##ciekawa_strona##
Compare Belarus (2002) - Yemen (2003)
Compare Belarus (2002) z Yemen (2003)
| Belarus (2002) | Yemen (2003) | |
 |  | |
| 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 |
19 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Abyan, 'Adan, Ad Dali', Al Bayda', Al Hudaydah, Al Jawf, Al Mahrah, Al Mahwit, 'Amran, Dhamar, Hadramawt, Hajjah, Ibb, Lahij, Ma'rib, Sa'dah, San'a', Shabwah, Ta'izz
note: there may be one additional governorate of the capital city of Sanaa |
| 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: 46.8% (male 4,606,110; female 4,446,229)
15-64 years: 50.4% (male 4,972,946; female 4,778,034) 65 years and over: 2.8% (male 272,921; female 273,641) (2003 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk | grain, fruits, vegetables, pulses, qat (mildly narcotic shrub), coffee, cotton; dairy products, livestock (sheep, goats, cattle, camels), poultry; fish |
| Airports | 136 (2001) | 44 (2002) |
| 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: 16
over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 9 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (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: 28
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 7 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 4 (2002) |
| Area | total: 207,600 sq km
land: 207,600 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 527,970 sq km
land: 527,970 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Perim, Socotra, the former Yemen Arab Republic (YAR or North Yemen), and the former People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY or South Yemen) |
| Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Kansas | slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming |
| 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. | North Yemen became independent of the Ottoman Empire in 1918. The British, who had set up a protectorate area around the southern port of Aden in the 19th century, withdrew in 1967 from what became South Yemen. Three years later, the southern government adopted a Marxist orientation. The massive exodus of hundreds of thousands of Yemenis from the south to the north contributed to two decades of hostility between the states. The two countries were formally unified as the Republic of Yemen in 1990. A southern secessionist movement in 1994 was quickly subdued. In 2000, Saudi Arabia and Yemen agreed to a delimitation of their border. |
| Birth rate | 9.86 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 43.23 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Budget | revenues: $4 billion
expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.) |
revenues: $3 billion
expenditures: $3.1 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2001 est.) |
| Capital | Minsk | Sanaa |
| Climate | cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime | mostly desert; hot and humid along west coast; temperate in western mountains affected by seasonal monsoon; extraordinarily hot, dry, harsh desert in east |
| Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 1,906 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 | 16 May 1991; amended 29 September 1994 and February 2001 |
| 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 Yemen
conventional short form: Yemen local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Yamaniyah local short form: Al Yaman |
| Currency | Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR) | Yemeni rial (YER) |
| Death rate | 13.99 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 9.04 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Debt - external | $770 million (2001 est.) | $6.2 billion (2002) |
| 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 Edmund J. HULL
embassy: Dhahar Himyar Zone, Sheraton Hotel District, Sanaa mailing address: P. O. Box 22347, Sanaa telephone: [967] (1) 303-161 FAX: [967] (1) 303-182 |
| 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 Abd al-Wahhab Abdallah al-HAJRI
chancery: Suite 705, 2600 Virginia Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037 telephone: [1] (202) 965-4760 FAX: [1] (202) 337-2017 |
| Disputes - international | boundary demarcation with Latvia and Lithuania is pending European Union funding | Eritrea protests Yemeni fishing around the Hanish islands awarded to Eritrea by the ICJ in 1999; nomadic groups in border region with Saudi Arabia resist demarcation of boundary |
| Economic aid - recipient | $194.3 million (1995) (1995) | $2.3 billion to be disbursed 2003-07 (2003-07 disbursements) |
| 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. | Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, reported strong growth in the mid-1990s with the onset of oil production, but has been harmed by periodic declines in oil prices. Yemen has embarked on an IMF-supported structural adjustment program designed to modernize and streamline the economy, which has led to substantial foreign debt relief and restructuring. International donors, meeting in Paris in October 2002, agreed on a further $2.3 billion economic support package. Yemen has worked to maintain tight control over spending and implement additional components of the IMF program. A high population growth rate and internal political dissension complicate the government's task. |
| Electricity - consumption | 26.78 billion kWh (2000) | 2.8 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - exports | 300 million kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - imports | 4.15 billion kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - production | 24.66 billion kWh (2000) | 3.01 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point: Nyoman River 90 m
highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m |
lowest point: Arabian Sea 0 m
highest point: Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb 3,760 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 | very limited natural fresh water resources; inadequate supplies of potable water; overgrazing; soil erosion; 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, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Nuclear Test Ban |
