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Compare Belarus (2002) - Turkmenistan (2007)

Compare Belarus (2002) z Turkmenistan (2007)

 Belarus (2002)Turkmenistan (2007)
 BelarusTurkmenistan
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
5 provinces (welayatlar, singular - welayat) and 1 independent city*: Ahal Welayaty (Anew), Ashgabat*, Balkan Welayaty (Balkanabat), Dashoguz Welayaty, Lebap Welayaty (Turkmenabat), Mary Welayaty


note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)
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: 34.7% (male 900,718/female 866,930)


15-64 years: 60.9% (male 1,537,638/female 1,567,049)


65 years and over: 4.4% (male 97,454/female 127,239) (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk cotton, grain; livestock
Airports 136 (2001) 28 (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: 22


over 3,047 m: 1


2,438 to 3,047 m: 11


1,524 to 2,437 m: 8


914 to 1,523 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: 6


1,524 to 2,437 m: 2


under 914 m: 4 (2007)
Area total: 207,600 sq km


land: 207,600 sq km


water: 0 sq km
total: 488,100 sq km


land: 488,100 sq km


water: NEGL
Area - comparative slightly smaller than Kansas slightly larger than California
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. Annexed by Russia between 1865 and 1885, Turkmenistan became a Soviet republic in 1924. It achieved independence upon the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. Extensive hydrocarbon/natural gas reserves could prove a boon to this underdeveloped country if extraction and delivery projects were to be expanded. The Turkmenistan Government is actively seeking to develop alternative petroleum transportation routes to break Russia's pipeline monopoly. President for Life Saparmurat NIYAZOV died in December 2006, and Turkmenistan held its first multi-candidate presidential electoral process in February 2007. Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW, a former NIYAZOV aide, emerged as the country's new president.
Birth rate 9.86 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) 25.36 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Budget revenues: $4 billion


expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.)
revenues: $1.434 billion


expenditures: $1.386 billion (2006 est.)
Capital Minsk name: Ashgabat (Ashkhabad)


geographic coordinates: 37 57 N, 58 23 E


time difference: UTC+5 (10 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Climate cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime subtropical desert
Coastline 0 km (landlocked) 0 km; note - Turkmenistan borders the Caspian Sea (1,768 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 adopted 18 May 1992
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: Turkmenistan


local long form: none


local short form: Turkmenistan


former: Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic
Currency Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR) -
Death rate 13.99 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) 6.17 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Debt - external $770 million (2001 est.) $2.4 billion to $5 billion (2001 est.)
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 (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Richard E. HOAGLAND


embassy: No. 9 1984 Street (formerly Pushkin Street), Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 744000


mailing address: 7070 Ashgabat Place, Washington, DC 20521-7070


telephone: [993] (12) 35-00-45


FAX: [993] (12) 39-26-14
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 Meret Bairamovich ORAZOW


chancery: 2207 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008


telephone: [1] (202) 588-1500


FAX: [1] (202) 588-0697
Disputes - international boundary demarcation with Latvia and Lithuania is pending European Union funding cotton monoculture in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan creates water-sharing difficulties for Amu Darya river states; field demarcation of the boundaries with Kazakhstan commenced in 2005, but Caspian seabed delimitation remains stalled with Azerbaijan, Iran, and Kazakhstan due to Turkmenistan's indecision over how to allocate the sea's waters and seabed
Economic aid - recipient $194.3 million (1995) (1995) $28.25 million from the US (2005)
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. Turkmenistan is a largely desert country with intensive agriculture in irrigated oases and large gas and oil resources. One-half of its irrigated land is planted in cotton; formerly it was the world's 10th-largest producer. Poor harvests in recent years have led to an almost 50% decline in cotton exports. With an authoritarian ex-Communist regime in power and a tribally based social structure, Turkmenistan has taken a cautious approach to economic reform, hoping to use gas and cotton sales to sustain its inefficient economy. Privatization goals remain limited. From 1998-2005, Turkmenistan suffered from the continued lack of adequate export routes for natural gas and from obligations on extensive short-term external debt. At the same time, however, total exports rose by an average of 15% per year from 2003-06, largely because of higher international oil and gas prices. In 2006, Ashgabat raised its natural gas export prices to its main customer, Russia, from $66 per thousand cubic meters (tcm) to $100 per tcm. Overall prospects in the near future are discouraging because of widespread internal poverty, a poor educational system, government misuse of oil and gas revenues, and Ashgabat's unwillingness to adopt market-oriented reforms. Turkmenistan's economic statistics are state secrets, and GDP and other figures are subject to wide margins of error. In particular, the rate of GDP growth is uncertain. President BERDIMUHAMEDOW's election platform included plans to build a gas line to China, to complete the AmuDarya railroad bridge in Lebap province, and to create special border trade zones in southern Balkan province - a hint that the new post-NIYAZOV government will work to create a friendlier foreign investment environment.
Electricity - consumption 26.78 billion kWh (2000) 7.602 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports 300 million kWh (2000) 2.918 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports 4.15 billion kWh (2000) 0 kWh (2005)
Electricity - production 24.66 billion kWh (2000) 12.05 billion kWh (2005 est.)
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: Vpadina Akchanaya -81 m; note - Sarygamysh Koli is a lake in northern Turkmenistan with a water level that fluctuates above and below the elevation of Vpadina Akchanaya (the lake has dropped as low as -110 m)


