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Compare Belarus (2002) - Turkey (2002)

Compare Belarus (2002) z Turkey (2002)

 Belarus (2002)Turkey (2002)
 BelarusTurkey
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
81 provinces (iller, singular - il); Adana, Adiyaman, Afyon, Agri, Aksaray, Amasya, Ankara, Antalya, Ardahan, Artvin, Aydin, Balikesir, Bartin, Batman, Bayburt, Bilecik, Bingol, Bitlis, Bolu, Burdur, Bursa, Canakkale, Cankiri, Corum, Denizli, Diyarbakir, Duzce, Edirne, Elazig, Erzincan, Erzurum, Eskisehir, Gaziantep, Giresun, Gumushane, Hakkari, Hatay, Icel, Igdir, Isparta, Istanbul, Izmir, Kahramanmaras, Karabuk, Karaman, Kars, Kastamonu, Kayseri, Kilis, Kirikkale, Kirklareli, Kirsehir, Kocaeli, Konya, Kutahya, Malatya, Manisa, Mardin, Mugla, Mus, Nevsehir, Nigde, Ordu, Osmaniye, Rize, Sakarya, Samsun, Sanliurfa, Siirt, Sinop, Sirnak, Sivas, Tekirdag, Tokat, Trabzon, Tunceli, Usak, Van, Yalova, Yozgat, Zonguldak
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: 27.8% (male 9,520,030; female 9,178,423)


15-64 years: 65.9% (male 22,552,253; female 21,827,002)


65 years and over: 6.3% (male 1,946,523; female 2,284,697) (2002 est.)
Agriculture - products grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk tobacco, cotton, grain, olives, sugar beets, pulse, citrus; livestock
Airports 136 (2001) 120 (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)
total: 86


over 3,047 m: 16


2,438 to 3,047 m: 30


1,524 to 2,437 m: 19


914 to 1,523 m: 16


under 914 m: 5 (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)
total: 34 34


over 3,047 m: 1 1


1,524 to 2,437 m: 1


914 to 1,523 m: 1 8


under 914 m: 8 24 (2002)
Area total: 207,600 sq km


land: 207,600 sq km


water: 0 sq km
total: 780,580 sq km


land: 770,760 sq km


water: 9,820 sq km
Area - comparative slightly smaller than Kansas slightly larger than Texas
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. Turkey was created in 1923 from the Turkish remnants of the Ottoman Empire. Soon thereafter the country instituted secular laws to replace traditional religious fiats. In 1945 Turkey joined the UN, and in 1952 it became a member of NATO. Turkey occupied the northern portion of Cyprus in 1974 to prevent a Greek takeover of the island; relations between the two countries remain strained but have begun to improve over the past three years. In 1984, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a Marxist-Leninist, separatist group, initiated an insurgency in southeast Turkey, often using terrorist tactics to try to attain its goal of an independent Kurdistan. The group - whose leader, Abdullah OCALAN, was captured in Kenya in February 1999 - has observed a unilateral cease-fire since September 1999, although there have been occasional clashes between Turkish military units and some of the 4,000-5,000 armed PKK militants, most of whom currently are encamped in northern Iraq. The PKK changed its name to the Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress (KADEK) in April 2002.
Birth rate 9.86 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) 17.95 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Budget revenues: $4 billion


expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.)
revenues: $42.4 billion


expenditures: $69.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001)
Capital Minsk Ankara
Climate cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime temperate; hot, dry summers with mild, wet winters; harsher in interior
Coastline 0 km (landlocked) 7,200 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 7 November 1982
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: Republic of Turkey


conventional short form: Turkey


local long form: Turkiye Cumhuriyeti


local short form: Turkiye
Currency Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR) Turkish lira (TRL)
Death rate 13.99 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) 5.95 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Debt - external $770 million (2001 est.) $118.3 billion (September 2001 )
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
chief of mission: Ambassador Robert W. PEARSON


embassy: 110 Ataturk Boulevard, Kavaklidere, 06100 Ankara


mailing address: PSC 93, Box 5000, APO AE 09823


telephone: [90] (312) 455-5555


FAX: [90] (312) 468-0019


consulate(s) general: Istanbul


consulate(s): Adana
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
chief of mission: Ambassador Dr. Osman Faruk LOGOGLU