| Ethnic groups | Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4% | predominantly Arab; but also Afro-Arab, South Asians, Europeans |
| 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 | Yemeni rials per US dollar - NA (2002), 168.67 (2001), 161.72 (2000), 155.72 (1999), 135.88 (1998) |
| 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 Field Marshall Ali Abdallah SALIH (since 22 May 1990, the former president of North Yemen, assumed office upon the merger of North and South Yemen); Vice President Maj. Gen. Abd al-Rab Mansur al-HADI (since 3 October 1994)
head of government: Prime Minister Abd al-Qadir BA JAMAL (since 4 April 2001) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister elections: president elected by direct, popular vote for a seven-year term (recently extended from a five-year term by constitutional amendment); election last held 23 September 1999 (next to be held NA 2006); vice president appointed by the president; prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president election results: Ali Abdallah SALIH elected president; percent of vote - Ali Abdallah SALIH 96.3%, Najib Qahtan AL-SHAABI 3.7% |
| Exports | $7.5 billion f.o.b. (2001) | NA (2001) |
| Exports - commodities | machinery and equipment, mineral products, chemicals, textiles, foodstuffs, metals | crude oil, coffee, dried and salted fish |
| Exports - partners | Russia 51%, Ukraine 8%, Poland 4%, Germany 3% (2000) | India 21.1%, Thailand 16.9%, South Korea 11.2%, China 11.1%, Malaysia 7.7%, US 6.7%, Singapore 4% (2002) |
| 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 | three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black; similar to the flag of Syria, which has two green stars and of Iraq which has three green stars (plus an Arabic inscription) in a horizontal line centered in the white band; also similar to the flag of Egypt, which has a heraldic eagle centered in the white band |
| GDP | purchasing power parity - $84.8 billion (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $15.07 billion (2002 est.) |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 13%
industry: 42% services: 45% (2000) |
agriculture: 22%
industry: 38% services: 40% (2001) |
| GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $8,200 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $800 (2002 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate | 4.1% (2001 est.) | 4.1% (2002 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | 53 00 N, 28 00 E | 15 00 N, 48 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 on Bab el Mandeb, the strait linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, one of world's most active shipping lanes |
| 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: 67,000 km
paved: 7,705 km unpaved: 59,295 km (1999 est.) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 5%
highest 10%: 20% (1998) |
lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 25.9% (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) | NA (2001) |
| Imports - commodities | mineral products, machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, metals | food and live animals, machinery and equipment, chemicals |
| Imports - partners | Russia 65%, Germany 7%, Poland 3% (2000) | US 10.4%, Saudi Arabia 9.5%, China 8.7%, UAE 6.9%, Russia 5.8%, France 4.7% (2002) |
| Independence | 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) | 22 May 1990, Republic of Yemen was established with the merger of the Yemen Arab Republic [Yemen (Sanaa) or North Yemen] and the Marxist-dominated People's Democratic Republic of Yemen [Yemen (Aden) or South Yemen]; previously North Yemen had become independent on NA November 1918 (from the Ottoman Empire) and South Yemen had become independent on 30 November 1967 (from the UK) |
| Industrial production growth rate | 5.4% (2001 est.) | 4% (2002 est.) |
| Industries | metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators | crude oil production and petroleum refining; small-scale production of cotton textiles and leather goods; food processing; handicrafts; small aluminum products factory; cement |
| Infant mortality rate | 14.12 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | total: 65.02 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 69.98 deaths/1,000 live births female: 59.81 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 46.1% (2001 est.) | 12.2% (2002 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) | ACC, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, ESCWA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAS (observer), OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 23 (2002) | 1 (2000) |
| Irrigated land | 1,150 sq km (1998 est.) | 4,900 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) | Supreme Court |
| Labor force | 4.8 million (2000) | NA |
| Labor force - by occupation | industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA% | most people are employed in agriculture and herding; services, construction, industry, and commerce account for less than one-fourth of the labor force |
| Land boundaries | total: 2,900 km
border countries: Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 407 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km |
total: 1,746 km
border countries: Oman 288 km, Saudi Arabia 1,458 km |
| Land use | arable land: 29.76%
permanent crops: 0.69% other: 69.55% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 2.75%
permanent crops: 0.21% other: 97.04% (1998 est.) |
| Languages | Belarusian, Russian, other | Arabic |
| Legal system | based on civil law system | based on Islamic law, Turkish law, English common law, and local tribal customary 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 |
