Belarus (2002) | Guadeloupe (2005) | |
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 (overseas department of France) |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 17.3% (male 914,579; female 876,346)
15-64 years: 68.6% (male 3,443,859; female 3,643,628) 65 years and over: 14.1% (male 482,624; female 974,346) (2002 est.) |
0-14 years: 24% (male 55,072/female 52,677)
15-64 years: 66.9% (male 148,880/female 151,238) 65 years and over: 9.1% (male 17,032/female 23,814) (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk | bananas, sugarcane, tropical fruits and vegetables; cattle, pigs, goats |
Airports | 136 (2001) | 9 (2004 est.) |
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 (2002) |
total: 8
over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 5 (2004 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 (2002) |
total: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Area | total: 207,600 sq km
land: 207,600 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 1,780 sq km
land: 1,706 sq km water: 74 sq km note: Guadeloupe is an archipelago of nine inhabited islands, including Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Desirade, Iles des Saintes (2), Saint-Barthelemy, Iles de la Petite Terre, and Saint-Martin (French part of the island of Saint Martin) |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Kansas | 10 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. Although Belarus agreed to a framework to carry out the accord, serious implementation has yet to take place. | Guadeloupe has been a French possession since 1635. The island of Saint Martin is shared with the Netherlands; its southern portion is named Sint Maarten and is part of the Netherlands Antilles and its northern portion is named Saint-Martin and is part of Guadeloupe |
Birth rate | 9.86 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 15.42 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $4 billion
expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.) |
revenues: $225 million
expenditures: $390 million, including capital expenditures of $105 million (1996) |
Capital | Minsk | Basse-Terre |
Climate | cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime | subtropical tempered by trade winds; moderately high humidity |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 306 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 | 4 October 1958 (French Constitution) |
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: Department of Guadeloupe
conventional short form: Guadeloupe local long form: Departement de la Guadeloupe local short form: Guadeloupe |
Currency | Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR) | - |
Death rate | 13.99 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 6.06 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | $770 million (2001 est.) | $NA (yearend 2003 est.) |
Dependency status | - | overseas department of France |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Michael G. KOZAK
embassy: 46 Starovilenskaya St., Minsk 220002 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [375] (17) 210-12-83 FAX: [375] (17) 234-7853 |
none (overseas department of France) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Valeriy V. 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 |
none (overseas department of France) |
Disputes - international | boundary demarcation with Latvia and Lithuania is pending European Union funding | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $194.3 million (1995) (1995) | NA; note - substantial annual French subsidies (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 high inflation and persistent trade deficits, businesses have been subject to pressure on the part of central and local governments, e.g., arbitrary changes in regulations, numerous rigorous inspections, retroactive application of new business regulations, and arrests of "disruptive" businessmen and factory owners. 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. | The Caribbean economy depends on agriculture, tourism, light industry, and services. It also depends on France for large subsidies and imports. Tourism is a key industry, with most tourists from the US; an increasingly large number of cruise ships visit the islands. The traditional sugarcane crop is slowly being replaced by other crops, such as bananas (which now supply about 50% of export earnings), eggplant, and flowers. Other vegetables and root crops are cultivated for local consumption, although Guadeloupe is still dependent on imported food, mainly from France. Light industry features sugar and rum production. Most manufactured goods and fuel are imported. Unemployment is especially high among the young. Hurricanes periodically devastate the economy. |
Electricity - consumption | 26.78 billion kWh (2000) | 1.079 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - exports | 300 million kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | 4.15 billion kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | 24.66 billion kWh (2000) | 1.16 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Nyoman River 90 m
highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m |
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Soufriere 1,484 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 | NA |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
- |
Ethnic groups | Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4% | black or mulatto 90%, white 5%, East Indian, Lebanese, Chinese less than 5% |
Exchange rates | Belarusian rubles per US dollar - 1,590 (yearend 2001), 1,531.000 (November 2001), 876.750 (2000), 248.795 (1999), 46.127 (1998), 26.020 (1997); note - on 1 January 2000, the national currency was redenominated at one new ruble to 2,000 old rubles | euros per US dollar - 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 j(2001), 1.0854 (2000) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994)
