##ciekawa_strona##
Compare Belarus (2001) - Iceland (2007)
Compare Belarus (2001) z Iceland (2007)
| Belarus (2001) | Iceland (2007) | |
 |  | |
| 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 - 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 |
8 regions; Austurland, Hofudhborgarsvaedhi, Nordhurland Eystra, Nordhurland Vestra, Sudhurland, Sudhurnes, Vestfirdhir, Vesturland |
| Age structure | 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.) |
0-14 years: 21.4% (male 32,759/female 31,845)
15-64 years: 66.8% (male 102,161/female 99,411) 65 years and over: 11.8% (male 16,162/female 19,593) (2007 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk | potatoes, green vegetables; mutton, dairy products; fish |
| Airports | 136 (2000 est.) | 99 (2007) |
| Airports - with paved runways | 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.) |
total: 5
over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2007) |
| Airports - with unpaved runways | 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.) |
total: 94
1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 28 under 914 m: 63 (2007) |
| Area | total:
207,600 sq km land: 207,600 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 103,000 sq km
land: 100,250 sq km water: 2,750 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Kansas | slightly smaller than Kentucky |
| 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 but, to date, neither side has actively sought to implement the accord. | Settled by Norwegian and Celtic (Scottish and Irish) immigrants during the late 9th and 10th centuries A.D., Iceland boasts the world's oldest functioning legislative assembly, the Althing, established in 930. Independent for over 300 years, Iceland was subsequently ruled by Norway and Denmark. Fallout from the Askja volcano of 1875 devastated the Icelandic economy and caused widespread famine. Over the next quarter century, 20% of the island's population emigrated, mostly to Canada and the US. Limited home rule from Denmark was granted in 1874 and complete independence attained in 1944. Literacy, longevity, income, and social cohesion are first-rate by world standards. |
| Birth rate | 9.57 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 13.57 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Budget | revenues:
$4 billion expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.) |
revenues: $7.603 billion
expenditures: $6.737 billion (2006 est.) |
| Capital | Minsk | name: Reykjavik
geographic coordinates: 64 09 N, 21 57 W time difference: UTC (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
| Climate | cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime | temperate; moderated by North Atlantic Current; mild, windy winters; damp, cool summers |
| Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 4,970 km |
| Constitution | 30 March 1994; revised by national referendum of 24 November 1996 giving the presidency greatly expanded powers and became effective 27 November 1996 | 16 June 1944, effective 17 June 1944; amended many times |
| Country name | 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 |
conventional long form: Republic of Iceland
conventional short form: Iceland local long form: Lydveldid Island local short form: Island |
| Currency | Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR) | - |
| Death rate | 13.97 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 6.77 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Debt - external | $1 billion (2000 est.) | $3.073 billion (2002) |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | 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 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Carol VAN VOORST
embassy: Laufasvegur 21, 101 Reykjavik mailing address: US Department of State, 5640 Reykjavik Place, Washington, D.C. 20521-5640 telephone: [354] 562-9100 FAX: [354] 562-9118 |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | 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 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Albert JONSSON
chancery: Suite 1200, 1156 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20005-1704 telephone: [1] (202) 265-6653 FAX: [1] (202) 265-6656 consulate(s) general: New York |
| Disputes - international | none | Iceland, the UK, and Ireland dispute Denmark's claim that the Faroe Islands' continental shelf extends beyond 200 nm |
| Economic aid - donor | - | $6.7 million (2004) |
| Economic aid - recipient | $194.3 million (1995) | - |
| Economy - overview | 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. | Iceland's Scandinavian-type economy is basically capitalistic, yet with an extensive welfare system (including generous housing subsidies), low unemployment, and remarkably even distribution of income. In the absence of other natural resources (except for abundant geothermal power), the economy depends heavily on the fishing industry, which provides nearly 70% of export earnings and employs 6% of the work force. The economy remains sensitive to declining fish stocks as well as to fluctuations in world prices for its main exports: fish and fish products, aluminum, and ferrosilicon. Government policies include reducing the current account deficit, limiting foreign borrowing, containing inflation, revising agricultural and fishing policies, and diversifying the economy. The government remains opposed to EU membership, primarily because of Icelanders' concern about losing control over their fishing resources. Iceland's economy has been diversifying into manufacturing and service industries in the last decade, and new developments in software production, biotechnology, and financial services are taking place. The tourism sector is also expanding, with the recent trends in ecotourism and whale watching. Since 2000 growth has varied from -1% in 2002 to 8% in 2004. The 2006 closure of the US military base at Keflavik had very little impact on the national economy; Iceland's low unemployment rate aided former base employees in finding alternate employment. |
| Electricity - consumption | 27.647 billion kWh (1999) | 8.152 billion kWh (2005) |
| Electricity - exports | 2.62 billion kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2005) |
| Electricity - imports | 7.1 billion kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2005) |
| Electricity - production | 24.911 billion kWh (1999) | 8.533 billion kWh (2005) |
| Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
99.9% hydro: 0.1% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
- |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Nyoman River 90 m highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m |
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Hvannadalshnukur 2,110 m (at Vatnajokull glacier) |
| 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 | water pollution from fertilizer runoff; inadequate wastewater treatment |
| Environment - international 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 |
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Kyoto Protocol, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Transboundary Air Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Marine Life Conservation |
| Ethnic groups | Byelorussian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4% | homogeneous mixture of descendants of Norse and Celts 94%, population of foreign origin 6% |
| Exchange rates | 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 | Icelandic kronur per US dollar - 70.195 (2006), 62.982 (2005), 70.192 (2004), 76.709 (2003), 91.662 (2002) |
| Executive branch | 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% |
chief of state: President Olafur Ragnar GRIMSSON (since 1 August 1996)
head of government: Prime Minister Geir H. HAARDE (since 7 June 2006) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister elections: president, largely a ceremonial post, is elected by popular vote for a four-year term (no term limits); election last held 26 June 2004 (next to be held in June 2008); following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually the prime minister election results: Olafur Ragnar GRIMSSON 85.6%, Baldur AGUSTSSON 12.5%, Astthor MAGNUSSON 1.9% |
| Exports | $7.4 billion (f.o.b., 2000) | 0 bbl/day (2004) |
| Exports - commodities | machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, textiles, foodstuffs | fish and fish products 70%, aluminum, animal products, ferrosilicon, diatomite |
| Exports - partners | Russia 66%, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Lithuania (1998) | Netherlands 16.5%, UK 15.7%, Germany 15%, US 10.8%, Spain 6.4% (2006) |
| Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
| 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 the Belarusian national ornament in red | blue with a red cross outlined in white extending to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the style of the Dannebrog (Danish flag) |
| GDP | purchasing power parity - $78.8 billion (2000 est.) | - |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
13% industry: 46% services: 41% (1999 est.) |
agriculture: 5.6%
industry: 25% services: 69.4% (2006 est.) |
| GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $7,500 (2000 est.) | - |
| GDP - real growth rate | 4% (2000 est.) | 2.6% (2006 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | 53 00 N, 28 00 E | 65 00 N, 18 00 W |
| Geography - note | landlocked | strategic location between Greenland and Europe; westernmost European country; Reykjavik is the northernmost national capital in the world; more land covered by glaciers than in all of continental Europe |
| Highways | 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%:
4.9% highest 10%: 19.4% (1993) |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
| 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 | - |
| Imports | $8.3 billion (f.o.b., 2000) | 17,450 bbl/day (2004) |
| Imports - commodities | mineral products, machinery and equipment, metals, chemicals, foodstuffs | machinery and equipment, petroleum products, foodstuffs, textiles |
| Imports - partners | Russia 54%, Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Lithuania (1998) | US 12.8%, Germany 12.3%, Norway 7.1%, Sweden 6.9%, Denmark 6.1%, UK 5.3%, China 5.3%, Netherlands 4.8%, Japan 4.1% (2006) |
| Independence | 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) | 1 December 1918 (became a sovereign state under the Danish Crown); 17 June 1944 (from Denmark) |
| Industrial production growth rate | 5% (2000 est.) | 5% (2006 est.) |
| Industries | metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earth movers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators | fish processing; aluminum smelting, ferrosilicon production; geothermal power, tourism |
| Infant mortality rate | 14.38 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 3.27 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 3.41 deaths/1,000 live births female: 3.12 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 200% (2000 est.) | 6.7% (2006 est.) |
| International organization participation | 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) | Arctic Council, Australia Group, BIS, CBSS, CE, EAPC, EBRD, EFTA, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NATO, NC, NEA, NIB, OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WCO, WEU (associate), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 4 (2000) | - |
| Irrigated land | 1,000 sq km (1993 est.) | NA |
| 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) | Supreme Court or Haestirettur (justices are appointed for life by the Minister of Justice); eight district courts (justices are appointed for life by the Minister of Justice) |
| Labor force | 4.8 million (2000) | 175,000 (2006 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation | industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA% | agriculture: 5.1%
industry: 23% services: 71.4% (2005) |
| Land boundaries | total:
3,098 km border countries: Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 605 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km |
0 km |
| Land use | arable land:
29% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 15% forests and woodland: 34% other: 21% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 0.07%
permanent crops: 0% other: 99.93% (2005) |
| Languages | Byelorussian, Russian, other | Icelandic, English, Nordic languages, German widely spoken |
| Legal system | based on civil law system | civil law system based on Danish law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
| Legislative branch | 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 |
