Belarus (2001) | Serbia (2008) | |
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 |
161 municipalities (opcstine, singular - opcstina)
Serbia Proper: Beograd: Barajevo, Cukavica, Grocka, Lazarevac, Mladnovac, Novi Beograd, Obrenovac, Palilula, Rakovica, Savski Venac, Sopot, Stari Grad, Surcin, Vozdovac, Vracar, Zemun, Zrezdara; Borski Okrug: Bor, Kladovo, Majdanpek, Negotin; Branicevski Okrug: Golubac, Kucevo, Malo Crnice, Petrovac, Pozarevac, Veliko Gradiste, Zabari, Zagubica; Jablanicki Okrug: Bojnik, Crna Trava, Lebane, Leskovac, Medvedja, Vlasotince; Kolubarski Okrug: Lajkovac, Ljig, Mionica, Osecina, Ub, Valjevo; Macvanski Okrug: Bogatic, Koceljeva, Krupanj, Ljubovija, Loznica, Mali Zvornik, Sabac, Vladimirci; Moravicki Okrug: Cacak, Gornkji Milanovac, Ivanjica, Lucani; Nisavski Okrug: Aleksinac, Doljevac, Gadzin Han, Merosina, Nis, Razanj, Svrljig; Pcinjski Okrug: Bosilegrad, Bujanovac, Presevo, Surdulica, Trgoviste, Vladicin Han, Vranje; Pirotski Okrug: Babusnica, Bela Palanka, Dimitrovgrad, Pirot; Podunavski Okrug: Smederevo, Smederevskia Palanka, Velika Plana; Pomoravski Okrug: Cuprija, Despotovac, Jagodina, Paracin, Rckovac, Svilajnac; Rasinski Okrug: Aleksandrovac, Brus, Cicevac, Krusevac, Trstenik, Varvarin; Raski Okrug: Kraljevo, Novi Pazar, Raska, Tutin, Vrnjacka Banja; Sumadijski Okrug: Arandjelovac, Batocina, Knic, Kragujevac, Lapovo, Raca, Topola; Toplicki Okrug: Blace, Kursumlija, Prokuplje, Zitoradja; Zajecarski Okrug: Boljevac, Knjazevac, Sokobanja, Zalecar; Zlatiborski Okrug: Arilje, Bajina Basta, Cajetina, Kosjeric, Nova Varos, Pozega, Priboj, Prijepolje, Sjenica, Uzice; Vojvodina Autonomous Province: Juzno-Backi Okrug: Backi Petrovac, Beocin, Novi Sad, Sremski Karlovci, Temerin, Titel, Zabalj; Juzno Banatski Okrug: Alibunar, Bela Crkva, Kovacica, Kovin, Opovo, Pancevo, Plandiste, Vrsac; Severno-Backi Okrug: Backa Topola, Mali Idjos, Subotica; Severno-Banatski Okrug: Ada, Coka, Kanjiza, Kikinda, Novi Knezevac, Senta; Srednje-Banatski Okrug: Nova Crnja, Novi Becej, Secanj, Zitiste, Zrenjanin; Sremski Okrug: Indjija, Irig, Pecinci, Ruma, Sid, Sremska Mitrovica, Stara Pazova; Zapadno-Backi Okrug: Apatin, Kula, Odzaci, Sombor; |
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.) |
- |
Agriculture - products | grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk | wheat, maize, sugar beets, sunflower, beef, pork, milk |
Airports | 136 (2000 est.) | 39 (note - includes Kosovo) (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: 16
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 4 (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: 23
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 9 under 914 m: 12 (2007) |
Area | total:
207,600 sq km land: 207,600 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 77,474 sq km
land: 77,474 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Kansas | slightly smaller than South Carolina |
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 Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes was formed in 1918; its name was changed to Yugoslavia in 1929. Various paramilitary bands resisted Nazi Germany's occupation and division of Yugoslavia from 1941 to 1945, but fought each other and ethnic opponents as much as the invaders. The military and political movement headed by Josip TITO (Partisans) took full control of Yugoslavia when German and Croatian separatist forces were defeated in 1945. Although Communist, TITO's new government and his successors (he died in 1980) managed to steer their own path between the Warsaw Pact nations and the West for the next four and a half decades. In 1989, Slobodan MILOSEVIC became president of the Serbian Republic and his ultranationalist calls for Serbian domination led to the violent breakup of Yugoslavia along ethnic lines. In 1991, Croatia, Slovenia, and Macedonia declared independence, followed by Bosnia in 1992. The remaining republics of Serbia and Montenegro declared a new Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) in April 1992 and under MILOSEVIC's leadership, Serbia led various military campaigns to unite ethnic Serbs in neighboring republics into a "Greater Serbia." These actions led to Yugoslavia being ousted from the UN in 1992, but Serbia continued its - ultimately unsuccessful - campaign until signing the Dayton Peace Accords in 1995. MILOSEVIC kept tight control over Serbia and eventually became president of the FRY in 1997. In 1998, a small-scale