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Compare Belarus (2001) - Slovakia (2008)

Compare Belarus (2001) z Slovakia (2008)

 Belarus (2001)Slovakia (2008)
 BelarusSlovakia
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 (kraje, singular - kraj); Banskobystricky kraj, Bratislavsky kraj, Kosicky kraj, Nitriansky kraj, Presovsky kraj, Trenciansky kraj, Trnavsky kraj, Zilinsky kraj
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: 16.4% (male 456,105/female 435,154)


15-64 years: 71.5% (male 1,938,846/female 1,955,382)


65 years and over: 12.2% (male 247,728/female 414,287) (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk grains, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, fruit; pigs, cattle, poultry; forest products
Airports 136 (2000 est.) 35 (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: 20


over 3,047 m: 2


2,438 to 3,047 m: 2


1,524 to 2,437 m: 3


914 to 1,523 m: 3


under 914 m: 10 (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: 15


914 to 1,523 m: 8


under 914 m: 7 (2007)
Area total:
207,600 sq km

land:
207,600 sq km

water:
0 sq km
total: 48,845 sq km


land: 48,800 sq km


water: 45 sq km
Area - comparative slightly smaller than Kansas about twice the size of New Hampshire
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 dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the close of World War I allowed the Slovaks to join the closely related Czechs to form Czechoslovakia. Following the chaos of World War II, Czechoslovakia became a Communist nation within Soviet-ruled Eastern Europe. Soviet influence collapsed in 1989 and Czechoslovakia once more became free. The Slovaks and the Czechs agreed to separate peacefully on 1 January 1993. Slovakia joined both NATO and the EU in the spring of 2004.
Birth rate 9.57 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) 10.65 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Budget revenues:
$4 billion

expenditures:
$4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.)
revenues: $33.07 billion


expenditures: $35.13 billion (2007 est.)
Capital Minsk name: Bratislava


geographic coordinates: 48 09 N, 17 07 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 temperate; cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters
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 ratified 1 September 1992, effective 1 January 1993; changed in September 1998 to allow direct election of the president; amended February 2001 to allow Slovakia to apply for NATO and EU membership
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: Slovak Republic


conventional short form: Slovakia


local long form: Slovenska Republika


local short form: Slovensko
Currency Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR) -
Death rate 13.97 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) 9.48 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Debt - external $1 billion (2000 est.) $36.66 billion (30 June 2007)
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 Vincent OBSITNIK


embassy: Hviezdoslavovo Namestie 4, 81102 Bratislava


mailing address: P.O. Box 309, 814 99 Bratislava


telephone: [421] (2) 5443-3338


FAX: [421] (2) 5441-8861
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 Rastislav KACER


chancery: 3523 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20008


telephone: [1] (202) 237-1054


FAX: [1] (202) 237-6438


consulate(s) general: Los Angeles, New York
Disputes - international none bilateral government, legal, technical and economic working group negotiations continued in 2006 between Slovakia and Hungary over Hungary's completion of its portion of the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros hydroelectric dam project along the Danube; as a member state that forms part of the EU's external border, Slovakia has implemented the strict Schengen border rules
Economic aid - recipient $194.3 million (1995) $235 million in available EU structural adjustment and cohesion funds (2004)
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. Slovakia has mastered much of the difficult transition from a centrally planned economy to a modern market economy. The DZURINDA government made excellent progress during 2001-04 in macroeconomic stabilization and structural reform. Major privatizations are nearly complete, the banking sector is almost completely in foreign hands, and the government has helped facilitate a foreign investment boom with business friendly policies such as labor market liberalization and a 19% flat tax. Foreign investment in the automotive sector has been strong. Slovakia's economic growth exceeded expectations in 2001-07 despite the general European slowdown. Unemployment, at an unacceptable 18% in 2003-04, dropped to 8.6% in 2007 but remains the economy's Achilles heel. Slovakia joined the EU on 1 May 2004 and will be the second of the new EU member states to adopt the euro in 2009 if it continues to meet euro adoption criteria in 2008. Despite its 2006 pre-election promises to loosen fiscal policy and reverse the previous DZURINDA government's pro-market reforms, FICO's cabinet has thus far been careful to keep a lid on spending in order to meet euro adoption criteria. The FICO government is pursuing a state-interventionist economic policy, however, and has pushed to regulate energy and food prices.
Electricity - consumption 27.647 billion kWh (1999) 24.93 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports 2.62 billion kWh (1999) 11.27 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports 7.1 billion kWh (1999) 8.005 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - production 24.911 billion kWh (1999) 29.89 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: Bodrok River 94 m


highest point: Gerlachovsky Stit 2,655 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 from metallurgical plants presents human health risks; acid rain damaging forests
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-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling


signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Ethnic groups Byelorussian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4% Slovak 85.8%, Hungarian 9.7%, Roma 1.7%, Ruthenian/Ukrainian 1%, other and unspecified 1.8% (2001 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 koruny per US dollar - 24.919 (2007), 29.611 (2006), 31.018 (2005), 32.257 (2004), 36.773 (2003)
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 Ivan GASPAROVIC (since 15 June 2004)


