Belarus (2001) | Mali (2002) | |
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 (regions, singular - region); Gao, Kayes, Kidal, Koulikoro, Mopti, Segou, Sikasso, Tombouctou |
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: 47.2% (male 2,687,998; female 2,658,605)
15-64 years: 49.8% (male 2,698,789; female 2,950,276) 65 years and over: 3% (male 160,604; female 184,208) (2002 est.) |
Agriculture - products | grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk | cotton, millet, rice, corn, vegetables, peanuts; cattle, sheep, goats |
Airports | 136 (2000 est.) | 27 (2001) |
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: 7
2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2002) |
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: 19
1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 8 (2002) |
Area | total:
207,600 sq km land: 207,600 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 1.24 million sq km
land: 1.22 million sq km water: 20,000 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Kansas | slightly less than twice the size of Texas |
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. | The Sudanese Republic and Senegal became independent of France in 1960 as the Mali Federation. When Senegal withdrew after only a few months, the Sudanese Republic was renamed Mali. Rule by dictatorship was brought to a close in 1991 with a transitional government, and in 1992 when Mali's first democratic presidential election was held. After his reelection in 1997, President Alpha KONARE continued to push through political and economic reforms and to fight corruption. In keeping with Mali's two-term constitutional limit, he stepped down in 2002 and was succeeded by Amadou TOURE. |
Birth rate | 9.57 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 48.37 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$4 billion expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.) |
revenues: $764 million
expenditures: $828 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2002 est.) |
Capital | Minsk | Bamako |
Climate | cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime | subtropical to arid; hot and dry February to June; rainy, humid, and mild June to November; cool and dry November to February |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | 30 March 1994; revised by national referendum of 24 November 1996 giving the presidency greatly expanded powers and became effective 27 November 1996 | adopted 12 January 1992 |
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 Mali
conventional short form: Mali local long form: Republique de Mali local short form: Mali former: French Sudan and Sudanese Republic |
Currency | Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR) | Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States |
Death rate | 13.97 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 18.32 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | $1 billion (2000 est.) | $3.3 billion (2000) |
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 Vicki HUDDLESTONE
embassy: Rue Rochester NY and Rue Mohamed V, Bamako mailing address: B. P. 34, Bamako telephone: [223] (2) 223-833 FAX: [223] (2) 223-712 |
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 Cheick Oumar DIARRAH
chancery: 2130 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 332-2249, 939-8950 FAX: [1] (202) 332-6603 |
Disputes - international | none | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $194.3 million (1995) | $596.4 million (2001) |
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. | Mali is among the poorest countries in the world, with 65% of its land area desert or semidesert. Economic activity is largely confined to the riverine area irrigated by the Niger. About 10% of the population is nomadic and some 70% of the labor force is engaged in farming and fishing. Industrial activity is concentrated on processing farm commodities. Mali is heavily dependent on foreign aid and vulnerable to fluctuations in world prices for cotton, its main export. In 1997, the government continued its successful implementation of an IMF-recommended structural adjustment program that is helping the economy grow, diversify, and attract foreign investment. Mali's adherence to economic reform and the 50% devaluation of the African franc in January 1994 have pushed up economic growth to a sturdy 5% average in 1996-2000. In 2001, GDP decreased by 1.2% mainly due to a 50% drop in cotton production in 2000-01. |
Electricity - consumption | 27.647 billion kWh (1999) | 429.66 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | 2.62 billion kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | 7.1 billion kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production | 24.911 billion kWh (1999) | 462 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
99.9% hydro: 0.1% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
fossil fuel: 43%
hydro: 57% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Nyoman River 90 m highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m |
lowest point: Senegal River 23 m
highest point: Hombori Tondo 1,155 m |
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 | deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; inadequate supplies of potable water; poaching |
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: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Nuclear Test Ban |
Ethnic groups | Byelorussian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4% | Mande 50% (Bambara, Malinke, Soninke), Peul 17%, Voltaic 12%, Songhai 6%, Tuareg and Moor 10%, other 5% |
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 | Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 742.79 (January 2002), 733.04 (2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997); note - from 1 January 1999, the XOF is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF per euro |
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 Amadou Toumani TOURE (since 8 June 2002)
head of government: Prime Minister Ahmed Mohamed Ag HAMANI (since 9 June 2002) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (two-term limit); election last held 12 May 2002 (next to be held NA May 2007); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Amadou Toumani TOURE elected president; percent of vote - Amadou Toumani TOURE 64.4%, Soumaila CISSE 35.6% |
Exports | $7.4 billion (f.o.b., 2000) | $575 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) |
Exports - commodities | machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, textiles, foodstuffs | cotton 43%, gold 40%, livestock (2001 est.) |
Exports - partners | Russia 66%, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Lithuania (1998) | Brazil 10.6%, South Korea 9.9%, Italy 7.3%, Canada 7% (2000) |
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 | three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), yellow, and red; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $78.8 billion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $9.2 billion (2001 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
13% industry: 46% services: 41% (1999 est.) |
agriculture: 45%
industry: 17% services: 38% (2001 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $7,500 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $840 (2001 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 4% (2000 est.) | -1.2% (2001 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 53 00 N, 28 00 E | 17 00 N, 4 00 W |
Geography - note | landlocked | landlocked; divided into three natural zones: the southern, cultivated Sudanese; the central, semiarid Sahelian; and the northern, arid Saharan |
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) |
total: 15,100 km
paved: 1,827 km unpaved: 13,273 km (1996) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
4.9% highest 10%: 19.4% (1993) |
lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 40% (1994) (1994) |
