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Compare Belarus (2003) - Honduras (2005)

Compare Belarus (2003) z Honduras (2005)

 Belarus (2003)Honduras (2005)
 BelarusHonduras
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
18 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Atlantida, Choluteca, Colon, Comayagua, Copan, Cortes, El Paraiso, Francisco Morazan, Gracias a Dios, Intibuca, Islas de la Bahia, La Paz, Lempira, Ocotepeque, Olancho, Santa Barbara, Valle, Yoro
Age structure 0-14 years: 16.8% (male 885,265; female 848,516)


15-64 years: 68.9% (male 3,456,769; female 3,652,766)


65 years and over: 14.3% (male 490,529; female 988,306) (2003 est.)
0-14 years: 40.8% (male 1,452,646/female 1,393,271)


15-64 years: 55.5% (male 1,921,432/female 1,948,656)


65 years and over: 3.7% (male 122,146/female 137,053) (2005 est.)
Agriculture - products grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk bananas, coffee, citrus; beef; timber; shrimp
Airports 124 (2002) 115 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways total: 28


over 3,047 m: 2


2,438 to 3,047 m: 21


1,524 to 2,437 m: 4


under 914 m: 1 (2002)
total: 11


2,438 to 3,047 m: 3


1,524 to 2,437 m: 2


914 to 1,523 m: 3


under 914 m: 3 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways total: 96


over 3,047 m: 3


2,438 to 3,047 m: 1


1,524 to 2,437 m: 11


914 to 1,523 m: 14


under 914 m: 67 (2002)
total: 104


1,524 to 2,437 m: 2


914 to 1,523 m: 18


under 914 m: 84 (2004 est.)
Area total: 207,600 sq km


land: 207,600 sq km


water: 0 sq km
total: 112,090 sq km


land: 111,890 sq km


water: 200 sq km
Area - comparative slightly smaller than Kansas slightly larger than Tennessee
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. Once part of Spain's vast empire in the New World, Honduras became an independent nation in 1821. After two and a half decades of mostly military rule, a freely elected civilian government came to power in 1982. During the 1980s, Honduras proved a haven for anti-Sandinista contras fighting the Marxist Nicaraguan Government and an ally to Salvadoran Government forces fighting leftist guerrillas. The country was devastated by Hurricane Mitch in 1998, which killed about 5,600 people and caused approximately $2 billion in damage.
Birth rate 10.18 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) 30.38 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Budget revenues: $4 billion


expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.)
revenues: $1.467 billion


expenditures: $1.722 billion, including capital expenditures of $106 million (2004 est.)
Capital Minsk Tegucigalpa
Climate cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime subtropical in lowlands, temperate in mountains
Coastline 0 km (landlocked) 820 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 11 January 1982, effective 20 January 1982; amended 1995
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 Honduras


conventional short form: Honduras


local long form: Republica de Honduras


local short form: Honduras
Currency Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR) -
Death rate 14.05 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) 6.87 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Debt - external $851 million (2001 est.) $5.365 billion (September 2004 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US chief of mission: Ambassador Michael G. KOZAK


embassy: 46 Starovilenskaya St., Minsk 220002


mailing address: PSC 78, Box B Minsk, APO 09723


telephone: [375] (17) 210-12-83


FAX: [375] (17) 234-7853
chief of mission: Ambassador Larry Leon PALMER


embassy: Avenida La Paz, Apartado Postal No. 3453, Tegucigalpa


mailing address: American Embassy, APO AA 34022, Tegucigalpa


telephone: [504] 238-5114, 236-9320


FAX: [504] 236-9037
Diplomatic representation in the US chief of mission: Ambassador Mikhail KHVOSTOV