head of government: Prime Minister Gennadiy NOVITSKIY (since 1 October 2001); Deputy Prime Ministers Andrei KOBYAKOV (since 13 March 2000), Aleksandr POPKOV (since 10 November 1998), Sergei SIDORSKY (since NA September 2001), Vladimir DRAZHIN (since NA September 2001) 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; according to the 1994 constitution, the next election should have been held in 1999, however LUKASHENKO extended his term to 2001 via a November 1996 referendum; new election held 9 September 2001 (next election to be held by September 2006); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president election results: Aleksandr LUKASHENKO reelected president; percent of vote - Aleksandr LUKASHENKO 75.6%, Vladimir GONCHARIK 15.4% |
chief of state: President Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995), represented by Prefect Paul GIROT DE LANGLADE (since 17 August 2004)
head of government: President of the General Council Jacques GILLOT (since 26 March 2001); President of the Regional Council Victorin LUREL (since 2 April 2004) cabinet: NA elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of Interior; the presidents of the General and Regional Councils are elected by the members of those councils election results: NA |
Exports | $7.5 billion f.o.b. (2001) | NA |
Exports - commodities | machinery and equipment, mineral products, chemicals, textiles, foodstuffs, metals | bananas, sugar, rum |
Exports - partners | Russia 51%, Ukraine 8%, Poland 4%, Germany 3% (2000) | France 60%, Martinique 18%, US 4% (1999) |
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 | the flag of France is used |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $84.8 billion (2001 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 13%
industry: 42% services: 45% (2000) |
agriculture: 15%
industry: 17% services: 68% (1997 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $8,200 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $7,900 (2003 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 4.1% (2001 est.) | NA% |
Geographic coordinates | 53 00 N, 28 00 E | 16 15 N, 61 35 W |
Geography - note | landlocked; glacial scouring accounts for the flatness of Belarusian terrain and for its 11,000 lakes; the country is geologically well endowed with extensive deposits of granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, and clay | a narrow channel, the Riviere Salee, divides Guadeloupe proper into two islands: the larger, western Basse-Terre and the smaller, eastern Grande-Terre |
Highways | total: 98,200 km
paved: 66,100 km (includes some all-weather gravel-surfaced roads) unpaved: 32,100 km (these roads are made of unstabilized earth and are difficult to negotiate in wet weather) (1990) |
total: 947 km (2002) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 5%
highest 10%: 20% (1998) |
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; lax money-laundering and banking regulations | - |
Imports | $8.1 billion f.o.b. (2001) | NA |
Imports - commodities | mineral products, machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, metals | foodstuffs, fuels, vehicles, clothing and other consumer goods, construction materials |
Imports - partners | Russia 65%, Germany 7%, Poland 3% (2000) | France 63%, Germany 4%, US 3%, Japan 2%, Netherlands Antilles 2% (1999) |
Independence | 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) | none (overseas department of France) |
Industrial production growth rate | 5.4% (2001 est.) | NA% |
Industries | metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators | construction, cement, rum, sugar, tourism |
Infant mortality rate | 14.12 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | total: 8.6 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 9.81 deaths/1,000 live births female: 7.33 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 46.1% (2001 est.) | NA% |
International organization participation | CCC, CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NAM, NSG, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (observer) | WCL, WFTU |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 23 (2002) | - |
Irrigated land | 1,150 sq km (1998 est.) | 20 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president); Constitutional Court (half of the judges appointed by the president and half appointed by the Chamber of Representatives) | Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel with jurisdiction over Guadeloupe, French Guiana, and Martinique |
Labor force | 4.8 million (2000) | 125,900 (1997) |
Labor force - by occupation | industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA% | NA |
Land boundaries | total: 2,900 km
border countries: Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 407 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km |
total: 10.2 km
border countries: Netherlands Antilles (Sint Maarten) 10.2 km |
Land use | arable land: 29.76%
permanent crops: 0.69% other: 69.55% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 11.24%
permanent crops: 3.55% other: 85.21% (2001) |
Languages | Belarusian, Russian, other | French (official) 99%, Creole patois |
Legal system | based on civil law system | French legal system |
Legislative branch | bicameral Parliament or Natsionalnoye Sobranie consists of the Council of the Republic or Soviet Respubliki (64 seats; 56 members elected by regional councils and 8 members appointed by the president, all for 4-year terms) and the Chamber of Representatives or Palata Pretsaviteley (110 seats; members elected by universal adult suffrage to serve 4-year terms)
elections: last held October 2000 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: party affiliation data unavailable; under present political conditions party designations are meaningless |
unicameral General Council or Conseil General (42 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and the unicameral Regional Council or Conseil Regional (41 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: General Council - last held March 2004 (next to be held by NA 2010); Regional Council - last held 28 March 2004 (next to be held NA 2010) election results: General Council - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - left-wing candidates 11, PS 8, RPR 8, PPDG 6, right-wing candidates 5, PCG 3, UDF 1; Regional Council (second round) - percent of vote by party - PS 58.4%, UMP 41.6%; seats by party - PS 29, UMP 12 note: Guadeloupe elects two representatives to the French Senate; elections last held September 2004 (next to be held September 2013); percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA, Guadeloupe elects four representatives to the French National Assembly; elections last held 9 June-16 June 2002 (next to be held NA 2007); percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - RPR 2, PS 1, different right parties 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 68.28 years
