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Compare Belarus (2001) - Swaziland (2006)
Compare Belarus (2001) z Swaziland (2006)
| Belarus (2001) | Swaziland (2006) | |
 |  | |
| 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 |
4 districts; Hhohho, Lubombo, Manzini, Shiselweni |
| 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: 40.7% (male 233,169/female 229,103)
15-64 years: 55.8% (male 303,260/female 330,460) 65 years and over: 3.6% (male 16,071/female 24,271) (2006 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk | sugarcane, cotton, corn, tobacco, rice, citrus, pineapples, sorghum, peanuts; cattle, goats, sheep |
| Airports | 136 (2000 est.) | 18 (2006) |
| 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: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 (2006) |
| 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: 17
914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 10 (2006) |
| Area | total:
207,600 sq km land: 207,600 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 17,363 sq km
land: 17,203 sq km water: 160 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Kansas | slightly smaller than New Jersey |
| 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. | Autonomy for the Swazis of southern Africa was guaranteed by the British in the late 19th century; independence was granted in 1968. Student and labor unrest during the 1990s pressured the monarchy (one of the oldest on the continent) to grudgingly allow political reform and greater democracy. Swaziland recently surpassed Botswana as the country with the world's highest known rates of HIV/AIDS infection. |
| Birth rate | 9.57 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 27.41 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
| Budget | revenues:
$4 billion expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.) |
revenues: $805.6 million
expenditures: $957.1 million; including capital expenditures of $147 million (2005 est.) |
| Capital | Minsk | name: Mbabane
geographic coordinates: 26 18 S, 31 06 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) note: Lobamba (royal and legislative capital) |
| Climate | cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime | varies from tropical to near temperate |
| 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 | the first constitution was signed into law in July 2005 and is scheduled to be implemented in January 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: Kingdom of Swaziland
conventional short form: Swaziland local long form: Umbuso weSwatini local short form: eSwatini |
| Currency | Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR) | - |
| Death rate | 13.97 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 29.74 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
| Debt - external | $1 billion (2000 est.) | $357 million (2003 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 Lewis LUCKE
embassy: Central Bank Building, Mahlokahla Street, Mbabane mailing address: P. O. Box 199, Mbabane telephone: [268] 404-6441 through 404-6445 FAX: [268] 404-5959 |
| 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 Ephraim Mandla HLOPHE
chancery: 1712 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 234-5002 FAX: [1] (202) 234-8254 |
| Disputes - international | none | none |
| Economic aid - recipient | $194.3 million (1995) | $104 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. | In this small, landlocked economy, subsistence agriculture occupies more than 80% of the population. The manufacturing sector has diversified since the mid-1980s. Sugar and wood pulp remain important foreign exchange earners. Mining has declined in importance in recent years with only coal and quarry stone mines remaining active. Surrounded by South Africa, except for a short border with Mozambique, Swaziland is heavily dependent on South Africa from which it receives about nine-tenths of its imports and to which it sends nearly two-thirds of its exports. Customs duties from the Southern African Customs Union and worker remittances from South Africa substantially supplement domestically earned income. The government is trying to improve the atmosphere for foreign investment. Overgrazing, soil depletion, drought, and sometimes floods persist as problems for the future. More than one-fourth of the population needed emergency food aid in 2004-05 because of drought, and nearly two-fifths of the adult population has been infected by HIV/AIDS. |
| Electricity - consumption | 27.647 billion kWh (1999) | 1.161 billion kWh (2003) |
| Electricity - exports | 2.62 billion kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2004) |
| Electricity - imports | 7.1 billion kWh (1999) | 821.4 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2004) |
| Electricity - production | 24.911 billion kWh (1999) | 392 million kWh (2003) |
| 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: Great Usutu River 21 m
highest point: Emlembe 1,862 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 | limited supplies of potable water; wildlife populations being depleted because of excessive hunting; overgrazing; soil degradation; soil erosion |
| 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, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
| Ethnic groups | Byelorussian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4% | African 97%, European 3% |
| 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 | emalangeni per US dollar - 6.3593 (2005), 6.4597 (2004), 7.5648 (2003), 10.5407 (2002), 8.6092 (2001) |
| 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: King MSWATI III (since 25 April 1986)
head of government: Prime Minister Absolom Themba DLAMINI (since 14 November 2003) cabinet: Cabinet recommended by the prime minister and confirmed by the monarch elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; prime minister appointed by the monarch |
| Exports | $7.4 billion (f.o.b., 2000) | NA bbl/day |
| Exports - commodities | machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, textiles, foodstuffs | soft drink concentrates, sugar, wood pulp, cotton yarn, refrigerators, citrus and canned fruit |
| Exports - partners | Russia 66%, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Lithuania (1998) | South Africa 59.7%, EU 8.8%, US 8.8%, Mozambique 6.2% (2004) |
| Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 April - 31 March |
| 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 horizontal bands of blue (top), red (triple width), and blue; the red band is edged in yellow; centered in the red band is a large black and white shield covering two spears and a staff decorated with feather tassels, all placed horizontally |
| GDP | purchasing power parity - $78.8 billion (2000 est.) | - |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
13% industry: 46% services: 41% (1999 est.) |
agriculture: 11.9%
industry: 51.5% services: 36.6% (2005 est.) |
| GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $7,500 (2000 est.) | - |
| GDP - real growth rate | 4% (2000 est.) | 1.8% (2005 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | 53 00 N, 28 00 E | 26 30 S, 31 30 E |
| Geography - note | landlocked | landlocked; almost completely surrounded by South Africa |