highest point: Gora Ayribaba 3,139 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 contamination of soil and groundwater with agricultural chemicals, pesticides; salination, water logging of soil due to poor irrigation methods; Caspian Sea pollution; diversion of a large share of the flow of the Amu Darya into irrigation contributes to that river's inability to replenish the Aral Sea; desertification
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: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection


signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Ethnic groups Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4% Turkmen 85%, Uzbek 5%, Russian 4%, other 6% (2003)
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 Turkmen manat per US$ - 11,100 (2006) official rate


note: in recent years the unofficial rate has hovered around 24,000 to 25,000 Turkmen manats to the dollar
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 Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW (since 14 February 2007); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government


head of government: President Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW (since 14 February 2007)


cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president


elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held on 11 February 2007 (next to be held in 2012)


election results: Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW elected president; percent of vote - Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW 89.2%
Exports $7.5 billion f.o.b. (2001) 117,800 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities machinery and equipment, mineral products, chemicals, textiles, foodstuffs, metals gas, crude oil, petrochemicals, cotton fiber, textiles
Exports - partners Russia 51%, Ukraine 8%, Poland 4%, Germany 3% (2000) Ukraine 47.7%, Iran 16.4%, Azerbaijan 5.3% (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 green field with a vertical red stripe near the hoist side, containing five tribal guls (designs used in producing carpets) stacked above two crossed olive branches similar to the olive branches on the UN flag; a white crescent moon representing Islam with five white stars representing the regions or velayats of Turkmenistan appear in the upper corner of the field just to the fly side of the red stripe
GDP purchasing power parity - $84.8 billion (2001 est.) -
GDP - composition by sector agriculture: 13%


industry: 42%


services: 45% (2000)
agriculture: 17.7%


industry: 39.2%


services: 43.2% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $8,200 (2001 est.) -
GDP - real growth rate 4.1% (2001 est.) IMF estimate: 6%


note: official government statistics show 21.4% growth, but these estimates are widely regarded as unreliable (2006 est.)
Geographic coordinates 53 00 N, 28 00 E 40 00 N, 60 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 landlocked; the western and central low-lying desolate portions of the country make up the great Garagum (Kara-Kum) desert, which occupies over 80% of the country; eastern part is plateau
Heliports - 1 (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%: 2.6%


highest 10%: 31.7% (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 transit country for Afghan narcotics bound for Russian and Western European markets; transit point for heroin precursor chemicals bound for Afghanistan
Imports $8.1 billion f.o.b. (2001) NA bbl/day
Imports - commodities mineral products, machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, metals machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs
Imports - partners Russia 65%, Germany 7%, Poland 3% (2000) UAE 15.5%, Turkey 11.1%, Ukraine 9.1%, Russia 9%, Germany 7.8%, Iran 7.6%, China 6.4%, US 4.5% (2006)
Independence 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) 27 October 1991 (from the Soviet Union)
Industrial production growth rate 5.4% (2001 est.) 22% (2003 est.)
Industries metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators natural gas, oil, petroleum products, textiles, food processing
Infant mortality rate 14.12 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) total: 53.49 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 57.84 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 48.91 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 46.1% (2001 est.) 11.5% (2006 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) AsDB, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECO, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDB, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) 23 (2002) -
Irrigated land 1,150 sq km (1998 est.) 18,000 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) Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president)
Labor force 4.8 million (2000) 2.32 million (2003 est.)
Labor force - by occupation industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA% agriculture: 48.2%


industry: 13.8%


services: 37% (2003 est.)
Land boundaries total: 2,900 km


border countries: Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 407 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km
total: 3,736 km


border countries: Afghanistan 744 km, Iran 992 km, Kazakhstan 379 km, Uzbekistan 1,621 km
Land use arable land: 29.76%


permanent crops: 0.69%


other: 69.55% (1998 est.)
arable land: 4.51%


permanent crops: 0.14%


other: 95.35% (2005)
Languages Belarusian, Russian, other Turkmen 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7%
Legal system based on civil law system based on civil law system and Islamic law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
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
two parliamentary bodies, a People's Council or Halk Maslahaty (supreme legislative body of up to 2,500 delegates, some elected by popular vote and some appointed; meets at least yearly) and a National Assembly or Mejlis (50 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)


