Belarus (2002) | Tokelau (2008) | |
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 (territory of New Zealand) |
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: 42%
15-64 years: 53% 65 years and over: 5% |
Agriculture - products | grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk | coconuts, copra, breadfruit, papayas, bananas; pigs, poultry, goats; fish |
Airports | 136 (2001) | - |
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) |
- |
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) |
- |
Area | total: 207,600 sq km
land: 207,600 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 10 sq km
land: 10 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Kansas | about 17 times the size of The Mall in 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. | Originally settled by Polynesian emigrants from surrounding island groups, the Tokelau Islands were made a British protectorate in 1889. They were transferred to New Zealand administration in 1925. |
Birth rate | 9.86 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | NA |
Budget | revenues: $4 billion
expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.) |
revenues: $430,800
expenditures: $2.8 million (1987 est.) |
Capital | Minsk | none; each atoll has its own administrative center
time difference: UTC-11 (6 hours behind Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime | tropical; moderated by trade winds (April to November) |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 101 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 | administered under the Tokelau Islands Act of 1948; amended in 1970 |
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: Tokelau |
Currency | Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR) | - |
Death rate | 13.99 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | NA |
Debt - external | $770 million (2001 est.) | - |
Dependency status | - | self-administering territory of New Zealand; note - Tokelau and New Zealand have agreed to a draft constitution as Tokelau moves toward free association with New Zealand; a UN sponsored referendum on self governance in October 2007 did not produce the two-thirds majority vote necessary for changing the political status |
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 (territory of New Zealand) |
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 (territory of New Zealand) |
Disputes - international | boundary demarcation with Latvia and Lithuania is pending European Union funding | Tokelau included American Samoa's Swains Island (Olohega) in its 2006 draft constitution |
Economic aid - recipient | $194.3 million (1995) (1995) | - |
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. | Tokelau's small size (three villages), isolation, and lack of resources greatly restrain economic development and confine agriculture to the subsistence level. The people rely heavily on aid from New Zealand - about $4 million annually - to maintain public services with annual aid being substantially greater than GDP. The principal sources of revenue come from sales of copra, postage stamps, souvenir coins, and handicrafts. Money is also remitted to families from relatives in New Zealand. |
Electricity - consumption | 26.78 billion kWh (2000) | NA kWh |
Electricity - exports | 300 million kWh (2000) | - |
Electricity - imports | 4.15 billion kWh (2000) | - |
Electricity - production | 24.66 billion kWh (2000) | NA kWh |
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: 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 | limited natural resources and overcrowding are contributing to emigration to New Zealand |
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% | Polynesian |
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 | New Zealand dollars per US dollar - 1.3811 (2007), 1.5408 (2006), 1.4203 (2005), 1.5087 (2004), 1.7221 (2003) |
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: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General of New Zealand Anand SATYANAND (since 23 August 2006); New Zealand is represented by Administrator David PAYTON (since 17 October 2006)
head of government: Pio TUIA (since 23 February 2008); note - position rotates annually among the three Faipule (village leaders) cabinet: the Council for the Ongoing Government of Tokelau, consisting of three Faipule (village leaders) and three Pulenuku (village mayors), functions as a cabinet elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; administrator appointed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade in New Zealand; the head of government is chosen from the Council of Faipule and serves a one-year term |
Exports | $7.5 billion f.o.b. (2001) | $0 |
Exports - commodities | machinery and equipment, mineral products, chemicals, textiles, foodstuffs, metals | stamps, copra, handicrafts |
Exports - partners | Russia 51%, Ukraine 8%, Poland 4%, Germany 3% (2000) | New Zealand (2006) |
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 | the flag of New Zealand is used |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $84.8 billion (2001 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 13%
industry: 42% services: 45% (2000) |
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
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 | 9 00 S, 172 00 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 | consists of three atolls (Atafu, Fakaofo, Nukunonu), each with a lagoon surrounded by a number of reef-bound islets of varying length and rising to over 3 m above sea level |
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) |
- |
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) | $969,200 c.i.f. (2002) |
Imports - commodities | mineral products, machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, metals | foodstuffs, building materials, fuel |
Imports - partners | Russia 65%, Germany 7%, Poland 3% (2000) | New Zealand (2006) |
Independence | 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) | none (territory of New Zealand) |
Industrial production growth rate | 5.4% (2001 est.) | - |
Industries | metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators | small-scale enterprises for copra production, woodworking, plaited craft goods; stamps, coins; fishing |
Infant mortality rate | 14.12 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | total: NA
male: NA female: NA |
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) | PIF (observer), SPC, UNESCO (associate), UPU |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 23 (2002) | - |
Irrigated land | 1,150 sq km (1998 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) | Supreme Court in New Zealand exercises civil and criminal jurisdiction in Tokelau |
Labor force | 4.8 million (2000) | 440 (2001) |
Labor force - by occupation | industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA% | - |
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% (soil is thin and infertile)
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2005) |
Languages | Belarusian, Russian, other | Tokelauan (a Polynesian language), English |
Legal system | based on civil law system | New Zealand and local statutes |
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 Fono (20 seats; based upon proportional representation from the three islands elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms; Atafu has seven seats, Fakaofo has seven seats, Nukunonu has six seats); note - the Tokelau Amendment Act of 1996 confers limited legislative power on the General Fono
elections: last held 17-19 January 2008 (next to be held in 2011) election results: independents 20 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 68.28 years
male: 62.3 years female: 74.56 years (2002 est.) |
total population: NA
male: NA female: NA |
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, group of three atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand |
Map references | Europe | Oceania |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of New Zealand |
Military branches | Army, Air Force (including air defense), Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards | - |
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 | Waitangi Day (Treaty of Waitangi established British sovereignty over New Zealand), 6 February (1840) |
Nationality | noun: Belarusian(s)
adjective: Belarusian |
noun: Tokelauan(s)
adjective: Tokelauan |
Natural hazards | NA | lies in Pacific typhoon belt |
Natural resources | forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay | NEGL |
Net migration rate | 2.78 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | NA |
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] | none |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | none |
Population | 10,335,382 (July 2002 est.) | 1,449 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 22% (1995 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | -0.14% (2002 est.) | -0.018% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Mazyr | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998) | AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA (one radio station provides service to all islands) (2002) |
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.) | Congregational Christian Church 70%, Roman Catholic 28%, other 2%
note: on Atafu, all Congregational Christian Church of Samoa; on Nukunonu, all Roman Catholic; on Fakaofo, both denominations, with the Congregational Christian Church predominant |
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.) |
NA |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 21 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: modern satellite-based communications system
domestic: radiotelephone service between islands international: country code - 690; radiotelephone service to Samoa; government-regulated telephone service (TeleTok), with 3 satellite earth stations |
Telephones - main lines in use | 2.313 million (1997) | 300 (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 8,167 (1997) | - |
Television broadcast stations | 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995) | - |
Terrain | generally flat and contains much marshland | low-lying coral atolls enclosing large lagoons |
Total fertility rate | 1.31 children born/woman (2002 est.) | NA |
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 | - |