| 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%: 1%
highest 10%: 50.2% (1995) |
| 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) | NA bbl/day |
| Imports - commodities | mineral products, machinery and equipment, metals, chemicals, foodstuffs | motor vehicles, machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals |
| Imports - partners | Russia 54%, Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Lithuania (1998) | South Africa 95.6%, EU 0.9%, Japan 0.9%, Singapore 0.3% (2004) |
| Independence | 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) | 6 September 1968 (from UK) |
| Industrial production growth rate | 5% (2000 est.) | 3.7% (FY95/96) |
| Industries | metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earth movers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators | mining (coal, raw asbestos), wood pulp, sugar, soft drink concentrates, textile and apparel |
| Infant mortality rate | 14.38 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 71.85 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 75.25 deaths/1,000 live births female: 68.34 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 200% (2000 est.) | 4% (2005 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) | ACP, AfDB, AU, C, COMESA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 4 (2000) | - |
| Irrigated land | 1,000 sq km (1993 est.) | 500 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) | High Court; Court of Appeal; judges for both courts are appointed by the monarch |
| Labor force | 4.8 million (2000) | 155,700 (2003) |
| Labor force - by occupation | industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA% | agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
| Land boundaries | total:
3,098 km border countries: Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 605 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km |
total: 535 km
border countries: Mozambique 105 km, South Africa 430 km |
| Land use | arable land:
29% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 15% forests and woodland: 34% other: 21% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 10.25%
permanent crops: 0.81% other: 88.94% (2005) |
| Languages | Byelorussian, Russian, other | English (official, government business conducted in English), siSwati (official) |
| Legal system | based on civil law system | based on South African Roman-Dutch law in statutory courts and Swazi traditional law and custom in traditional courts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations |
| 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 |
bicameral Parliament or Libandla, an advisory body, consists of the Senate (30 seats - 10 appointed by the House of Assembly and 20 appointed by the monarch; members serve five-year terms) and the House of Assembly (65 seats - 10 appointed by the monarch and 55 elected by popular vote; members serve five-year terms)
elections: House of Assembly - last held 18 October 2003 (next to be held October 2008) election results: House of Assembly - balloting is done on a nonparty basis; candidates for election are nominated by the local council of each constituency and for each constituency the three candidates with the most votes in the first round of voting are narrowed to a single winner by a second round |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population:
68.14 years male: 62.06 years female: 74.52 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 32.62 years
male: 32.1 years female: 33.17 years (2006 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: 81.6% male: 82.6% female: 80.8% (2003 est.) |
| Location | Eastern Europe, east of Poland | Southern Africa, between Mozambique and South Africa |
| 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 | Umbutfo Swaziland Defense Force (USDF): Ground Force (includes air wing), Royal Swaziland Police Force (RSPF) (2005) |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | $156 million (FY98) | $41.6 million (2005 est.) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.2% (FY98) | 1.4% (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, 6 September (1968) |
| Nationality | noun:
Belarusian(s) adjective: Belarusian |
noun: Swazi(s)
adjective: Swazi |
| Natural hazards | NA | drought |
| Natural resources | forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas | asbestos, coal, clay, cassiterite, hydropower, forests, small gold and diamond deposits, quarry stone, and talc |
| Net migration rate | 2.89 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 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] | political parties are banned by the government under an emergency decree that will be revoked when the new constitution takes effect (January 2006)- the following are considered political associations; Imbokodvo National Movement or INM; Ngwane National Liberatory Congress or NNLC [Obed DLAMINI, president]; People's United Democratic Movement or PUDEMO [Mario MASUKU, president] |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
| Population | 10,350,194 (July 2001 est.) | 1,136,334
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2006 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | 22% (1995 est.) | 69% (2005) |
| Population growth rate | -0.15% (2001 est.) | -0.23% (2006 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | Mazyr | - |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998) | AM 3, FM 2 plus 4 repeaters, shortwave 3 (2004) |
| Radios | 3.02 million (1997) | - |
| Railways | total:
5,523 km broad gauge: 5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2000) |
total: 301 km
narrow gauge: 301 km 1.067-m gauge (2005) |
| Religions | Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.) | Zionist 40% (a blend of Christianity and indigenous ancestral worship), Roman Catholic 20%, Muslim 10%, Anglican, Bahai, Methodist, Mormon, Jewish and other 30% |
| 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: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.66 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2006 est.) |
| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age |
| 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: a somewhat modern but not an advanced system
domestic: system consists of carrier-equipped, open-wire lines and low-capacity, microwave radio relay international: country code - 268; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
| Telephones - main lines in use | 2.313 million (1997) | 35,000 (2005) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 8,167 (1997) | 200,000 (2005) |
| Television broadcast stations | 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995) | 12 (includes 7 relay stations) (2004) |
| Terrain | generally flat and contains much marshland | mostly mountains and hills; some moderately sloping plains |
| Total fertility rate | 1.28 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 3.53 children born/woman (2006 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | 2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers | 40% (2005 est.) |
| Waterways | NA km; note - Belarus has extensive and widely used canal and river systems | - |
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