a new constitutional amendment ratified on 20 February 2001 created a bicameral legislature consisting of a Shura Council (111 seats; members appointed by the president) and a House of Representatives (301 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: last held 27 April 2003 (next to be held NA April 2009) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - GPC 238, Islah 46, YSP 8, Nasserite Unionist Party 3, National Arab Socialist Baath Party 2, independents 4 |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population: 68.28 years
male: 62.3 years female: 74.56 years (2002 est.) |
total population: 60.97 years
male: 59.16 years female: 62.87 years (2003 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: 50.2% male: 70.5% female: 30% (2003 est.) |
| Location | Eastern Europe, east of Poland | Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea, between Oman and Saudi Arabia |
| Map references | Europe | Middle East |
| Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | contiguous zone: 24 NM
continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
| Merchant marine | - | total: 5 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 18,623 GRT/23,752 DWT
ships by type: cargo 1, petroleum tanker 3, roll on/roll off 1 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Hong Kong 2 (2002 est.) |
| Military - note | - | establishment of a Coast Guard, scheduled for May 2001, has been delayed |
| Military branches | Army, Air Force (including air defense), Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards | Army (includes Special Forces, established in 1999), Navy, Air Force, Air Defense Forces, Republican Guard |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | $156 million (FY98) | $482.5 million (FY01) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1% (FY01) | 5.2% (FY01) |
| Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 2,744,267 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49: 4,443,312 (2003 est.) |
| Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 2,149,873 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49: 2,493,612 (2003 est.) |
| Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age (2002 est.) | 14 years of age (2003 est.) |
| Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 86,396 (2002 est.) | males: 249,292 (2003 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 | Unification Day, 22 May (1990) |
| Nationality | noun: Belarusian(s)
adjective: Belarusian |
noun: Yemeni(s)
adjective: Yemeni |
| Natural hazards | NA | sandstorms and dust storms in summer |
| Natural resources | forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay | petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble, small deposits of coal, gold, lead, nickel, and copper, fertile soil in west |
| Net migration rate | 2.78 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Pipelines | crude oil 1,470 km; refined products 1,100 km; natural gas 1,980 km (1992) | gas 88 km; oil 1,174 km (2003) |
| 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] | there are over 12 political parties active in Yemen, some of the more prominent are: General People's Congress or GPC [President Ali Abdallah SALIH]; Islamic Reform Grouping or Islah [Shaykh Abdallah bin Husayn al-AHMAR]; National Arab Socialist Baath Party [Dr. Qassim SALAAM]; Nasserite Unionist Party [Abdel Malik al-MAKHLAFI]; Yemeni Socialist Party or YSP [Ali Salih MUQBIL]
note: President SALIH's General People's Congress or GPC won a landslide victory in the April 1997 legislative election and no longer governs in coalition with Shaykh Abdallah bin Husayn al-AHMAR's Islamic Reform Grouping or Islah - the two parties had been in coalition since the end of the civil war in 1994; the YSP, a loyal opposition party, boycotted the April 1997 legislative election, but announced that it would participate in Yemen's first local elections, held in February 2001; these local elections aim to decentralize political power and are a key element of the government's political reform program |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
| Population | 10,335,382 (July 2002 est.) | 19,349,881 (July 2003 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | 22% (1995 est.) | NA |
| Population growth rate | -0.14% (2002 est.) | 3.42% (2003 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | Mazyr | Aden, Al Hudaydah, Al Mukalla, As Salif, Ras Issa, Mocha, Nishtun |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998) | AM 6, FM 1, 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.) |
0 km |
| Religions | Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.) | Muslim including Shaf'i (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shi'a), small numbers of Jewish, Christian, and Hindu |
| 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: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2003 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: since unification in 1990, efforts have been made to create a national telecommunications network
domestic: the national network consists of microwave radio relay, cable, tropospheric scatter, and GSM cellular mobile telephone systems international: satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Indian Ocean and 1 Atlantic Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region), and 2 Arabsat; microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia and Djibouti |
| Telephones - main lines in use | 2.313 million (1997) | 291,359 (1999) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 8,167 (1997) | 32,042 (2000) |
| Television broadcast stations | 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995) | 7 (plus several low-power repeaters) (1997) |
| Terrain | generally flat and contains much marshland | narrow coastal plain backed by flat-topped hills and rugged mountains; dissected upland desert plains in center slope into the desert interior of the Arabian Peninsula |
| Total fertility rate | 1.31 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 6.82 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | 2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers | 30% (1995 est.) |
| Waterways | NA km; note - Belarus has extensive and widely used canal and river systems | none |
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