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Compare Belarus (2003) - West Bank (2003)
Compare Belarus (2003) z West Bank (2003)
| Belarus (2003) | West Bank (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 |
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| 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: 44.1% (male 505,880; female 481,369)
15-64 years: 52.4% (male 598,992; female 572,511) 65 years and over: 3.5% (male 33,688; female 44,754) (2003 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk | olives, citrus, vegetables; beef, dairy products |
| Airports | 124 (2002) | 3 (2002) |
| 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: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
| 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) |
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| Area | total: 207,600 sq km
land: 207,600 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 5,860 sq km
land: 5,640 sq km water: 220 sq km note: includes West Bank, Latrun Salient, and the northwest quarter of the Dead Sea, but excludes Mt. Scopus; East Jerusalem and Jerusalem No Man's Land are also included only as a means of depicting the entire area occupied by Israel in 1967 |
| Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Kansas | slightly smaller than Delaware |
| 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. | The Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements (the DOP), signed in Washington on 13 September 1993, provided for a transitional period not exceeding five years of Palestinian interim self-government in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Under the DOP, Israel agreed to transfer certain powers and responsibilities to the Palestinian Authority, which includes the Palestinian Legislative Council elected in January 1996, as part of the interim self-governing arrangements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A transfer of powers and responsibilities for the Gaza Strip and Jericho took place pursuant to the Israel-PLO 4 May 1994 Cairo Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area and in additional areas of the West Bank pursuant to the Israel-PLO 28 September 1995 Interim Agreement, the Israel-PLO 15 January 1997 Protocol Concerning Redeployment in Hebron, the Israel-PLO 23 October 1998 Wye River Memorandum, and the 4 September 1999 Sharm el-Sheikh Agreement. The DOP provides that Israel will retain responsibility during the transitional period for external security and for internal security and public order of settlements and Israeli citizens. Direct negotiations to determine the permanent status of Gaza and West Bank had begun in September 1999 after a three-year hiatus, but have been derailed by a second intifadah that broke out in September 2000. The resulting widespread violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel's military response, and instability within the Palestinian Authority continue to undermine progress toward a permanent agreement. |
| Birth rate | 10.18 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 34.07 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Budget | revenues: $4 billion
expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.) |
revenues: $930 million
expenditures: $1.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $15 million note: includes Gaza Strip (2000 est.) |
| Capital | Minsk | - |
| Climate | cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime | temperate; temperature and precipitation vary with altitude, warm to hot summers, cool to mild winters |
| Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 0 km (landlocked) |
| Constitution | 30 March 1994; revised by national referendum of 24 November 1996 giving the presidency greatly expanded powers and became effective 27 November 1996 | - |
| 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: West Bank |
| Currency | Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR) | new Israeli shekel (ILS); Jordanian dinar (JOD) |
| Death rate | 14.05 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 4.16 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Debt - external | $851 million (2001 est.) | $108 million (includes Gaza Strip) (1997 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 |
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| 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 |
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| 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 | West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation |
| Economic aid - recipient | $194.3 million (1995) | $800 million (includes Gaza Strip) (2001 est.) |
| 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. | Real per capita GDP for the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS) declined by about one-third between 1992 and 1996 due to the combined effect of falling aggregate incomes and rapid population growth. The downturn in economic activity was largely the result of Israeli closure policies - the imposition of border closures in response to security incidents in Israel - which disrupted labor and commodity market relationships between Israel and the WBGS. The most serious social effect of this downturn was rising unemployment; unemployment in the WBGS during the 1980s was generally under 5%; by 1995 it had risen to over 20%. Israel's use of comprehensive closures during the next five years decreased and, in 1998, Israel implemented new policies to reduce the impact of closures and other security procedures on the movement of Palestinian goods and labor. These changes fueled an almost three-year-long economic recovery in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; real GDP grew by 5% in 1998 and 6% in 1999. Recovery was upended in the last quarter of 2000 with the outbreak of violence, which triggered tight Israeli closures of Palestinian self-rule areas and severely disrupted trade and labor movements. In 2001, and even more severely in 2002, Israeli military measures in Palestinian Authority areas have resulted in the destruction of much capital plant and administrative structure, widespread business closures, and a sharp drop in GDP. Another major loss has been the decline in earnings of Palestinian workers in Israel. International aid of $2 billion in 2001-02 to the West Bank and Gaza Strip have prevented the complete collapse of the economy. |
| Electricity - consumption | 26.69 billion kWh (2001) | NA kWh |
| Electricity - exports | 300 million kWh (2001) | - |
| Electricity - imports | 4.3 billion kWh (2001) | NA kWh |
| Electricity - production | 24.4 billion kWh (2001) | NA kWh; note - most electricity imported from Israel; East Jerusalem Electric Company buys and distributes electricity to Palestinians in East Jerusalem and its concession in the West Bank; the Israel Electric Company directly supplies electricity to most Jewish residents and military facilities; some Palestinian municipalities, such as Nablus and Janin, generate their own electricity from small power plants |
| Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 99.5%
hydro: 0.1% nuclear: 0% other: 0.4% (2001) |
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point: Nyoman River 90 m
highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m |
lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m
highest point: Tall Asur 1,022 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 | adequacy of fresh water supply; sewage treatment |
| Environment - international agreements | party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
- |
| Ethnic groups | Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4% | Palestinian Arab and other 83%, Jewish 17% |