head of government: Prime Minister Robert FICO (since 4 July 2006); Deputy Prime Ministers Dusan CAPLOVIC, Robert KALINAK, Stefan HARABIN, Jan MIKOLAJ (since 4 July 2006)


cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister


elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 3 April and 17 April 2004 (next to be held in April 2009); following National Council elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the president


election results: Ivan GASPAROVIC elected president in runoff; percent of vote - Ivan GASPAROVIC 59.9%, Vladimir MECIAR 40.1%
Exports $7.4 billion (f.o.b., 2000) 77,660 bbl/day (2004)
Exports - commodities machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, textiles, foodstuffs vehicles 25.9%, machinery and electrical equipment 21.3%, base metals 14.6%, chemicals and minerals 10.1%, plastics 5.4% (2004)
Exports - partners Russia 66%, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Lithuania (1998) Germany 23.5%, Czech Republic 13.8%, Italy 6.5%, Poland 6.2%, Hungary 6.1%, Austria 6.1%, France 4.3%, Netherlands 4.3% (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 three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red superimposed with the coat of arms of Slovakia (consisting of a red shield bordered in white and bearing a white Cross of Lorraine surmounting three blue hills); the coat of arms is centered vertically and offset 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: 3.4%


industry: 32.8%


services: 63.8% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $7,500 (2000 est.) -
GDP - real growth rate 4% (2000 est.) 8.8% (2007 est.)
Geographic coordinates 53 00 N, 28 00 E 48 40 N, 19 30 E
Geography - note landlocked landlocked; most of the country is rugged and mountainous; the Tatra Mountains in the north are interspersed with many scenic lakes and valleys
Heliports - 1 (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)
lowest 10%: 3.1%


highest 10%: 20.9% (1996)
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 bound for Western Europe; producer of synthetic drugs for regional market; consumer of ecstasy
Imports $8.3 billion (f.o.b., 2000) 138,200 bbl/day (2004)
Imports - commodities mineral products, machinery and equipment, metals, chemicals, foodstuffs machinery and transport equipment 41.1%, intermediate manufactured goods 19.3%, fuels 12.3%, chemicals 9.8%, miscellaneous manufactured goods 10.2% (2003)
Imports - partners Russia 54%, Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Lithuania (1998) Germany 23%, Czech Republic 18.1%, Russia 11.2%, Hungary 6.1%, Austria 5.6%, Poland 4.9%, Italy 4.4% (2006)
Independence 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) 1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia)
Industrial production growth rate 5% (2000 est.) 12% (2007 est.)
Industries metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earth movers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators metal and metal products; food and beverages; electricity, gas, coke, oil, nuclear fuel; chemicals and manmade fibers; machinery; paper and printing; earthenware and ceramics; transport vehicles; textiles; electrical and optical apparatus; rubber products
Infant mortality rate 14.38 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) total: 7.12 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 8.32 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 5.87 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 200% (2000 est.) 2.7% (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) ACCT (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, SECI (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNIDO, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (associate partner), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) 4 (2000) -
Irrigated land 1,000 sq km (1993 est.) 1,830 sq km (2003)
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 (judges are elected by the National Council); Constitutional Court (judges appointed by president from group of nominees approved by the National Council); Special Court (judges elected by a council of judges and appointed by president)
Labor force 4.8 million (2000) 2.661 million (2007 est.)
Labor force - by occupation industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA% agriculture 5.8%, industry 29.3%, construction 9%, services 55.9% (2003)
Land boundaries total:
3,098 km

border countries:
Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 605 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km
total: 1,524 km


border countries: Austria 91 km, Czech Republic 215 km, Hungary 677 km, Poland 444 km, Ukraine 97 km
Land use arable land:
29%

permanent crops:
1%

permanent pastures:
15%

forests and woodland:
34%

other:
21% (1993 est.)
arable land: 29.23%


permanent crops: 2.67%


other: 68.1% (2005)
Languages Byelorussian, Russian, other Slovak (official) 83.9%, Hungarian 10.7%, Roma 1.8%, Ukrainian 1%, other or unspecified 2.6% (2001 census)
Legal system based on civil law system civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; legal code modified to comply with the obligations of Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and to expunge Marxist-Leninist legal theory
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 Council of the Slovak Republic or Narodna Rada Slovenskej Republiky (150 seats; members are elected on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms)


elections: last held 17 June 2006 (next to be held in 2010)


election results: percent of vote by party - Smer 29.1%, SDKU 18.4%, SMK 11.7%, SNS 11.7%, LS-HZDS 8.8%, KDH 8.3%, other 12%; seats by party - Smer 50, SDKU 31, SMK 20, SNS 19, LS-HZDS 16, KDH 14
Life expectancy at birth total population:
68.14 years

male:
62.06 years

female:
74.52 years (2001 est.)
total population: 74.95 years


male: 71 years


female: 79.11 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: 99.6%


male: 99.7%


female: 99.6% (2001 est.)
Location Eastern Europe, east of Poland Central Europe, south of Poland
Map references Commonwealth of Independent States Europe
Maritime claims none (landlocked) none (landlocked)
Merchant marine - total: 54 ships (1000 GRT or over) 260,766 GRT/361,651 DWT


