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Compare Belarus (2002) - New Caledonia (2007)

Compare Belarus (2002) z New Caledonia (2007)

 Belarus (2002)New Caledonia (2007)
 BelarusNew Caledonia
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 territory of France); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 3 provinces named Province des Iles, Province Nord, and Province Sud
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: 27.9% (male 31,578/female 30,270)


15-64 years: 65.3% (male 72,821/female 72,109)


65 years and over: 6.8% (male 7,047/female 8,118) (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk vegetables; beef, deer, other livestock products; fish
Airports 136 (2001) 25 (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 (2002)
total: 12


over 3,047 m: 1


914 to 1,523 m: 9


under 914 m: 2 (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 (2002)
total: 13


914 to 1,523 m: 7


under 914 m: 6 (2007)
Area total: 207,600 sq km


land: 207,600 sq km


water: 0 sq km
total: 19,060 sq km


land: 18,575 sq km


water: 485 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. Although Belarus agreed to a framework to carry out the accord, serious implementation has yet to take place. Settled by both Britain and France during the first half of the 19th century, the island was made a French possession in 1853. It served as a penal colony for four decades after 1864. Agitation for independence during the 1980s and early 1990s ended in the 1998 Noumea Accord, which over a period of 15 to 20 years will transfer an increasing amount of governing responsibility from France to New Caledonia. The agreement also commits France to conduct as many as three referenda between 2013 and 2018, to decide whether New Caledonia should assume full sovereignty and independence.
Birth rate 9.86 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) 17.75 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Budget revenues: $4 billion


expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.)
revenues: $996 million


expenditures: $1.072 billion (2001 est.)
Capital Minsk name: Noumea


geographic coordinates: 22 16 S, 166 27 E


time difference: UTC+11 (16 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Climate cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime tropical; modified by southeast trade winds; hot, humid
Coastline 0 km (landlocked) 2,254 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: Territory of New Caledonia and Dependencies


conventional short form: New Caledonia


local long form: Territoire des Nouvelle-Caledonie et Dependances


local short form: Nouvelle-Caledonie
Currency Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR) -
Death rate 13.99 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) 5.72 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Debt - external $770 million (2001 est.) $79 million (1998 est.)
Dependency status - territorial collectivity of France since 1998
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 territory 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 territory of France)
Disputes - international boundary demarcation with Latvia and Lithuania is pending European Union funding Matthew and Hunter Islands east of New Caledonia claimed by France and Vanuatu
Economic aid - recipient $194.3 million (1995) (1995) $524.3 million annual subsidy from France (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. New Caledonia has about 25% of the world's known nickel resources. Only a small amount of the land is suitable for cultivation, and food accounts for about 20% of imports. In addition to nickel, substantial financial support from France - equal to more than 15% of GDP - and tourism are keys to the health of the economy. Substantial new investment in the nickel industry, combined with the recovery of global nickel prices, brightens the economic outlook for the next several years.
Electricity - consumption 26.78 billion kWh (2000) 1.403 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports 300 million kWh (2000) 0 kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports 4.15 billion kWh (2000) 0 kWh (2005)
Electricity - production 24.66 billion kWh (2000) 1.508 billion kWh (2005)
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: Pacific Ocean 0 m


highest point: Mont Panie 1,628 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 erosion caused by mining exploitation and forest fires
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% Melanesian 42.5%, European 37.1%, Wallisian 8.4%, Polynesian 3.8%, Indonesian 3.6%, Vietnamese 1.6%, other 3%
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 Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique francs (XPF) per US dollar - 95.025 (2006), 95.89 (2005), 96.04 (2004), 105.66 (2003), 126.71 (2002)
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 Nicolas SARKOZY (since 16 May 2007); represented by High Commissioner Yves DASSONVILLE (since 9 November 2007)


head of government: President of the Government Harold MARTIN (since 7 August 2007)


cabinet: Cabinet consisting of 11 members elected from and by the Territorial Congress


elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; high commissioner appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of Interior; president of the government elected by the members of the Territorial Congress for a five-year term (no term limits); note - last election held 7 August 2007 when Harold MARTIN was elected following the resignation of Marie-Noelle THEMEREAU as president on 24 July 2007 (next to be held in 2012)
Exports $7.5 billion f.o.b. (2001) NA bbl/day
Exports - commodities machinery and equipment, mineral products, chemicals, textiles, foodstuffs, metals ferronickels, nickel ore, fish
Exports - partners Russia 51%, Ukraine 8%, Poland 4%, Germany 3% (2000) Japan 17.8%, Taiwan 14.9%, France 13.7%, China 11.1%, Spain 9.7%, Belgium 7.5%, Italy 6.2%, Australia 4.7% (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 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: 8.8%


