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Compare Belarus (2001) - Tuvalu (2008)

Compare Belarus (2001) z Tuvalu (2008)

 Belarus (2001)Tuvalu (2008)
 BelarusTuvalu
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
none
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: 29.8% (male 1,821/female 1,752)


15-64 years: 65.2% (male 3,808/female 4,006)


65 years and over: 5% (male 227/female 378) (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk coconuts; fish
Airports 136 (2000 est.) 1 (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.)
-
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: 1


1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2007)
Area total:
207,600 sq km

land:
207,600 sq km

water:
0 sq km
total: 26 sq km


land: 26 sq km


water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative slightly smaller than Kansas 0.1 times the size of Washington, DC
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. In 1974, ethnic differences within the British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands caused the Polynesians of the Ellice Islands to vote for separation from the Micronesians of the Gilbert Islands. The following year, the Ellice Islands became the separate British colony of Tuvalu. Independence was granted in 1978. In 2000, Tuvalu negotiated a contract leasing its Internet domain name ".tv" for $50 million in royalties over a 12-year period.
Birth rate 9.57 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) 22.43 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Budget revenues:
$4 billion

expenditures:
$4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.)
revenues: $22.78 million


expenditures: $14.23 million (2002)
Capital Minsk name: Funafuti


geographic coordinates: 8 30 S, 179 12 E


time difference: UTC+12 (17 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)


note: administrative offices are located in Vaiaku Village on Fongafale Islet
Climate cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime tropical; moderated by easterly trade winds (March to November); westerly gales and heavy rain (November to March)
Coastline 0 km (landlocked) 24 km
Constitution 30 March 1994; revised by national referendum of 24 November 1996 giving the presidency greatly expanded powers and became effective 27 November 1996 1 October 1978
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: none


conventional short form: Tuvalu


local long form: none


local short form: Tuvalu


former: Ellice Islands


note: "Tuvalu" means "group of eight," referring to the country's eight traditionally inhabited islands
Currency Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR) -
Death rate 13.97 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) 7 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Debt - external $1 billion (2000 est.) $NA
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
the US does not have an embassy in Tuvalu; the US ambassador to Fiji is accredited to Tuvalu
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
Tuvalu does not have an embassy in the US - the country's only diplomatic post is in Fiji - Tuvalu does, however, have a UN office located at 800 2nd Avenue, Suite 400D, New York, NY 10017, telephone: [1] (212) 490-0534
Disputes - international none none
Economic aid - recipient $194.3 million (1995) $13 million; note - major donors are Australia, Japan, and the US (1999 est.)
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. Tuvalu consists of a densely populated, scattered group of nine coral atolls with poor soil. The country has no known mineral resources and few exports. Subsistence farming and fishing are the primary economic activities. Fewer than 1,000 tourists, on average, visit Tuvalu annually. Government revenues largely come from the sale of stamps and coins and remittances from seamen on merchant ships abroad. Substantial income is received annually from an international trust fund established in 1987 by Australia, NZ, and the UK and supported also by Japan and South Korea. Thanks to wise investments and conservative withdrawals, this fund grew from an initial $17 million to over $35 million in 1999. The US Government is also a major revenue source for Tuvalu because of payments from a 1988 treaty on fisheries. In an effort to reduce its dependence on foreign aid, the government is pursuing public sector reforms, including privatization of some government functions and personnel cuts of up to 7%. Tuvalu derives around $1.5 million per year from the lease of its ".tv" Internet domain name. With merchandise exports only a fraction of merchandise imports, continued reliance must be placed on fishing and telecommunications license fees, remittances from overseas workers, official transfers, and income from overseas investments.
Electricity - consumption 27.647 billion kWh (1999) -
Electricity - exports 2.62 billion kWh (1999) -
Electricity - imports 7.1 billion kWh (1999) -
Electricity - production 24.911 billion kWh (1999) -
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: Pacific Ocean 0 m


highest point: unnamed location 5 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 since there are no streams or rivers and groundwater is not potable, most water needs must be met by catchment systems with storage facilities (the Japanese Government has built one desalination plant and plans to build one other); beachhead erosion because of the use of sand for building materials; excessive clearance of forest undergrowth for use as fuel; damage to coral reefs from the spread of the Crown of Thorns starfish; Tuvalu is concerned about global increases in greenhouse gas emissions and their effect on rising sea levels, which threaten the country's underground water table; in 2000, the government appealed to Australia and New Zealand to take in Tuvaluans if rising sea levels should make evacuation necessary
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, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling


signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Ethnic groups Byelorussian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4% Polynesian 96%, Micronesian 4%
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 Tuvaluan dollars or Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.2137 (2007), 1.3285 (2006), 1.3095 (2005), 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (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: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Filoimea TELITO (since 15 April 2005)


head of government: Prime Minister Apisai IELEMIA (since 14 August 2006)


cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the recommendation of the prime minister


elections: the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister; prime minister and deputy prime minister elected by and from the members of Parliament; election last held 14 August 2006 (next to be held following parliamentary elections in 2010)


election results: Apisai IELEMIA elected Prime Minister in a Parliamentary election on 14 August 2006
Exports $7.4 billion (f.o.b., 2000) $1 million f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, textiles, foodstuffs copra, fish
Exports - partners Russia 66%, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Lithuania (1998) Germany 60.5%, Italy 20.1%, Fiji 6.9% (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 light blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the outer half of the flag represents a map of the country with nine yellow five-pointed stars symbolizing the nine islands
GDP purchasing power parity - $78.8 billion (2000 est.) -
GDP - composition by sector agriculture:
13%

industry:
46%

services:
41% (1999 est.)
agriculture: 16.6%


industry: 27.2%


services: 56.2% (2002)
GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $7,500 (2000 est.) -
GDP - real growth rate 4% (2000 est.) 1.2% (2002 est.)
Geographic coordinates 53 00 N, 28 00 E 8 00 S, 178 00 E
Geography - note landlocked one of the smallest and most remote countries on Earth; six of the 9 coral atolls - Nanumea, Nui, Vaitupu, Nukufetau, Funafuti, and Nukulaelae - have lagoons open to the ocean; Nanumaya and Niutao have landlocked lagoons; Niulakita does not have a lagoon
Highways total:
63,355 km

paved:
60,567 km (these roads are said to be hard-surfaced, and include, in addition to conventionally paved roads, some that are surfaced with gravel or other coarse aggregate, making them trafficable in all weather)

unpaved:
2,788 km (these roads are made of unstabilized earth and are difficult to negotiate in wet weather) (1998)
-
Household income or consumption by percentage share lowest 10%:
4.9%

highest 10%:
19.4% (1993)
lowest 10%: NA%


highest 10%: NA%
Illicit drugs limited cultivation of opium poppy and cannabis, mostly for the domestic market; transshipment point for illicit drugs to and via Russia, and to the Baltics and Western Europe -
Imports $8.3 billion (f.o.b., 2000) $9.186 million c.i.f. (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities mineral products, machinery and equipment, metals, chemicals, foodstuffs food, animals, mineral fuels, machinery, manufactured goods
Imports - partners Russia 54%, Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Lithuania (1998) Fiji 46.1%, Japan 18.9%, China 18.2%, Australia 7.7%, NZ 4.1% (2006)
Independence 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) 1 October 1978 (from UK)
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 fishing, tourism, copra
Infant mortality rate 14.38 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) total: 18.9 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 21.64 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 16.02 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 200% (2000 est.) 3.9% (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, ADB, C, FAO, IFRCS (observer), IMO, IOC, ITU, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WHO
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) High Court (a chief justice visits twice a year to preside over its sessions; its rulings can be appealed to the Court of Appeal in Fiji); eight Island Courts (with limited jurisdiction)
Labor force 4.8 million (2000) 3,615 (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA% note: people make a living mainly through exploitation of the sea, reefs, and atolls and from wages sent home by those abroad (mostly workers in the phosphate industry and sailors)
Land boundaries total:
3,098 km

border countries:
Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 605 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km
0 km
Land use arable land:
29%

permanent crops:
1%

permanent pastures:
15%

forests and woodland:
34%

other:
21% (1993 est.)
arable land: 0%


permanent crops: 66.67%


other: 33.33% (2005)
Languages Byelorussian, Russian, other Tuvaluan, English, Samoan, Kiribati (on the island of Nui)
Legal system based on civil law system NA
Legislative branch bicameral Parliament or Natsionalnoye Sobranie consists of the Council of the Republic or Soviet Respubliki (64 seats) and the Chamber of Representatives or Palata Pretsaviteley (110 seats)

elections:
last held October 2000 (next to be held NA)