by type: bulk carrier 6, cargo 45, refrigerated cargo 3


foreign-owned: 46 (Bulgaria 7, Estonia 2, Greece 4, Israel 6, Italy 1, Poland 2, Syria 2, Turkey 11, Ukraine 10, UK 1) (2007)
Military branches Army, Air Force, Air Defense Force, Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic (Ozbrojene Sily Slovenskej Republiky): Land Forces (Pozemne Sily), Air Forces (Vzdusne Sily) (2005)
Military expenditures - dollar figure $156 million (FY98) -
Military expenditures - percent of GDP 1.2% (FY98) 1.87% (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 Constitution Day, 1 September (1992)
Nationality noun:
Belarusian(s)

adjective:
Belarusian
noun: Slovak(s)


adjective: Slovak
Natural hazards NA NA
Natural resources forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas brown coal and lignite; small amounts of iron ore, copper and manganese ore; salt; arable land
Net migration rate 2.89 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) 0.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Pipelines crude oil 1,470 km; refined products 1,100 km; natural gas 1,980 km (1992) gas 6,769 km; oil 416 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] Parties in the Parliament: Christian Democratic Movement or KDH [Pavol HRUSOVSKY]; Direction-Social Democracy or Smer-SD [Robert FICO]; Party of the Hungarian Coalition or SMK [Pal CSAKY]; People's Party - Movement for a Democratic Slovakia or LS-HZDS [Vladimir MECIAR]; Slovak Democratic and Christian Union or SDKU-DS [Mikulas DZURINDA]; Slovak National Party or SNS [Jan SLOTA]; Parties outside the Parliament: Agrarian Party of the Provinces or ASV [Jozef VASKEBA]; Civic Conservative Party or OKS [Peter TATAR]; Free Forum [Zuzana MARTINAKOVA]; Hope or NADEJ [Alexandra NOVOTNA]; Left-wing Bloc or LB [Jozef KALMAN]; Mission 21 - New Christian Democracy or MISIA 21 [Ivan SIMKO]; Movement for Democracy or HZD [Jozef GRAPA]; New Citizens Alliance or ANO [Pavol RUSKO]; Party of the Democratic Left or SDL [Ladislav KOZMON]; Prosperita Slovenska or PS [Frantisek A. ZVRSKOVEC]; Slovak Communist Party or KSS [Vladimir DADO]; Slovak National Coalition or SLNKO [Vitazoslav MORIC]; Slovak People's Party or SLS [Jozef SASIK]; Union of the Workers of Slovakia or ZRS [Jan LUPTAK]
Political pressure groups and leaders NA Federation of Employers' Associations of the Slovak Republic; Association of Towns and Villages or ZMOS; Confederation of Trade Unions or KOZ; National Union of Employers or RUZ; Slovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry or SOPK; Entrepreneurs Association of Slovakia or ZPS; The Business Alliance of Slovakia or PAS
Population 10,350,194 (July 2001 est.) 5,447,502 (July 2007 est.)
Population below poverty line 22% (1995 est.) 21% (2002)
Population growth rate -0.15% (2001 est.) 0.147% (2007 est.)
Ports and harbors Mazyr -
Radio broadcast stations AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998) AM 15, FM 78, shortwave 2 (1998)
Radios 3.02 million (1997) -
Railways total:
5,523 km

broad gauge:
5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2000)
total: 3,662 km


broad gauge: 100 km 1.520-m gauge


standard gauge: 3,512 km 1.435-m gauge (1,588 km electrified)


narrow gauge: 50 km (1.000-m or 0.750-m gauge) (2006)
Religions Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.) Roman Catholic 68.9%, Protestant 10.8%, Greek Catholic 4.1%, other or unspecified 3.2%, none 13% (2001 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.)
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female


under 15 years: 1.048 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 0.992 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.598 male(s)/female


total population: 0.942 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: Slovakia has a modern telecommunications system that has expanded dramatically in recent years with the growth in cellular services


domestic: analog system is now receiving digital equipment and is being enlarged with fiber-optic cable, especially in the larger cities; 3 companies provide nationwide cellular services


international: country code - 421; 3 international exchanges (1 in Bratislava and 2 in Banska Bystrica) are available; Slovakia is participating in several international telecommunications projects that will increase the availability of external services
Telephones - main lines in use 2.313 million (1997) 1.167 million (2006)
Telephones - mobile cellular 8,167 (1997) 4.893 million (2006)
Television broadcast stations 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995) 80 (national broadcasting 6, regional 7, local 67) (2004)
Terrain generally flat and contains much marshland rugged mountains in the central and northern part and lowlands in the south
Total fertility rate 1.28 children born/woman (2001 est.) 1.33 children born/woman (2007 est.)
Unemployment rate 2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers 8.6% (2007 est.)
Waterways NA km; note - Belarus has extensive and widely used canal and river systems 172 km (on Danube River) (2005)
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