elections: People's Council - last held in April 2003 (next to be held in December 2008); Mejlis - last held 19 December 2004 (next to be held in December 2008)


election results: Mejlis - DPT 100%; seats by party - DPT 50; note - all 50 elected officials are members of the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan and are preapproved by the president


note: in late 2003, a law was adopted reducing the powers of the Mejlis and making the Halk Maslahaty the supreme legislative organ; the Halk Maslahaty can now legally dissolve the Mejlis, and the president is now able to participate in the Mejlis as its supreme leader; the Mejlis can no longer adopt or amend the constitution or announce referendums or its elections; since the president is both the "Chairman for Life" of the Halk Maslahaty and the supreme leader of the Mejlis, the 2003 law has the effect of making him the sole authority of both the executive and legislative branches of government
Life expectancy at birth total population: 68.28 years


male: 62.3 years


female: 74.56 years (2002 est.)
total population: 68.3 years


male: 65.23 years


female: 71.54 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: 98.8%


male: 99.3%


female: 98.3% (1999 est.)
Location Eastern Europe, east of Poland Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Kazakhstan
Map references Europe Asia
Maritime claims none (landlocked) none (landlocked)
Merchant marine - total: 8 ships (1000 GRT or over) 22,870 GRT/25,801 DWT


by type: cargo 4, combination ore/oil 1, petroleum tanker 2, refrigerated cargo 1 (2007)
Military branches Army, Air Force (including air defense), Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards Ground Forces, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces (2007)
Military expenditures - dollar figure $156 million (FY98) -
Military expenditures - percent of GDP 1% (FY01) 3.4% (2005 est.)
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 Independence Day, 27 October (1991)
Nationality noun: Belarusian(s)


adjective: Belarusian
noun: Turkmen(s)


adjective: Turkmenistani
Natural hazards NA NA
Natural resources forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay petroleum, natural gas, sulfur, salt
Net migration rate 2.78 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) -3.01 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Pipelines crude oil 1,470 km; refined products 1,100 km; natural gas 1,980 km (1992) gas 6,441 km; oil 1,361 km (2006)
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 Party of Turkmenistan or DPT


note: formal opposition parties are outlawed; unofficial, small opposition movements exist underground or in foreign countries; the two most prominent opposition groups-in-exile have been National Democratic Movement of Turkmenistan (NDMT) and the United Democratic Party of Turkmenistan (UDPT); NDMT was led by former Foreign Minister Boris SHIKHMURADOV until his arrest and imprisonment in the wake of the 25 November 2002 assassination attempt on President NIYAZOV; UDPT is led by former Foreign Minister Abdy KULIEV and is based in Moscow
Political pressure groups and leaders NA NA
Population 10,335,382 (July 2002 est.) 5,097,028 (July 2007 est.)
Population below poverty line 22% (1995 est.) 27% (2002)
Population growth rate -0.14% (2002 est.) 1.617% (2007 est.)
Ports and harbors Mazyr -
Radio broadcast stations AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998) AM 16, FM 8, shortwave 2 (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.)
total: 2,440 km


broad gauge: 2,440 km 1.520-m gauge (2006)
Religions Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.) Muslim 89%, Eastern Orthodox 9%, unknown 2%
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: 1.039 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 0.981 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.766 male(s)/female


total population: 0.99 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: poorly developed


domestic: Turkmenistan's telecommunications network remains woefully underdeveloped; Turkmentelekom, in cooperation with foreign investors, is planning to upgrade the country's telephone exchanges and install a new digital switching system



international: country code - 993; linked by cable and microwave radio relay to other CIS republics and to other countries by leased connections to the Moscow international gateway switch; a new telephone link from Ashgabat to Iran has been established; a new exchange in Ashgabat switches international traffic through Turkey via Intelsat; satellite earth stations - 1 Orbita and 1 Intelsat (2006)
Telephones - main lines in use 2.313 million (1997) 495,000 (2006)
Telephones - mobile cellular 8,167 (1997) 105,000 (2005)
Television broadcast stations 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995) 4 (government-owned and programmed) (2004)
Terrain generally flat and contains much marshland flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes rising to mountains in the south; low mountains along border with Iran; borders Caspian Sea in west
Total fertility rate 1.31 children born/woman (2002 est.) 3.13 children born/woman (2007 est.)
Unemployment rate 2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers 60% (2004 est.)
Waterways NA km; note - Belarus has extensive and widely used canal and river systems 1,300 km (Amu Darya and Kara Kum canal important inland waterways) (2006)
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