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 (vacant)


chancery: Suite 4-M, 3007 Tilden Street NW, Washington, DC 20008


telephone: [1] (202) 966-7702


FAX: [1] (202) 966-9751


consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco


honorary consulate(s): Boston, Detroit, Jacksonville
Disputes - international 1997 boundary treaty with Ukraine remains unratified over unresolved financial claims, preventing demarcation and encouraging illegal border crossing; boundaries with Latvia and Lithuania remain undemarcated despite European Union financial support in 1992, ICJ ruled on the delimitation of "bolsones" (disputed areas) along the El Salvador-Honduras border, but despite OAS intervention and a further ICJ ruling in 2003, full demarcation of the border remains stalled; the 1992 ICJ ruling advised a tripartite resolution to a maritime boundary in the Gulf of Fonseca with consideration of Honduran access to the Pacific; El Salvador continues to claim tiny Conejo Island, not mentioned in the ICJ ruling, off Honduras in the Gulf of Fonseca; Honduras claims Sapodilla Cays off the coast of Belize, but agreed to creation of a joint ecological park and Guatemalan corridor in the Caribbean in the failed 2002 Belize-Guatemala Differendum, which the OAS is attempting to revive; Nicaragua filed a claim against Honduras in 1999 and against Colombia in 2001 at the ICJ over a complex dispute over islands and maritime boundaries in the Caribbean Sea
Economic aid - recipient $194.3 million (1995) $557.8 million (1999)
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. A wide range of redistributive policies has helped those at the bottom of the ladder. 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. Honduras, one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere with an extraordinarily unequal distribution of income and massive unemployment, is banking on expanded trade under the U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and on debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. The country has met most of its macroeconomic targets, and began a three-year IMF Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PGRF) program in February 2004. Growth remains dependent on the economy of the US, its largest trading partner, on commodity prices, particularly coffee, and on reduction of the high crime rate.
Electricity - consumption 26.69 billion kWh (2001) 3.771 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports 300 million kWh (2001) 16 million kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports 4.3 billion kWh (2001) 415 million kWh (2002)
Electricity - production 24.4 billion kWh (2001) 3.626 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - production by source fossil fuel: 99.5%


hydro: 0.1%


nuclear: 0%


other: 0.4% (2001)
-
Elevation extremes lowest point: Nyoman River 90 m


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


highest point: Cerro Las Minas 2,870 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 urban population expanding; deforestation results from logging and the clearing of land for agricultural purposes; further land degradation and soil erosion hastened by uncontrolled development and improper land use practices such as farming of marginal lands; mining activities polluting Lago de Yojoa (the country's largest source of fresh water), as well as several rivers and streams, with heavy metals
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, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands


signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Ethnic groups Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4% mestizo (mixed Amerindian and European) 90%, Amerindian 7%, black 2%, white 1%
Exchange rates Belarusian rubles per US dollar - NA (2002), 1,390 (2001), 876.75 (2000), 248.8 (1999), 46.13 (1998) lempiras per US dollar - 18.206 (2004), 17.345 (2003), 16.433 (2002), 15.474 (2001), 14.839 (2000)
Executive branch chief of state: President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994)


head of government: Prime Minister Sergei SIDORSKY (acting; since 10 July 2003); Deputy Prime Ministers Andrei KOBYAKOV (since 13 March 2000), Sergei SIDORSKY (since 24 September 2001), Vladimir DRAZHIN (since 24 September 2001), Roman VNUCHKO (since 10 July 2003)


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 Ricardo (Joest) MADURO (since 27 January 2002); First Vice President Vicente WILLIAMS Agasse (since 27 January 2002); Second Vice President Armida Villela Maria DE LOPEZ Contreras (since 27 January 2002); Third Vice President Alberto DIAZ Lobo (since 27 January 2002); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government


head of government: President Ricardo (Joest) MADURO (since 27 January 2002); First Vice President Vicente WILLIAMS Agasse (since 27 January 2002); Second Vice President Armida Villela Maria DE LOPEZ Contreras (since 27 January 2002); Third Vice President Alberto DIAZ Lobo (since 27 January 2002); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government


cabinet: Cabinet appointed by president


elections: president elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 25 November 2001 (next to be held 27 November 2005)