ethnic Albanian insurgency in the formerly autonomous Serbian province of Kosovo provoked a Serbian counterinsurgency campaign that resulted in massacres and massive expulsions of ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo by FRY forces and Serb paramilitaries. The MILOSEVIC government's rejection of a proposed international settlement led to NATO's bombing of Serbia in the spring of 1999 and to the eventual withdrawal of Serbian military and police forces from Kosovo in June 1999. UNSC Resolution 1244 in June 1999 authorized the stationing of a NATO-led force (KFOR) in Kosovo to provide a safe and secure environment for the region's ethnic communities, created a UN interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) to foster self-governing institutions, and reserved the issue of Kosovo's final status for an unspecified date in the future. In 2001, UNMIK promulgated a constitutional framework that allowed Kosovo to establish institutions of self-government and led to Kosovo's first parliamentary election. FRY elections in September 2000 led to the ouster of MILOSEVIC and installed Vojislav KOSTUNICA as president. A broad coalition of democratic reformist parties known as DOS (the Democratic Opposition of Serbia) was subsequently elected to parliament in December 2000 and took control of the government. The arrest of MILOSEVIC by DOS in 2001 allowed for his subsequent transfer to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague to be tried for crimes against humanity. (MILOSEVIC died at The Hague in March 2006 before the completion of his trial.) In 2001, the country's suspension from the UN was lifted, and it was once more accepted into UN organizations. In 2003, the FRY became Serbia and Montenegro, a loose federation of the two republics with a federal level parliament. Widespread violence predominantly targeting ethnic Serbs in Kosovo in March 2004 caused the international community to open negotiations on the future status of Kosovo in January 2006. In May 2006, Montenegro invoked its right under the Constitutional Charter of Serbia and Montenegro to hold a referendum on independence from the state union. The referendum was successful, and Montenegro declared itself an independent nation on 3 June 2006. Two days later, Serbia declared that it was the successor state to the union of Serbia and Montenegro. In October 2006, the Serbian parliament unanimously approved - and a referendum confirmed - a new constitution for the country. |
Birth rate | 9.57 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | - |
Budget | revenues:
$4 billion expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.) |
revenues: $17.34 billion
expenditures: $17.54 billion (2007 est.) |
Capital | Minsk | name: Belgrade
geographic coordinates: 44 50 N, 20 30 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
Climate | cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime | in the north, continental climate (cold winters and hot, humid summers with well distributed rainfall); in other parts, continental and Mediterranean climate (relatively cold winters with heavy snowfall and hot, dry summers and autumns) |
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 8 November 2006; effective 10 November 2006 |
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 Serbia
conventional short form: Serbia local long form: Republika Srbija local short form: Srbija former: People's Republic of Serbia, Socialist Republic of Serbia |
Currency | Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR) | - |
Death rate | 13.97 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | - |
Debt - external | $1 billion (2000 est.) | $28.24 billion (includes Montenegro) (2007 est.) |
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 Cameron MUNTER
embassy: Kneza Milosa 50, 11000 Belgrade mailing address: 5070 Belgrade Place, Washington, DC 20521-5070 telephone: [381] (11) 361-9344 FAX: [381] (11) 361-8230 note: there is a branch office in Pristina at 30 Nazim Hikmet 38000 Prstina, Kososvo; telephone: [381] (38) 5959-3000; FAX:[381] (38) 549-890 |
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 Ivan VUJACIC
chancery: 2134 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 332-0333 FAX: [1] (202) 332-3933 consulate(s) general: Chicago, New York |