unicameral Parliament or Althing (63 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 12 May 2007 (next to be held by May 2011) election results: percent of vote by party - Independence Party 36.6%, Social Democratic Alliance 26.8%, Progressive Party 11.7%, Left-Green Movement 14.3%, Liberal Party 7.3%, other 3.3%; seats by party - Independence Party 25, Social Democratic Alliance 18, Progressive Party 7, Left-Green Alliance 9, Liberal Party 4 |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population:
68.14 years male: 62.06 years female: 74.52 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 80.43 years
male: 78.33 years female: 82.62 years (2007 est.) |
| Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98% male: 99% female: 97% (1989 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (2003 est.) |
| Location | Eastern Europe, east of Poland | Northern Europe, island between the Greenland Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, northwest of the UK |
| Map references | Commonwealth of Independent States | Arctic Region |
| Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin |
| Merchant marine | - | total: 2 ships (1000 GRT or over) 4,704 GRT/729 DWT
by type: passenger/cargo 2 registered in other countries: 41 (Antigua and Barbuda 9, Bahamas 1, Belize 1, Faroe Islands 4, Gibraltar 1, Malta 7, Norway 3, St Vincent and The Grenadines 15) (2007) |
| Military - note | - | under a 1951 bilateral agreement, Iceland's defense was provided by a US-manned Icelandic Defense Force (IDF) headquartered in Keflavik; in October 2006, all US military forces in Iceland were withdrawn; nonetheless, the US and Iceland signed a Joint Understanding to strengthen their bilateral defense relationship, including regular security consultations, military communications in the event of national emergencies, annual bilateral exercises on Icelandic territory, and future bilateral and NATO support to four Iceland Air Defense System (IADS) radar sites |
| Military branches | Army, Air Force, Air Defense Force, Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards | no regular military forces; Icelandic National Police (2006) |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | $156 million (FY98) | - |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.2% (FY98) | 0% (2005 est.) |
| Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
2,729,956 (2001 est.) |
- |
| Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
2,138,743 (2001 est.) |
- |
| Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age | - |
| Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
86,396 (2001 est.) |
- |
| 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 | Independence Day, 17 June (1944) |
| Nationality | noun:
Belarusian(s) adjective: Belarusian |
noun: Icelander(s)
adjective: Icelandic |
| Natural hazards | NA | earthquakes and volcanic activity |
| Natural resources | forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas | fish, hydropower, geothermal power, diatomite |
| Net migration rate | 2.89 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 1.43 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Pipelines | crude oil 1,470 km; refined products 1,100 km; natural gas 1,980 km (1992) | - |
| Political parties and leaders | 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] | Independence Party or IP [Geir H. HAARDE]; Left-Green Movement or LGM [Steingrimur SIGFUSSON]; Liberal Party or LP [Gudjon KRISTJANSSON]; Progressive Party or PP [Gudni AGUSTSSON]; Social Democratic Alliance or SDA [Ingibjorg Solrun GISLADOTTIR] (includes People's Alliance or PA, Social Democratic Party or SDP, Women's List) |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
| Population | 10,350,194 (July 2001 est.) | 301,931 (July 2007 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | 22% (1995 est.) | NA% |
| Population growth rate | -0.15% (2001 est.) | 0.824% (2007 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | Mazyr | - |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998) | AM 3, FM about 70 (including repeaters), shortwave 1 (1998) |
| Radios | 3.02 million (1997) | - |
| Railways | total:
5,523 km broad gauge: 5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2000) |
- |
| Religions | Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.) | Lutheran Church of Iceland 85.5%, Reykjavik Free Church 2.1%, Roman Catholic Church 2%, Hafnarfjorour Free Church 1.5%, other Christian 2.7%, other or unspecified 3.8%, unaffiliated 2.4% (2004) |
| Sex ratio | 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.) |
at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.029 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.028 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.825 male(s)/female total population: 1.002 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
| Telephone system | 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 |
general assessment: telecommunications infrastructure is modern and fully digitized, with satellite-earth stations, fiber-optic cables, and an extensive broadband network
domestic: liberalization of the telecommunications sector beginning in the late 1990s has led to increased competition especially in the mobile services segment of the market international: country code - 354; the CANTAT-3 and FARICE-1 submarine cable systems provide connectivity to Canada, the Faroe Islands, UK, Denmark, and Germany; a planned new section of the Hibernia-Atlantic submarine cable will provide additional connectivity to Canada, US, and Ireland; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions); note - Iceland shares the Inmarsat earth station with the other Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden) |
| Telephones - main lines in use | 2.313 million (1997) | 193,700 (2006) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 8,167 (1997) | 328,500 (2006) |
| Television broadcast stations | 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995) | 14 (plus 156 repeaters) (1997) |
| Terrain | generally flat and contains much marshland | mostly plateau interspersed with mountain peaks, icefields; coast deeply indented by bays and fiords |
| Total fertility rate | 1.28 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 1.91 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | 2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers | 1.3% (2006 est.) |
| Waterways | NA km; note - Belarus has extensive and widely used canal and river systems | - |
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