chancery: 2525 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008


telephone: [1] (202) 612-6700


FAX: [1] (202) 612-6744


consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York
Disputes - international boundary demarcation with Latvia and Lithuania is pending European Union funding complex maritime, air, and territorial disputes with Greece in Aegean Sea; Cyprus question with Greece; dispute with downstream riparian states (Syria and Iraq) over water development plans for the Tigris and Euphrates rivers; traditional demands regarding former Armenian lands in Turkey have subsided; Turkey is quick to rebuff any perceived Syrian claim to Hatay province; border with Armenia remains closed over Nagorno-Karabakh dispute
Economic aid - recipient $194.3 million (1995) (1995) ODA, $300 million (1993) (2000)
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. Turkey's dynamic economy is a complex mix of modern industry and commerce along with a traditional agriculture sector that in 2001 still accounted for 40% of employment. It has a strong and rapidly growing private sector, yet the state still plays a major role in basic industry, banking, transport, and communication. The most important industry - and largest export - is textiles and clothing, which is almost entirely in private hands. In recent years the economic situation has been marked by erratic economic growth and serious imbalances. Real GNP growth has exceeded 6% in many years, but this strong expansion has been interrupted by sharp declines in output in 1994, 1999, and 2001. Meanwhile the public sector fiscal deficit has regularly exceeded 10% of GDP - due in large part to the huge burden of interest payments, which in 2001 accounted for more than 50% of central government spending - while inflation has remained in the high double digit range. Perhaps because of these problems, foreign direct investment in Turkey remains low - less than $1 billion annually. In late 2000 and early 2001 a growing trade deficit and serious weaknesses in the banking sector plunged the economy into crisis - forcing Ankara to float the lira and pushing the country into recession. Results in 2002 were much better, because of strong financial support from the IMF and tighter fiscal policy. Continued slow global growth and serious political tensions in the Middle East cast a shadow over growth prospects for 2003.
Electricity - consumption 26.78 billion kWh (2000) 114.19 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports 300 million kWh (2000) 437 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports 4.15 billion kWh (2000) 3.791 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - production 24.66 billion kWh (2000) 119.18 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source fossil fuel: 100%


hydro: 0%


nuclear: 0%


other: 0% (2000)
fossil fuel: 74%


hydro: 26%


nuclear: 0%


other: 0% (2000)
Elevation extremes lowest point: Nyoman River 90 m


highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m
lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m


highest point: Mount Ararat 5,166 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 water pollution from dumping of chemicals and detergents; air pollution, particularly in urban areas; deforestation; concern for oil spills from increasing Bosporus ship traffic
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
party to: Air Pollution, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands


signed, but not ratified: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Environmental Modification
Ethnic groups Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4% Turkish 80%, Kurdish 20%
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 Turkish liras per US dollar - 1,223,140 (January 2002), 1,223,140 (2001), 625,219 (2000), 418,783 (1999), 260,724 (1998), 151,865 (1997)
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 Ahmet Necdet SEZER (since 16 May 2000)


head of government: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN (14 March 2003); note - Abdullah GUL resigned 11 March 2003; Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN was given a mandate to form a government


cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the nomination of the prime minister


note: a National Security Council serves as an advisory body to the president and the cabinet


elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a seven-year term; election last held 5 May 2000 (next to be held NA May 2007); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president


election results: Ahmed Necdet SEZER elected president on the third ballot; percent of National Assembly vote - 60%


note: president must have a two-thirds majority of the National Assembly on the first two ballots and a simple majority on the third ballot
Exports $7.5 billion f.o.b. (2001) $37.6 billion f.o.b. (2002)
Exports - commodities machinery and equipment, mineral products, chemicals, textiles, foodstuffs, metals apparel, foodstuffs, textiles, metal manufactures, transport equipment
Exports - partners Russia 51%, Ukraine 8%, Poland 4%, Germany 3% (2000) Germany 17.2%, US 10.0%, Italy 7.5%, UK 6.9%, France 6.0%, Russia 2.9% (2001)
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 red with a vertical white crescent (the closed portion is toward the hoist side) and white five-pointed star centered just outside the crescent opening
GDP purchasing power parity - $84.8 billion (2001 est.) purchasing power parity - $468 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector agriculture: 13%


industry: 42%


services: 45% (2000)
agriculture: 13%


industry: 30%


services: 57% (2001)
GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $8,200 (2001 est.) purchasing power parity - $7,000 (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate 4.1% (2001 est.) 4.2% (2002 est.)
Geographic coordinates 53 00 N, 28 00 E 39 00 N, 35 00 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 strategic location controlling the Turkish Straits (Bosporus, Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles) that link Black and Aegean Seas; Mount Ararat, the legendary landing place of Noah's Ark, is in the far eastern portion of the country
Heliports - 8 (2002)
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: 382,059 km