Disputes - international | none | Serbia with several other states protest the U.S. and other states' recognition of Kosovo's declaring itself as a sovereign and independent state in February 2008; ethnic Serbian municipalities along Kosovo's northern border challenge final status of Kosovo-Serbia boundary; several thousand NATO-led KFOR peacekeepers under UNMIK authority continue to keep the peace within Kosovo between the ethnic Albanian majority and the Serb minority in Kosovo; Serbia delimited about half of the boundary with Bosnia and Herzegovina, but sections along the Drina River remain in dispute |
Economic aid - recipient | $194.3 million (1995) | $2 billion pledged in 2001 to Serbia and Montenegro (disbursements to follow over several years; aid pledged by EU and US has been placed on hold because of lack of cooperation by Serbia in handing over General Ratko MLADIC to the criminal court in The Hague) |
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. | MILOSEVIC-era mismanagement of the economy, an extended period of economic sanctions, and the damage to Yugoslavia's infrastructure and industry during the NATO airstrikes in 1999 left the economy only half the size it was in 1990. After the ousting of former Federal Yugoslav President MILOSEVIC in October 2000, the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) coalition government implemented stabilization measures and embarked on a market reform program. After renewing its membership in the IMF in December 2000, a down-sized Yugoslavia continued to reintegrate into the international community by rejoining the World Bank (IBRD) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). A World Bank-European Commission sponsored Donors' Conference held in June 2001 raised $1.3 billion for economic restructuring. In November 2001, the Paris Club agreed to reschedule the country's $4.5 billion public debt and wrote off 66% of the debt. In July 2004, the London Club of private creditors forgave $1.7 billion of debt just over half the total owed. Belgrade has made only minimal progress in restructuring and privatizing its holdings in major sectors of the economy, including energy and telecommunications. It has made halting progress towards EU membership and is currently pursuing a Stabilization and Association Agreement with Brussels. Serbia is also pursuing membership in the World Trade Organization. Unemployment remains an ongoing political and economic problem.
note: economic data for Serbia currently reflects information for the former Serbia and Montenegro, including Kosovo, unless otherwise noted; data for Serbia alone will be added when available |
Electricity - consumption | 27.647 billion kWh (1999) | NA |
Electricity - exports | 2.62 billion kWh (1999) | 12.05 billion kWh (excludes Kosovo; exported to Montenegro) (2004) |
Electricity - imports | 7.1 billion kWh (1999) | 11.23 billion kWh (excludes Kosovo; imports from Montenegro) (2004) |
Electricity - production | 24.911 billion kWh (1999) | 33.87 billion kWh (excludes Kosovo and Montenegro) (2004) |
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: NA
highest point: Midzor 2,169 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 | air pollution around Belgrade and other industrial cities; water pollution from industrial wastes dumped into the Sava which flows into the Danube |
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, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | Byelorussian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4% | Serb 82.9%, Hungarian 3.9%, Romany (Gypsy) 1.4%, Yugoslavs 1.1%, Bosniaks 1.8%, Montenegrin 0.9%, other 8% (2002 census) |
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 | Serbian dinars per US dollar - 54.5 (2007), 59.98 (2006) |
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 Boris TADIC (since 11 July 2004);
head of government: Prime Minister Vojislav KOSTUNICA (since 3 March 2004); cabinet: Federal Ministries act as cabinet; elections: president elected by direct vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 3 February 2008 (next to be held in 2013); prime minister elected by the Assembly election results: Boris TADIC elected president in the second round of voting; Boris TADIC received 51.2% of the vote and Tomislav NIKOLIC 48.8% |
Exports | $7.4 billion (f.o.b., 2000) | NA bbl/day |
Exports - commodities | machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, textiles, foodstuffs | manufactured goods, food and live animals, machinery and transport equipment |
Exports - partners | Russia 66%, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Lithuania (1998) | - |