| Exchange rates | Belarusian rubles per US dollar - NA (2002), 1,390 (2001), 876.75 (2000), 248.8 (1999), 46.13 (1998) | new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.7378 (2002), 4.2057 (2001), 4.0773 (2000), 4.1397 (1999), 3.8001 (1998), 3.4494 (1997); Jordanian dinars per US dollar - fixed rate of 0.7090 (from 1996) |
| 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% |
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| Exports | NA (2001) | $603 million f.o.b., includes Gaza Strip |
| Exports - commodities | machinery and equipment, mineral products, chemicals, metals; textiles, foodstuffs | olives, fruit, vegetables, limestone |
| Exports - partners | Russia 50.8%, Latvia 7.3%, Ukraine 6.3%, Lithuania 4.1%, Germany 4.1% (2002) | Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip (2000) |
| Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year (since 1 January 1992) |
| 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 | - |
| GDP | purchasing power parity - $90.19 billion (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $1.7 billion (2002 est.) |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 15%
industry: 40% services: 45% (2002 est.) |
agriculture: 9%
industry: 28% services: 63% note: includes Gaza Strip (1999 est.) |
| GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $8,700 (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $800 (2002 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate | 4.7% (2002 est.) | -22% (2002 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | 53 00 N, 28 00 E | 32 00 N, 35 15 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; highlands are main recharge area for Israel's coastal aquifers; there are 242 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the West Bank and 29 in East Jerusalem (February 2002 est.) |
| Highways | total: 74,385 km
paved: 66,203 km unpaved: 8,182 km (2000) |
total: 4,500 km
paved: 2,700 km unpaved: 1,800 km note: Israelis have developed many highways to service Jewish settlements (1997 est.) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 5.1%
highest 10%: 20% (1998) |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
| 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 | NA (2001) | $1.9 billion c.i.f., includes Gaza Strip |
| Imports - commodities | mineral products, machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, metals | food, consumer goods, construction materials |
| Imports - partners | Russia 68.2%, Germany 9.4%, Ukraine 3.2% (2002) | Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip (2000) |
| Independence | 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) | - |
| Industrial production growth rate | 2.5% (2002 est.) | NA% |
| Industries | metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators | generally small family businesses that produce cement, textiles, soap, olive-wood carvings, and mother-of-pearl souvenirs; the Israelis have established some small-scale, modern industries in the settlements and industrial centers |
| 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: 20.68 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 22.86 deaths/1,000 live births female: 18.37 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 42.8% (2002 est.) | 2.2% (includes Gaza Strip) (2001 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) | - |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 23 (2002) | 8 (1999) |
| Irrigated land | 1,150 sq km (1998 est.) | NA sq km |
| 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) | - |
| Labor force | 4.8 million (2000) | NA |
| Labor force - by occupation | industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA% | services 66%, industry 21%, agriculture 13% (1996) |
| Land boundaries | total: 2,900 km
border countries: Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 407 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km |
total: 404 km
border countries: Israel 307 km, Jordan 97 km |
| Land use | arable land: 29.76%
permanent crops: 0.69% other: 69.55% (1998 est.) |
arable land: NEGL%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.) |
| Languages | Belarusian, Russian, other | Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English (widely understood) |
| Legal system | based on civil law system | - |
| 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 |
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| Life expectancy at birth | total population: 68.43 years
male: 62.54 years female: 74.6 years (2003 est.) |
total population: 72.68 years
male: 70.95 years female: 74.51 years (2003 est.) |
| Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.6% male: 99.8% female: 99.5% (2003 est.) |
definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
| Location | Eastern Europe, east of Poland | Middle East, west of Jordan |
| Map references | Europe | Middle East |
| Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | none (landlocked) |
| Military branches | Army, Air Force (including air defense), Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards | - |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | $176.1 million (FY02) | $NA |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.4% (FY02) | NA% |
| 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 | - |
| Nationality | noun: Belarusian(s)
adjective: Belarusian |
noun: NA
adjective: NA |
| Natural hazards | NA | droughts |
| Natural resources | forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay | arable land |
| Net migration rate | 2.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 3.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 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] | - |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | - |
| Population | 10,322,151 (July 2003 est.) | 2,237,194 (July 2002 est.)
note: in addition, there are about 187,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank and fewer than 177,000 in East Jerusalem (February 2002 est.) (July 2003 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | 22% (1995 est.) | 60% (2002 est.) |
| Population growth rate | -0.12% (2003 est.) | 3.3% (2003 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | Mazyr | none |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998) | AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0
note: the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation broadcasts from an AM station in Ramallah on 675 kHz; numerous local, private stations are reported to be in operation (2000) |
| Railways | total: 5,523 km
broad gauge: 5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2002) |
0 km |
| Religions | Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.) | Muslim 75% (predominantly Sunni), Jewish 17%, Christian and other 8% |
| 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: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
| Suffrage | 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: NA
domestic: NA international: NA note: Israeli company BEZEK and the Palestinian company PALTEL are responsible for communication services in the West Bank |
| Telephones - main lines in use | 2.313 million (1997) | 95,729 (total for West Bank and Gaza Strip) (1997) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 8,167 (1997) | NA |
| Television broadcast stations | 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995) | NA |
| Terrain | generally flat and contains much marshland | mostly rugged dissected upland, some vegetation in west, but barren in east |
| Total fertility rate | 1.34 children born/woman (2003 est.) | 4.65 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | 2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers | 50% (includes Gaza Strip) (2002 est.) |
| Waterways | NA km; note - Belarus has extensive and widely used canal and river systems | none |
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