election results: Ricardo (Joest) MADURO (PN) elected president - 52.2%, Raphael PINEDA Ponce (PL) 44.3%, others 3.5%
Exports NA (2001) NA
Exports - commodities machinery and equipment, mineral products, chemicals, metals; textiles, foodstuffs coffee, shrimp, bananas, gold, palm oil, fruit, lobster, lumber
Exports - partners Russia 50.8%, Latvia 7.3%, Ukraine 6.3%, Lithuania 4.1%, Germany 4.1% (2002) US 54.4%, El Salvador 8.1%, Germany 5.9%, Guatemala 5.4% (2004)
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 a Belarusian national ornament in red three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, and blue with five blue, five-pointed stars arranged in an X pattern centered in the white band; the stars represent the members of the former Federal Republic of Central America - Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua; similar to the flag of El Salvador, which features a round emblem encircled by the words REPUBLICA DE EL SALVADOR EN LA AMERICA CENTRAL centered in the white band; also similar to the flag of Nicaragua, which features a triangle encircled by the word REPUBLICA DE NICARAGUA on top and AMERICA CENTRAL on the bottom, centered in the white band
GDP purchasing power parity - $90.19 billion (2002 est.) -
GDP - composition by sector agriculture: 15%


industry: 40%


services: 45% (2002 est.)
agriculture: 12.7%


industry: 32.1%


services: 55.3% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $8,700 (2002 est.) purchasing power parity - $2,800 (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate 4.7% (2002 est.) 4.2% (2004 est.)
Geographic coordinates 53 00 N, 28 00 E 15 00 N, 86 30 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 has only a short Pacific coast but a long Caribbean shoreline, including the virtually uninhabited eastern Mosquito Coast
Highways total: 74,385 km


paved: 66,203 km


unpaved: 8,182 km (2000)
total: 13,603 km


paved: 2,775 km


unpaved: 10,828 km (1999 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share lowest 10%: 5.1%


highest 10%: 20% (1998)
lowest 10%: 0.6%


highest 10%: 42.7% (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 transshipment point for drugs and narcotics; illicit producer of cannabis, cultivated on small plots and used principally for local consumption; corruption is a major problem; some money-laundering activity
Imports NA (2001) NA
Imports - commodities mineral products, machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, metals machinery and transport equipment, industrial raw materials, chemical products, fuels, foodstuffs (2000)
Imports - partners Russia 68.2%, Germany 9.4%, Ukraine 3.2% (2002) US 37.5%, Guatemala 6.9%, Mexico 5.4%, Costa Rica 4.3%, El Salvador 4% (2004)
Independence 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) 15 September 1821 (from Spain)
Industrial production growth rate 2.5% (2002 est.) 7.7% (2003 est.)
Industries metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators sugar, coffee, textiles, clothing, wood products
Infant mortality rate total: 13.87 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 15.13 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 12.56 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
total: 29.32 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 32.84 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 25.63 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 42.8% (2002 est.) 7% (2004 est.)
International organization participation CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NAM, NAM (observer), NSG, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (observer) ABEDA, BCIE, CACM, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (subscriber), ITU, LAES, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW (signatory), PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) 23 (2002) -
Irrigated land 1,150 sq km (1998 est.) 760 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 of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (judges are elected for seven-year terms by the National Congress)
Labor force 4.8 million (2000) 2.47 million (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA% agriculture 34%, industry 21%, services 45% (2001 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: 1,520 km


border countries: Guatemala 256 km, El Salvador 342 km, Nicaragua 922 km
Land use arable land: 29.76%


permanent crops: 0.69%


other: 69.55% (1998 est.)
arable land: 9.55%


permanent crops: 3.22%


other: 87.23% (2001)
Languages Belarusian, Russian, other Spanish, Amerindian dialects
Legal system based on civil law system rooted in Roman and Spanish civil law with increasing influence of English common law; recent judicial reforms include abandoning Napoleonic legal codes in favor of the oral adversarial system; accepts 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 National Congress or Congreso Nacional (128 seats; members are elected proportionally to the number of votes their party's presidential candidate receives to serve four-year terms)


elections: last held 25 November 2001 (next to be held 27 November 2005)


election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PN 61, PL 55, PUD 5, PDC 4, PINU-SD 3
Life expectancy at birth total population: 68.43 years


male: 62.54 years


female: 74.6 years (2003 est.)
total population: 69.3 years


male: 67.71 years


female: 70.97 years (2005 est.)
Literacy definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 99.6%


male: 99.8%


female: 99.5% (2003 est.)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 76.2%


male: 76.1%


female: 76.3% (2003 est.)
Location Eastern Europe, east of Poland Central America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and Nicaragua and bordering the Gulf of Fonseca (North Pacific Ocean), between El Salvador and Nicaragua
Map references Europe Central America and the Caribbean
Maritime claims none (landlocked) territorial sea: 12 nm