paved: 106,976 km (including 1,726 km of expressways)


unpaved: 275,083 km (1999 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share lowest 10%: 5%


highest 10%: 20% (1998)
lowest 10%: 2%


highest 10%: 32% (1994)
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 key transit route for Southwest Asian heroin to Western Europe and - to a far lesser extent the US - via air, land, and sea routes; major Turkish, Iranian, and other international trafficking organizations operate out of Istanbul; laboratories to convert imported morphine base into heroin are in remote regions of Turkey as well as near Istanbul; government maintains strict controls over areas of legal opium poppy cultivation and output of poppy straw concentrate
Imports $8.1 billion f.o.b. (2001) $43.9 billion c.i.f. (2002 est.)
Imports - commodities mineral products, machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, metals machinery, chemicals, semi-finished goods, fuels, transport equipment
Imports - partners Russia 65%, Germany 7%, Poland 3% (2000) Germany 12.9%, Italy 8.4%, Russia 8.3%, US 7.9%, France 5.5%, UK 4.6% (2001 est.)
Independence 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) 29 October 1923 (successor state to the Ottoman Empire)
Industrial production growth rate 5.4% (2001 est.) 8.5% (2002 est.)
Industries metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators textiles, food processing, autos, mining (coal, chromite, copper, boron), steel, petroleum, construction, lumber, paper
Infant mortality rate 14.12 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) 45.77 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 46.1% (2001 est.) 45.2% (2002)
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) AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, BSEC, CCC, CE, CERN (observer), EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECO, ESCAP, EU (applicant), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UNTAET, UPU, WEU (associate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) 23 (2002) 50 (2001)
Irrigated land 1,150 sq km (1998 est.) 42,000 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) Constitutional Court (judges are appointed by the president); Court of Appeals (judges are elected by the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors)
Labor force 4.8 million (2000) 23.8 million (2001 3rd quarter)


note: about 1.2 million Turks work abroad (1999)
Labor force - by occupation industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA% agriculture 40%, services 38%, industry 22% (2001)
Land boundaries total: 2,900 km


border countries: Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 407 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km
total: 2,648 km


border countries: Armenia 268 km, Azerbaijan 9 km, Bulgaria 240 km, Georgia 252 km, Greece 206 km, Iran 499 km, Iraq 352 km, Syria 822 km
Land use arable land: 29.76%


permanent crops: 0.69%


other: 69.55% (1998 est.)
arable land: 34.53%


permanent crops: 3.36%


other: 62.11% (1998 est.)
Languages Belarusian, Russian, other Turkish (official), Kurdish, Arabic, Armenian, Greek
Legal system based on civil law system derived from various European continental legal systems; 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; 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 Grand National Assembly of Turkey or Turkiye Buyuk Millet Meclisi (550 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)


elections: last held 3 November 2002 (next to be held NA 2007)


election results: percent of vote by party - AKP 34.3%, CHP 19.4%, DYP 9.6%, MHP 8.3%, ANAP 5.1%, DSP 1.1%, and others; seats by party - AKP 363, CHP 178, independents 9; note - all other parties were under the 10% threshhold which entitles them to seats
Life expectancy at birth total population: 68.28 years


male: 62.3 years


female: 74.56 years (2002 est.)
total population: 71.52 years


male: 69.15 years


female: 74.01 years (2002 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: 85%


male: 94%


female: 77% (2000)
Location Eastern Europe, east of Poland southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia (that portion of Turkey west of the Bosporus is geographically part of Europe), bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Georgia, and bordering the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, between Greece and Syria
Map references Europe Middle East
Maritime claims none (landlocked) exclusive economic zone: in Black Sea only: to the maritime boundary agreed upon with the former USSR


territorial sea: 6 NM in the Aegean Sea; 12 NM in Black Sea and in Mediterranean Sea
Merchant marine - total: 553 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,674,099 GRT/9,108,819 DWT


ships by type: bulk 138, cargo 239, chemical tanker 45, combination bulk 5, combination ore/oil 2, container 27, liquefied gas 6, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 45, refrigerated cargo 3, roll on/roll off 27, short-sea passenger 10, specialized tanker 5