Fiscal 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 horizontal stripes of red (top), blue, and white; charged with the coat of arms of Serbia shifted slightly to the hoist side |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $78.8 billion (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
13% industry: 46% services: 41% (1999 est.) |
agriculture: 12.3%
industry: 24.2% services: 63.5% (2007 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $7,500 (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 4% (2000 est.) | 5.9% for Serbia alone (excludes Kosovo) (2005 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 53 00 N, 28 00 E | 44 00 N, 21 00 E |
Geography - note | landlocked | controls one of the major land routes from Western Europe to Turkey and the Near East |
Heliports | - | 2 (2007) |
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) |
- |
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 | transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin moving to Western Europe on the Balkan route; economy vulnerable to money laundering |
Imports | $8.3 billion (f.o.b., 2000) | NA bbl/day |
Imports - commodities | mineral products, machinery and equipment, metals, chemicals, foodstuffs | - |
Imports - partners | Russia 54%, Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Lithuania (1998) | - |
Independence | 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) | 5 June 2006 (from Serbia and Montenegro) |
Industrial production growth rate | 5% (2000 est.) | 1.4% (2006 est.) |
Industries | metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earth movers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators | sugar, agricultural machinery, electrical and communication equipment, paper and pulp, lead, transportation equipment |
Infant mortality rate | 14.38 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | - |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 200% (2000 est.) | 8.9% (2007 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) | ABEDA, BIS, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, FAO, G-9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD (suspended), IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MONUC, NAM (observer), OAS (observer), OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, SECI, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer) |
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) | Constitutional Court, Supreme Court (to become court of cassation under new constitution), appellate courts, district courts, municipal courts |
Labor force | 4.8 million (2000) | 2.961 million for Serbia (includes Kosovo) (2002 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA% | agriculture: 30%
industry: 46% services: 24% note: excludes Kosovo and Montenegro (2002) |
Land boundaries | total:
3,098 km border countries: Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 605 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km |
total: 2,026.3 km
border countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina 302 km, Bulgaria 318 km, Croatia 241 km, Hungary 151 km, Kosovo 351.6 km, Macedonia 62.3 km, Montenegro 124.4 km, Romania 476 km |
Land use | arable land:
29% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 15% forests and woodland: 34% other: 21% (1993 est.) |
arable land: NA
permanent crops: NA other: NA |
Languages | Byelorussian, Russian, other | Serbian 88.3% (official), Hungarian 3.8%, Bosniak 1.8%, Romany (Gypsy) 1.1%, other 4.1%, unknown 0.9% (2002 census)
note: Romanian, Hungarian, Slovak, Ukrainian, and Croatian all official in Vojvodina |
Legal system | based on civil law system | based on civil law system; 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 (250 seats; deputies elected by direct vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held on 21 January 2007 (next to be held in 2011) election results: Serbia National Assembly: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - SRS 81, DS 64, DSS-NS 47, G17 Plus 19, SPS 16, LDP Coalition 15, SVM 3, KZS 2, URS 1, KAPD 1, RP 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
68.14 years male: 62.06 years female: 74.52 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 75.06 years
male: 72.49 years female: 77.86 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: 96.4% male: 98.9% female: 94.1% (2003 census) note: includes Montenegro |