election results:
party affiliation data unavailable; under present political conditions party designations are meaningless
unicameral Parliament or Fale I Fono, also called House of Assembly (15 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)


elections: last held 3 August 2006 (next to be held in 2010)


election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - independents 15
Life expectancy at birth total population:
68.14 years

male:
62.06 years

female:
74.52 years (2001 est.)
total population: 68.63 years


male: 66.38 years


female: 70.99 years (2007 est.)
Literacy definition:
age 15 and over can read and write

total population:
98%

male:
99%

female:
97% (1989 est.)
NA
Location Eastern Europe, east of Poland Oceania, island group consisting of nine coral atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia
Map references Commonwealth of Independent States Oceania
Maritime claims none (landlocked) territorial sea: 12 nm


contiguous zone: 24 nm


exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Merchant marine - total: 74 ships (1000 GRT or over) 568,759 GRT/928,697 DWT


by type: bulk carrier 4, cargo 45, chemical tanker 5, container 2, passenger 2, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 13, refrigerated cargo 1, specialized tanker 1


foreign-owned: 61 (China 25, Hong Kong 10, Kenya 1, Maldives 1, Romania 1, Russia 4, Singapore 13, Thailand 1, Turkey 1, US 1, Vietnam 3) (2007)
Military branches Army, Air Force, Air Defense Force, Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards no regular military forces; Police Force
Military expenditures - dollar figure $156 million (FY98) -
Military expenditures - percent of GDP 1.2% (FY98) NA
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, 1 October (1978)
Nationality noun:
Belarusian(s)

adjective:
Belarusian
noun: Tuvaluan(s)


adjective: Tuvaluan
Natural hazards NA severe tropical storms are usually rare, but, in 1997, there were three cyclones; low level of islands make them sensitive to changes in sea level
Natural resources forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas fish
Net migration rate 2.89 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Pipelines crude oil 1,470 km; refined products 1,100 km; natural gas 1,980 km (1992) -
Political parties and leaders Agrarian Party or AP [Semyon SHARETSKY, chairman]; Belarusian Communist Party or KPB [Viktor CHIKIN, chairman]; Belarusian Ecological Green Party (merger of Belarusian Ecological Party and Green Party of Belarus) [leader NA]; Belarusian Patriotic Movement (Belarusian Patriotic Party) or BPR [Anatoliy BARANKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Popular Front or BNF [Vintsuk VYACHORKA]; Belarusian Social-Democrat or SDBP [Nikolay STATKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Social-Democratic Party Hromada [Stanislav SHUSHKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Socialist Party [Vyacheslav KUZNETSOV]; Civic Accord Bloc (United Civic Party) or CAB [Stanislav BOGDANKEVICH, chairman]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDPB [Sergei GAYDUKEVICH, chairman]; Party of Communists Belarusian or PKB [Sergei KALYAKIN, chairman]; Republican Party of Labor and Justice or RPPS [Anatoliy NETYLKIN, chairman]; Social-Democrat Party of Popular Accord or PPA [Leanid SECHKA]; Women's Party Nadezhda [Valentina POLEVIKOVA, chairperson] there are no political parties but members of Parliament usually align themselves in informal groupings
Political pressure groups and leaders NA none
Population 10,350,194 (July 2001 est.) 11,992 (July 2007 est.)
Population below poverty line 22% (1995 est.) NA%
Population growth rate -0.15% (2001 est.) 1.543% (2007 est.)
Ports and harbors Mazyr -
Radio broadcast stations AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998) AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0 (2004)
Radios 3.02 million (1997) -
Railways total:
5,523 km

broad gauge:
5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2000)
-
Religions Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.) Church of Tuvalu (Congregationalist) 97%, Seventh-Day Adventist 1.4%, Baha'i 1%, other 0.6%
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: 1.039 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 0.951 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.601 male(s)/female


total population: 0.954 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: serves particular needs for internal communications


domestic: radiotelephone communications between islands


international: country code - 688; international calls can be made by satellite
Telephones - main lines in use 2.313 million (1997) 900 (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular 8,167 (1997) 1,300 (2005)
Television broadcast stations 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995) 0 (2004)
Terrain generally flat and contains much marshland very low-lying and narrow coral atolls
Total fertility rate 1.28 children born/woman (2001 est.) 2.96 children born/woman (2007 est.)
Unemployment rate 2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers NA%
Waterways NA km; note - Belarus has extensive and widely used canal and river systems -
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