male: 62.3 years female: 74.56 years (2002 est.) |
total population: 77.9 years
male: 74.74 years female: 81.21 years (2005 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: 90% male: 90% female: 90% (1982 est.) |
Location | Eastern Europe, east of Poland | Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Puerto Rico |
Map references | Europe | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | - | total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 1,240 GRT/109 DWT
by type: passenger 1 foreign-owned: 1 (France 1) (2005) |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of France |
Military branches | Army, Air Force (including air defense), Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards | no regular military forces |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $156 million (FY98) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1% (FY01) | - |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 2,744,267 (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 2,149,873 (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 86,396 (2002 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 | Bastille Day, 14 July (1789) |
Nationality | noun: Belarusian(s)
adjective: Belarusian |
noun: Guadeloupian(s)
adjective: Guadeloupe |
Natural hazards | NA | hurricanes (June to October); Soufriere de Guadeloupe is an active volcano |
Natural resources | forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay | cultivable land, beaches and climate that foster tourism |
Net migration rate | 2.78 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | -0.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 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 [Mikhail SHIMANSKY]; 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 Party or SDBP [Nikolay STATKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Social-Democratic Party or Hromada [Stanislav SHUSHKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Socialist Party [Vyacheslav KUZNETSOV]; Civic Accord Bloc (United Civic Party) or CAB [Anatol LIABEDZKA]; 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 or "Nadezhda" [Valentina POLEVIKOVA, chairperson] | Communist Party of Guadeloupe or PCG [Mona CADOCE]; FGPS [Dominique LARIFLA]; Left Radical Party or PRG [Flavien FERRANT]; Progressive Democratic Party or PPDG [Henri BANGOU]; Socialist Party or PS [Marlene MELISSE and Favrot DAVRAIN]; Union for French Democracy or UDF [Marcel ESDRAS]; Union for a Popular Movement or UMP (including RPR) [Robert JOYEUX] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | Christian Movement for the Liberation of Guadeloupe or KLPG; General Federation of Guadeloupe Workers or CGT-G; General Union of Guadeloupe Workers or UGTG; Movement for Independent Guadeloupe or MPGI; The Socialist Renewal Movement |
Population | 10,335,382 (July 2002 est.) | 448,713 (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 22% (1995 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | -0.14% (2002 est.) | 0.92% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Mazyr | Basse-Terre, Gustavia, Pointe-a-Pitre |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998) | AM 1, FM 17, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | 3.02 million (1997) | - |
Railways | total: 5,523 km
broad gauge: 5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2000 est.) |
- |
Religions | Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.) | Roman Catholic 95%, Hindu and pagan African 4%, Protestant 1% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.5 male(s)/female total population: 0.88 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: the Ministry of Telecommunications controls all telecommunications through its carrier (a joint stock company) Beltelcom which is a monopoly
domestic: local - Minsk has a digital metropolitan network and a cellular NMT-450 network; waiting lists for telephones are long; local service outside Minsk is neglected and poor; intercity - Belarus has a partly developed fiber-optic backbone system presently serving at least 13 major cities (1998); Belarus's fiber optics form synchronous digital hierarchy rings through other countries' systems; an inadequate analog system remains operational international: Belarus is a member of the Trans-European Line (TEL), Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) fiber-optic line, and has access to the Trans-Siberia Line (TSL); three fiber-optic segments provide connectivity to Latvia, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine; worldwide service is available to Belarus through this infrastructure; additional analog lines to Russia; Intelsat, Eutelsat, and Intersputnik earth stations |
general assessment: domestic facilities inadequate
domestic: NA international: country code - 590; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); microwave radio relay to Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, and Martinique |
Telephones - main lines in use | 2.313 million (1997) | 210,000 (2001) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 8,167 (1997) | 323,500 (2002) |
Television broadcast stations | 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995) | 5 (plus several low-power repeaters) (1997) |
Terrain | generally flat and contains much marshland | Basse-Terre is volcanic in origin with interior mountains; Grande-Terre is low limestone formation; most of the seven other islands are volcanic in origin |
Total fertility rate | 1.31 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 1.91 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers | 27.8% (1998) |
Waterways | NA km; note - Belarus has extensive and widely used canal and river systems | - |