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 7%
industry: 11% services: 82% (1983) |
agriculture 14%, industry 34.7%, services 51.3% (2003 est.) |
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: 18.18%
permanent crops: 4.55% other: 77.27% (2005) |
arable land: 29.55%
permanent crops: 0.6% other: 69.85% (2001) |
Languages | English (official), local dialects | Belarusian, Russian, other |
Legal system | based on English common law | based on civil law system |
Legislative branch | bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (17-member body appointed by the governor general) and the House of Representatives (17 seats; members are elected by proportional representation to serve five-year terms)
elections: House of Representatives - last held 23 March 2004 (next to be held in 2009) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - ALP 4, UPP 13 |
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 4-year terms) and the Chamber of Representatives or Palata Predstaviteley (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; 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 Predstaviteley - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 72.16 years
male: 69.78 years female: 74.66 years (2006 est.) |
total population: 68.72 years
male: 63.03 years female: 74.69 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over has completed five or more years of schooling
total population: 85.8% male: NA% female: NA% (2003 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.6% male: 99.8% female: 99.5% (2003 est.) |
Location | Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east-southeast of Puerto Rico | Eastern Europe, east of Poland |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Europe |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | total: 1,011 ships (1000 GRT or over) 7,452,503 GRT/9,783,309 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 40, cargo 596, chemical tanker 7, container 321, liquefied gas 11, passenger/cargo 2, petroleum tanker 1, refrigerated cargo 12, roll on/roll off 21 foreign-owned: 984 (Australia 1, Bangladesh 4, Belgium 4, Colombia 2, Denmark 14, Estonia 12, France 1, Germany 858, Iceland 8, Isle of Man 2, Latvia 5, Lebanon 1, Lithuania 3, Netherlands 14, Norway 11, NZ 1, Poland 3, Russia 6, Singapore 1, Slovenia 6, Switzerland 4, Turkey 8, UK 7, US 7, Vietnam 1) (2006) |
- |
Military branches | Royal Antigua and Barbuda Defense Force (2006) | Army, Air and Air Defense Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | NA | $176.1 million (FY02) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA | 1.4% (FY02) |
National holiday | Independence Day (National Day), 1 November (1981) | 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: Antiguan(s), Barbudan(s)
adjective: Antiguan, Barbudan |
noun: Belarusian(s)
adjective: Belarusian |
Natural hazards | hurricanes and tropical storms (July to October); periodic droughts | NA |
Natural resources | NEGL; pleasant climate fosters tourism | forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay |
Net migration rate | -6.08 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) | 2.42 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 5,223 km; oil 2,443 km; refined products 1,686 km (2004) |
Political parties and leaders | Antigua Labor Party or ALP [Lester Bryant BIRD]; Barbuda People's Movement or BPM [Thomas H. FRANK]; National Democratic Congress [Tillman THOMAS]; United Progressive Party or UPP [Baldwin SPENCER] (a coalition of three opposition parties - Antigua Caribbean Liberation Movement or ACLM, Progressive Labor Movement or PLM, United National Democratic Party or UNDP) | Pro-government parties: Agrarian Party or AP [leader NA]; Belarusian Communist Party or KPB [leader NA]; Belarusian Patriotic Movement (Belarusian Patriotic Party) or BPR [Anatoliy BARANKEVICH, chairman]; Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus [Sergei GAYDUKEVICH]; Social-Sports Party [leader NA]; 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 | Antigua Trades and Labor Union or ATLU [William ROBINSON]; People's Democratic Movement or PDM [Hugh MARSHALL] | NA |
Population | 69,108 (July 2006 est.) | 10,300,483 (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 27.1% (2003 est.) |
Population growth rate | 0.55% (2006 est.) | -0.09% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Mazyr |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 4, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998) |
Railways | - | total: 5,512 km
broad gauge: 5,497 km 1.520-m gauge (874 km electrified) standard gauge: 15 km 1.435-m (2004) |
Religions | Christian (predominantly Anglican with other Protestant, and some Roman Catholic) | 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: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.61 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2006 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 (2005 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: NA
domestic: good automatic telephone system international: country code - 1-268; 1 coaxial submarine cable; satellite earth station - 2; tropospheric scatter to Saba (Netherlands Antilles) and Guadeloupe |
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 | 38,000 (2004) | 3,071,300 (2003) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 54,000 (2004) | 1.118 million (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | 2 (1997) | 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995) |
Terrain | mostly low-lying limestone and coral islands, with some higher volcanic areas | generally flat and contains much marshland |
Total fertility rate | 2.24 children born/woman (2006 est.) | 1.39 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 11% (2001 est.) | 2% officially registered unemployed; large number of underemployed workers (2004) |
Waterways | - | 2,500 km (use limited by location on perimeter of country and by shallowness) (2003) |