services: 76.2% (2003)
GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $8,200 (2001 est.) -
GDP - real growth rate 4.1% (2001 est.) NA%
Geographic coordinates 53 00 N, 28 00 E 21 30 S, 165 30 E
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 consists of the main island of New Caledonia (one of the largest in the Pacific Ocean), the archipelago of Iles Loyaute, and numerous small, sparsely populated islands and atolls
Heliports - 6 (2007)
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)
-
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 bbl/day
Imports - commodities mineral products, machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, metals machinery and equipment, fuels, chemicals, foodstuffs
Imports - partners Russia 65%, Germany 7%, Poland 3% (2000) France 38.9%, Singapore 15.3%, Australia 11.4%, NZ 4.8% (2006)
Independence 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) none (overseas territory of France); note - a referendum on independence was held in 1998 but did not pass; a new referendum is scheduled for 2014
Industrial production growth rate 5.4% (2001 est.) -0.6% (1996)
Industries metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators nickel mining and smelting
Infant mortality rate 14.12 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) total: 7.42 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 8.12 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 6.69 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 46.1% (2001 est.) 1.4% (2000 est.)
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) ITUC, PIF (observer), SPC, UPU, WFTU, WMO
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) 23 (2002) -
Irrigated land 1,150 sq km (1998 est.) 100 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) Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel; County Courts; Joint Commerce Tribunal Court; Children's Court
Labor force 4.8 million (2000) 78,990 (2004)
Labor force - by occupation industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA% agriculture: 20%


industry: 20%


services: 60% (2002)
Land boundaries total: 2,900 km


border countries: Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 407 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km
0 km
Land use arable land: 29.76%


permanent crops: 0.69%


other: 69.55% (1998 est.)
arable land: 0.32%


permanent crops: 0.22%


other: 99.46% (2005)
Languages Belarusian, Russian, other French (official), 33 Melanesian-Polynesian dialects
Legal system based on civil law system based on French civil law; the 1988 Matignon Accords grant substantial autonomy to the islands
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 Territorial Congress or Congres du territoire (54 seats; members belong to the three Provincial Assemblies or Assemblees Provinciales elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)


elections: last held 9 May 2004 (next to be held in 2009)


election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - RPCR-UMP 16, AE 16, UNI-FLNKS 8, UC 7, FN 4, others 3


note: New Caledonia currently holds one seat in the French Senate; by 2010, New Caledonia will gain a second seat in the French Senate; elections last held 24 September 2001 (next to be held not later than September 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - UMP 1; New Caledonia also elects two seats to the French National Assembly; elections last held 10 and 17 June 2007 (next to be held on June 2012); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - UMP 2
Life expectancy at birth total population: 68.28 years


male: 62.3 years


female: 74.56 years (2002 est.)
total population: 74.5 years


male: 71.52 years


female: 77.63 years (2007 est.)
Literacy definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 98%


male: 99%


female: 97% (1989 est.)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 96.2%


male: 96.8%


female: 95.5% (1996 census)
Location Eastern Europe, east of Poland Oceania, islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Australia
Map references Europe Oceania
Maritime claims none (landlocked) territorial sea: 12 nm


exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Merchant marine - total: 2 ships (1000 GRT or over) 3,566 GRT/2,543 DWT


by type: cargo 1, passenger/cargo 1 (2007)
Military - note - defense is the responsibility of France
Military branches Army, Air Force (including air defense), Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards no regular indigenous military forces; French Armed Forces (includes Army, Navy, Air Force, Gendarmerie); Police Force
Military expenditures - dollar figure $156 million (FY98) -
Military expenditures - percent of GDP 1% (FY01) NA
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: New Caledonian(s)


adjective: New Caledonian
Natural hazards NA cyclones, most frequent from November to March
Natural resources forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay nickel, chrome, iron, cobalt, manganese, silver, gold, lead, copper
Net migration rate 2.78 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population


note: there has been steady emigration from Wallis and Futuna to New Caledonia (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 [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] Alliance pour la Caledonie or APLC [Didier LE ROUX]; Caledonian Union or UC; Federation des Comites de Coordination des Independantistes or FCCI [Francois BURCK]; Front National or FN [Guy GEORGE]; Front Uni de Liberation Kanak or FULK [Ernest UNE]; Kanak Socialist Front for National Liberation or FLNKS (includes PALIKA, UNI, UC, and UPM); Parti de Liberation Kanak or PALIKA [Paul NEAOUTYINE and Elie POIGOUNE]; Rally for Caledonia in the Republic (anti independence) or RPCR-UMP [Jacques LAFLEUR]; The Future Together or AE [Harold MARTIN]; Union Nationale pour l'Independance or UNI [Paul NEAOUTYINE]; note - may no longer exist, but Paul NEAOUTYINE has since become a president of Parti de Liberation Kanak or PALIKA; Union Progressiste Melanesienne or UPM [Victor TUTUGORO]
Political pressure groups and leaders NA NA
Population 10,335,382 (July 2002 est.) 221,943 (July 2007 est.)
Population below poverty line 22% (1995 est.) NA%
Population growth rate -0.14% (2002 est.) 1.203% (2007 est.)
Ports and harbors Mazyr -
Radio broadcast stations AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998) AM 1, FM 5, 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 60%, Protestant 30%, other 10%
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: 1.043 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.868 male(s)/female


total population: 1.009 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: NA


domestic: NA


international: country code - 687; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean)
Telephones - main lines in use 2.313 million (1997) 55,300 (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular 8,167 (1997) 134,300 (2005)
Television broadcast stations 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995) 6 (plus 25 repeaters) (1997)
Terrain generally flat and contains much marshland coastal plains with interior mountains
Total fertility rate 1.31 children born/woman (2002 est.) 2.25 children born/woman (2007 est.)
Unemployment rate 2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers 17.1% (2004)
Waterways NA km; note - Belarus has extensive and widely used canal and river systems -
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