note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Belize 1, Cyprus 1, Denmark 2, Greece 1, Italy 1, Thailand 1, United Kingdom 11 (2002 est.)
Military branches Army, Air Force (including air defense), Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards Land Forces, Navy (includes Naval Air and Naval Infantry), Air Force, Coast Guard, Gendarmerie
Military expenditures - dollar figure $156 million (FY98) $8.1 billion (2002 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP 1% (FY01) 4.5% (2002 est.)
Military manpower - availability males age 15-49: 2,744,267 (2002 est.) males age 15-49: 19,219,177 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service males age 15-49: 2,149,873 (2002 est.) males age 15-49: 11,623,675 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - military age 18 years of age (2002 est.) 20 years of age (2002 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually males: 86,396 (2002 est.) males: 674,805 (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 Independence Day, 29 October (1923)
Nationality noun: Belarusian(s)


adjective: Belarusian
noun: Turk(s)


adjective: Turkish
Natural hazards NA very severe earthquakes, especially in northern Turkey, along an arc extending from the Sea of Marmara to Lake Van
Natural resources forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay antimony, coal, chromium, mercury, copper, borate, sulfur, iron ore, arable land, hydropower
Net migration rate 2.78 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Pipelines crude oil 1,470 km; refined products 1,100 km; natural gas 1,980 km (1992) crude oil 1,738 km; petroleum products 2,321 km; natural gas 708 km
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] Democratic Left Party or DSP [Bulent ECEVIT]; Justice and Development Party or AKP [Recep Tayip ERDOGAN]; Motherland Party or ANAP [Mesut YILMAZ]; Nationalist Action Party or MHP [Devlet BAHCELI]; Republican People's Party or CHP [Deniz BAYKAL]; Saadet Party [Recai KUTAN]; note - KUTAN was head of the Virtue Party or FP which was banned by Turkey's Constitutional Court in June 2001; Socialist Democratic Party or TDP [Sema PISKINSUT]; True Path Party (sometimes translated as Right Path Party) or DYP [Tansu CILLER]
Political pressure groups and leaders NA Confederation of Revolutionary Workers Unions or DISK [Ridvan BUDAK]; Independent Industrialists and Businessmen's Association or MUSIAD [Erol YARAR]; Moral Rights Workers Union or Hak-Is [Salim USLU]; Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association or TUSIAD [Muharrem KAYHAN]; Turkish Confederation of Employers' Unions or TISK [Refik BAYDUR]; Turkish Confederation of Labor or Turk-Is [Bayram MERAL]; Turkish Union of Chambers of Commerce and Commodity Exchanges or TOBB [Fuat MIRAS]
Population 10,335,382 (July 2002 est.) 67,308,928 (July 2002 est.)
Population below poverty line 22% (1995 est.) NA%
Population growth rate -0.14% (2002 est.) 1.2% (2002 est.)
Ports and harbors Mazyr Gemlik, Hopa, Iskenderun, Istanbul, Izmir, Kocaeli (Izmit), Icel (Mersin), Samsun, Trabzon
Radio broadcast stations AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998) AM 16, FM 107, shortwave 6 (2001)
Radios 3.02 million (1997) 11.3 million (1997)
Railways total: 5,523 km


broad gauge: 5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2000 est.)
total: 8,607 km


standard gauge: 8,607 km 1.435-m gauge (2,131 km electrified) (2001)
Religions Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.) Muslim 99.8% (mostly Sunni), other 0.2% (mostly Christians and Jews)
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: 1.04 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.85 male(s)/female


total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2002 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: undergoing rapid modernization and expansion, especially with cellular telephones


domestic: additional digital exchanges are permitting a rapid increase in subscribers; the construction of a network of technologically advanced intercity trunk lines, using both fiber-optic cable and digital microwave radio relay is facilitating communication between urban centers; remote areas are reached by a domestic satellite system; the number of subscribers to mobile cellular telephone service is growing rapidly


international: international service is provided by three submarine fiber-optic cables in the Mediterranean and Black Seas, linking Turkey with Italy, Greece, Israel, Bulgaria, Romania, and Russia; also by 12 Intelsat earth stations, and by 328 mobile satellite terminals in the Inmarsat and Eutelsat systems (2002)
Telephones - main lines in use 2.313 million (1997) 19.5 million (1999)
Telephones - mobile cellular 8,167 (1997) 17.1 million (2001)
Television broadcast stations 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995) 635 (plus 2,934 repeaters) (1995)
Terrain generally flat and contains much marshland mostly mountains; narrow coastal plain; high central plateau (Anatolia)
Total fertility rate 1.31 children born/woman (2002 est.) 2.07 children born/woman (2002 est.)
Unemployment rate 2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers 10.8% (plus underemployment of 6.1%) (2002 est.)
Waterways NA km; note - Belarus has extensive and widely used canal and river systems 1,200 km (approximately)
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