contiguous zone: 24 nm


exclusive economic zone: 200 nm


continental shelf: natural extension of territory or to 200 nm
Merchant marine - total: 137 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 598,600 GRT/616,158 DWT


by type: bulk carrier 10, cargo 67, chemical tanker 6, container 2, liquefied gas 1, livestock carrier 1, passenger 4, passenger/cargo 5, petroleum tanker 30, refrigerated cargo 9, roll on/roll off 1, specialized tanker 1


foreign-owned: 44 (Canada 1, China 3, Egypt 1, Greece 4, Hong Kong 2, Israel 1, Japan 4, Lebanon 1, Mexico 1, Singapore 12, South Korea 6, Taiwan 2, Tanzania 1, Turkey 1, United States 2, Vanuatu 1, Vietnam 1)


registered in other countries: 1 (2005)
Military branches Army, Air Force (including air defense), Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards Army, Navy (includes Naval Infantry), Air Force
Military expenditures - dollar figure $176.1 million (FY02) $100.6 million (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP 1.4% (FY02) 1.4% (2004)
Military manpower - availability males age 15-49: 2,756,572 (2003 est.) -
Military manpower - fit for military service males age 15-49: 2,158,875 (2003 est.) -
Military manpower - military age 18 years of age (2003 est.) -
Military manpower - reaching military age annually males: 86,654 (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 Independence Day, 15 September (1821)
Nationality noun: Belarusian(s)


adjective: Belarusian
noun: Honduran(s)


adjective: Honduran
Natural hazards NA frequent, but generally mild, earthquakes; extremely susceptible to damaging hurricanes and floods along the Caribbean coast
Natural resources forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony, coal, fish, hydropower
Net migration rate 2.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) -1.95 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Pipelines gas 4,519 km; oil 1,811 km; refined products 1,686 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] Christian Democratic Party or PDC [Juan Ramon VELAZQUEZ Nassar]; Democratic Unification Party or PUD [Matias FUNES]; Liberal Party or PL [Roberto MICHELETTI Bain]; National Innovation and Unity Party-Social Democratic Party or PINU-SD [Olban F. VALLADARES]; National Party of Honduras or PN [Jose Celin DISCUA Elvir]; United Confederation of Honduran Workers or CUTH
Political pressure groups and leaders NA Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in Honduras or CODEH; Confederation of Honduran Workers or CTH; Coordinating Committee of Popular Organizations or CCOP; General Workers Confederation or CGT; Honduran Council of Private Enterprise or COHEP; National Association of Honduran Campesinos or ANACH; National Union of Campesinos or UNC; Popular Bloc or BP; United Federation of Honduran Workers or FUTH
Population 10,322,151 (July 2003 est.) 6,975,204


note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2005 est.)
Population below poverty line 22% (1995 est.) 53% (1993 est.)
Population growth rate -0.12% (2003 est.) 2.16% (2005 est.)
Ports and harbors Mazyr Puerto Castilla, Puerto Cortes, San Lorenzo, Tela
Radio broadcast stations AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998) AM 241, FM 53, shortwave 12 (1998)
Railways total: 5,523 km


broad gauge: 5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2002)
total: 699 km


narrow gauge: 279 km 1.067-m gauge; 420 km 0.914-m gauge (2004)
Religions Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.) Roman Catholic 97%, Protestant 3%
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 (2003 est.)
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female


under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female


total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Suffrage 18 years of age; universal 18 years of age; universal and compulsory
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: inadequate system


domestic: NA


international: country code - 504; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); connected to Central American Microwave System
Telephones - main lines in use 2.313 million (1997) 322,500 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular 8,167 (1997) 326,500 (2002)
Television broadcast stations 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995) 11 (plus 17 repeaters) (1997)
Terrain generally flat and contains much marshland mostly mountains in interior, narrow coastal plains
Total fertility rate 1.34 children born/woman (2003 est.) 3.87 children born/woman (2005 est.)
Unemployment rate 2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers 28.5% (2004 est.)
Waterways NA km; note - Belarus has extensive and widely used canal and river systems 465 km (most navigable only by small craft) (2004)
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