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) | $600 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) |
Imports - commodities | mineral products, machinery and equipment, metals, chemicals, foodstuffs | machinery and equipment, construction materials, petroleum, foodstuffs, textiles |
Imports - partners | Russia 54%, Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Lithuania (1998) | Cote d'Ivoire 21%, France 12.4%, Senegal 4%, Germany 4%, Benelux (2000) |
Independence | 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) | 22 September 1960 (from France) |
Industrial production growth rate | 5% (2000 est.) | NA |
Industries | metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earth movers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators | food processing; construction; phosphate and gold mining |
Infant mortality rate | 14.38 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | 119.63 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 200% (2000 est.) | 4.5% (2001 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) | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (subscriber), ITU, MIPONUH, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 4 (2000) | 13 (2001) |
Irrigated land | 1,000 sq km (1993 est.) | 1,380 sq km (1998 est.) |
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 Cour Supreme |
Labor force | 4.8 million (2000) | 3.93 million (2001 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA% | agriculture and fishing 80% (2001 est.) |
Land boundaries | total:
3,098 km border countries: Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 605 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km |
total: 7,243 km
border countries: Algeria 1,376 km, Burkina Faso 1,000 km, Guinea 858 km, Cote d'Ivoire 532 km, Mauritania 2,237 km, Niger 821 km, Senegal 419 km |
Land use | arable land:
29% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 15% forests and woodland: 34% other: 21% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 3.77%
permanent crops: 0.04% other: 96.19% (1998 est.) |
Languages | Byelorussian, Russian, other | French (official), Bambara 80%, numerous African languages |
Legal system | based on civil law system | based on French civil law system and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Court (which was formally established on 9 March 1994); 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 National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (147 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 14 July and 28 July 2002 (next to be held NA July 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Hope 2002 coalition 66, ADEMA 51, other 30 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
68.14 years male: 62.06 years female: 74.52 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 47.39 years
male: 46.18 years female: 48.64 years (2002 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: 38% male: 45% female: 31% (1998 est.) |
Location | Eastern Europe, east of Poland | Western Africa, southwest of Algeria |
Map references | Commonwealth of Independent States | Africa |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | none (landlocked) |
Military branches | Army, Air Force, Air Defense Force, Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards | Army, Air Force, Gendarmerie, Republican Guard, National Guard, National Police (Surete Nationale) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $156 million (FY98) | $50 million (FY01) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.2% (FY98) | 2% (FY01) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
2,729,956 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 2,369,578 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
2,138,743 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 1,358,646 (2002 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, 22 September (1960) |
Nationality | noun:
Belarusian(s) adjective: Belarusian |
noun: Malian(s)
adjective: Malian |
Natural hazards | NA | hot, dust-laden harmattan haze common during dry seasons; recurring droughts; occasional Niger River flooding |
Natural resources | forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas | gold, phosphates, kaolin, salt, limestone, uranium, hydropower
note: bauxite, iron ore, manganese, tin, and copper deposits are known but not exploited |
Net migration rate | 2.89 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | -0.35 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 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] | Alliance for Democracy or ADEMA [Diounconda Traore KEITA, party chairman]; Block of Alternative for the Renewal of Africa or BARA [Yoro DIAKITE]; Democratic and Social Convention or CDS [Mamadou Bakary SANGARE, chairman]; Movement for the Independence, Renaissance and Integration of Africa or MIRIA [Mohamed Lamine TRAORE, Mouhamedou DICKO]; National Congress for Democratic Initiative or CNID [Mountaga TALL, chairman]; Party for Democracy and Progress or PDP [Me Idrissa TRAORE]; Party for National Renewal or PARENA [Yoro DIAKITE, chairman; Tiebile DRAME, secretary general]; Rally for Democracy and Labor or RDT [Ali GNANGADO]; Rally for Democracy and Progress or RDP [Almamy SYLLA, chairman]; Rally for Mali or RPM [Ibrahim Bonbasor KEITA, chairman]; Sudanese Union/African Democratic Rally or US/RDA [Mamadou Bamou TOURE, secretary general]; Union of Democratic Forces for Progress or UFDP [Youssouf TOURE, secretary general]; Union for Democracy and Development or UDD [Moussa Balla COULIBALY] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | Patriotic Movement of the Ghanda Koye or MPGK; United Movement and Fronts of Azawad or MFUA |
Population | 10,350,194 (July 2001 est.) | 11,340,480 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 22% (1995 est.) | 64% average; 30% of the total population living in urban areas; 76% of the total population living in rural areas) (2001 est.) |
Population growth rate | -0.15% (2001 est.) | 2.97% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Mazyr | Koulikoro |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998) | AM 1, FM 28, shortwave 1
note: the shortwave station in Bamako has seven frequencies and five transmitters and relays broadcasts for China Radio International (2001) |
Radios | 3.02 million (1997) | 570,000 (1997) |
Railways | total:
5,523 km broad gauge: 5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2000) |
total: 729 km
narrow gauge: 729 km 1.000-m gauge note: linked to Senegal's rail system through Kayes (2001) |
Religions | Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.) | Muslim 90%, indigenous beliefs 9%, Christian 1% |
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: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.91 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.87 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2002 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: domestic system unreliable but improving; provides only minimal service
domestic: network consists of microwave radio relay, open wire, and radiotelephone communications stations; expansion of microwave radio relay in progress international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 2.313 million (1997) | 45,000 (2000) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 8,167 (1997) | 40,000 (2001) |
Television broadcast stations | 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995) | 1 (plus repeaters) (2001) |
Terrain | generally flat and contains much marshland | mostly flat to rolling northern plains covered by sand; savanna in south, rugged hills in northeast |
Total fertility rate | 1.28 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 6.73 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers | 14.6% urban areas; 5.3% rural areas (2001 est.) |
Waterways | NA km; note - Belarus has extensive and widely used canal and river systems | 1,815 km |