Location | Eastern Europe, east of Poland | Southeastern Europe, between Macedonia and Hungary |
Map references | Commonwealth of Independent States | Europe |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | none (landlocked) |
Military branches | Army, Air Force, Air Defense Force, Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards | Serbian Armed Forces (Vojska Srbije, VS): Land Forces Command (includes Serbian naval force, consisting of a river flotilla on the Danube), Joint Operations Command, Air and Air Defense Forces Command (2007) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $156 million (FY98) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.2% (FY98) | - |
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 | National Day, 15 February |
Nationality | noun:
Belarusian(s) adjective: Belarusian |
noun: Serb(s)
adjective: Serbian |
Natural hazards | NA | destructive earthquakes |
Natural resources | forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas | oil, gas, coal, iron ore, copper, zinc, antimony, chromite, gold, silver, magnesium, pyrite, limestone, marble, salt, arable land |
Net migration rate | 2.89 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | - |
Pipelines | crude oil 1,470 km; refined products 1,100 km; natural gas 1,980 km (1992) | gas 1,921 km; oil 393 km (2007) |
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] | Coalition for Sandzak or KZS [Sulejman UGLJANIN]; Democratic Party of Albanians or PDSh [Ragmi MUSTAFA]; Democratic Party of Serbia or DSS [Vojislav KOSTUNICA]; Democratic Party or DS [Boris TADIC]; Democratic Union of the Valley or BDL [Skender DESTANI]; Force of Serbia Movement or PSS [Bogoljub KARIC]; G17 Plus [Mladjan DINKIC]; League of Vojvodina Hungarians or SVM [Istvan PASTOR]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Cedomir JOVANOVIC]; Movement for Democratic Progress of LPD [Jonuz MUSLIU]; New Serbia or NS [Velimir ILIC]; Party of Democratic Action or PVD [Riza HALIMI]; Roma Party or RP [Srdjan SAJN]; Serbian Radical Party or SRS [Vojislav SESELJ (currently on trial at The Hague), but Tomislav NIKOLIC is acting leader]; Socialist Party of Serbia or SPS [Ivica DACIC]; Union of Roma of Serbia or URS [Rajko DJURIC] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | - |
Population | 10,350,194 (July 2001 est.) | 10,150,265 (July 2007 est.)
note: all population data includes Kosovo |
Population below poverty line | 22% (1995 est.) | 30%
note: data covers the former Serbia and Montenegro (1999 est.) |
Population growth rate | -0.15% (2001 est.) | - |
Ports and harbors | Mazyr | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998) | 153 (station types NA) (2001) |
Radios | 3.02 million (1997) | - |
Railways | total:
5,523 km broad gauge: 5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2000) |
total: 3,379 km (note - excludes Kosovo)
standard gauge: 3,379 km 1.435-m gauge (electrified 1,254 km) (2006) |
Religions | Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.) | Serbian Orthodox 85%, Catholic 5.5%, Protestant 1.1%, Muslim 3.2%, unspecified 2.6%, other, unknown, or atheist 2.6% (2002 census) |
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.) |
- |
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: modernization of the telecommunications network has been slow as a result of damage stemming from the 1999 war and transition to a competitive market-based system; network was only 65% digitalized in 2005
domestic: teledensity remains below the average for neighboring states; GSM wireless service, available through multiple providers with national coverage, is growing very rapidly; best telecommunications service limited to urban centers international: country code - 381 |
Telephones - main lines in use | 2.313 million (1997) | 2.719 million (2006) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 8,167 (1997) | 6.644 million (2006) |
Television broadcast stations | 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995) | - |
Terrain | generally flat and contains much marshland | extremely varied; to the north, rich fertile plains; to the east, limestone ranges and basins; to the southeast, ancient mountains and hills |
Total fertility rate | 1.28 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 1.69 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers | 18.8% (2007 est.) |
Waterways | NA km; note - Belarus has extensive and widely used canal and river systems | 587 km (primarily on Danube and Sava rivers) (2005) |