##ciekawa_strona##
Compare Belarus (2004) - Ukraine (2001)
Compare Belarus (2004) z Ukraine (2001)
| Belarus (2004) | Ukraine (2001) | |
 |  | |
| Administrative divisions | 6 provinces (voblastsi, singular - voblasts') and 1 municipality* (horad); Brest, Homyel', Horad Minsk*, Hrodna, Mahilyow, Minsk, Vitsyebsk
note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers |
24 oblasti (singular - oblast'), 1 autonomous republic* (avtomnaya respublika), and 2 municipalities (mista, singular - misto) with oblast status**; Cherkas'ka (Cherkasy), Chernihivs'ka (Chernihiv), Chernivets'ka (Chernivtsi), Dnipropetrovs'ka (Dnipropetrovs'k), Donets'ka (Donets'k), Ivano-Frankivs'ka (Ivano-Frankivs'k), Kharkivs'ka (Kharkiv), Khersons'ka (Kherson), Khmel'nyts'ka (Khmel'nyts'kyy), Kirovohrads'ka (Kirovohrad), Kyyiv**, Kyyivs'ka (Kiev), Luhans'ka (Luhans'k), L'vivs'ka (L'viv), Mykolayivs'ka (Mykolayiv), Odes'ka (Odesa), Poltavs'ka (Poltava), Avtonomna Respublika Krym* (Simferopol'), Rivnens'ka (Rivne), Sevastopol'**, Sums'ka (Sumy), Ternopil's'ka (Ternopil'), Vinnyts'ka (Vinnytsya), Volyns'ka (Luts'k), Zakarpats'ka (Uzhhorod), Zaporiz'ka (Zaporizhzhya), Zhytomyrs'ka (Zhytomyr); note - when using a place name with an adjectival ending 's'ka' or 'z'ka,' the word Oblast' should be added to the place name
note: oblasts have the administrative center name following in parentheses |
| Age structure | 0-14 years: 16.3% (male 859,219; female 823,839)
15-64 years: 69.2% (male 3,469,926; female 3,662,203) 65 years and over: 14.5% (male 496,204; female 999,129) (2004 est.) |
0-14 years:
17.3% (male 4,310,158; female 4,127,677) 15-64 years: 68.57% (male 15,965,079; female 17,468,035) 65 years and over: 14.13% (male 2,275,004; female 4,614,521) (2001 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk | grain, sugar beets, sunflower seeds, vegetables; beef, milk |
| Airports | 135 (2003 est.) | 718 (2000 est.) |
| Airports - with paved runways | total: 50
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 21 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 under 914 m: 21 (2003 est.) |
total:
114 over 3,047 m: 14 2,438 to 3,047 m: 50 1,524 to 2,437 m: 21 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 26 (2000 est.) |
| Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 85
over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 64 (2003 est.) |
total:
604 over 3,047 m: 13 2,438 to 3,047 m: 37 1,524 to 2,437 m: 52 914 to 1,523 m: 45 under 914 m: 457 (2000 est.) |
| Area | total: 207,600 sq km
land: 207,600 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total:
603,700 sq km land: 603,700 sq km water: 0 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Kansas | slightly smaller than Texas |
| Background | After seven decades as a constituent republic of the USSR, Belarus attained its independence in 1991. It has retained closer political and economic ties to Russia than any of the other former Soviet republics. Belarus and Russia signed a treaty on a two-state union on 8 December 1999 envisioning greater political and economic integration. Although Belarus agreed to a framework to carry out the accord, serious implementation has yet to take place. | Richly endowed in natural resources, Ukraine has been fought over and subjugated for centuries; its 20th-century struggle for liberty is not yet complete. A short-lived independence from Russia (1917-1920) was followed by brutal Soviet rule that engineered two artificial famines (1921-22 and 1932-33) in which over 8 million died, and World War II, in which German and Soviet armies were responsible for some 7 million more deaths. Although independence was attained in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR, true freedom remains elusive as many of the former Soviet elite remain entrenched, stalling efforts at economic reform, privatization, and civic liberties. |
| Birth rate | 10.52 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 9.31 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| Budget | revenues: $2.976 billion
expenditures: $3.211 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (2003 est.) |
revenues:
$8.3 billion expenditures: $8.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.) |
| Capital | Minsk | Kiev (Kyyiv) |
| Climate | cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime | temperate continental; Mediterranean only on the southern Crimean coast; precipitation disproportionately distributed, highest in west and north, lesser in east and southeast; winters vary from cool along the Black Sea to cold farther inland; summers are warm across the greater part of the country, hot in the south |
| Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 2,782 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; revised again 17 October 2004 removing presidential term limits | adopted 28 June 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: Ukraine local long form: none local short form: Ukrayina former: Ukrainian National Republic, Ukrainian State, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic |
| Currency | Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR) | hryvnia (UAH) |
| Death rate | 14.1 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 16.43 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| Debt - external | $851 million (2001 est.) | $10.3 billion (2000) |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador George A. KROL
embassy: 46 Starovilenskaya St., Minsk 220002 mailing address: PSC 78, Box B Minsk, APO 09723 telephone: [375] (17) 210-12-83, 217-7347, 217-7348 FAX: [375] (17) 234-7853 |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Carlos PASCUAL embassy: 10 Yuria Kotsubynskoho, 254053 Kiev 53 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [380] (44) 490-4000 FAX: [380] (44) 244-7350 |
| 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 Konstantin Ivanovych HRYSHCHENKO chancery: 3350 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 333-0606 FAX: [1] (202) 333-0817 consulate(s) general: Chicago and New York |
| Disputes - international | 1997 boundary treaty with Ukraine remains unratified over unresolved financial claims, preventing demarcation and diminishing border security; boundaries with Latvia and Lithuania remain undemarcated despite European Union financial support | has made no territorial claim in Antarctica (but has reserved the right to do so) and does not recognize the claims of any other nation |
| Economic aid - recipient | $194.3 million (1995) | $637.7 million (1995); IMF Extended Funds Facility $2.2 billion (1998) |
| Economy - overview | Belarus' economy in 2003 posted 6.1 percent growth and is likely to continue expanding through 2004, albeit at a slower growth rate. The Belarusian economy in 2004 is likely to be hampered by high inflation, persistent trade deficits, and ongoing rocky relations with Russia, Belarus' largest trading partner and energy supplier. 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 enterprises. In addition, 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. For the time being, Belarus remains self-isolated from the West and its open-market economies. | After Russia, the Ukrainian republic was far and away the most important economic component of the former Soviet Union, producing about four times the output of the next-ranking republic. Its fertile black soil generated more than one-fourth of Soviet agricultural output, and its farms provided substantial quantities of meat, milk, grain, and vegetables to other republics. Likewise, its diversified heavy industry supplied the unique equipment (for example, large diameter pipes) and raw materials to industrial and mining sites (vertical drilling apparatus) in other regions of the former USSR. Ukraine depends on imports of energy, especially natural gas, to meet some 85% of its annual energy requirements. Shortly after independence in late 1991, the Ukrainian Government liberalized most prices and erected a legal framework for privatization, but widespread resistance to reform within the government and the legislature soon stalled reform efforts and led to some backtracking. Output in 1992-99 fell to less than 40% the 1991 level. Loose monetary policies pushed inflation to hyperinflationary levels in late 1993. Ukraine's dependence on Russia for energy supplies and the lack of significant structural reform have made the Ukrainian economy vulnerable to external shocks. Now in his second term, President KUCHMA has pledged to reduce the number of government agencies and streamline the regulation process, create a legal environment to encourage entrepreneurs and protect ownership rights, and enact a comprehensive tax overhaul. Reforms in the more politically sensitive areas of structural reform and land privatization are still lagging. Outside institutions - particularly the IMF - have encouraged Ukraine to quicken the pace and scope of reforms and have threatened to withdraw financial support. GDP in 2000 showed strong export-based growth of 6% - the first growth since independence - and industrial production grew 12.9%. As the capacity for further export-based economic expansion diminishes, GDP growth in 2001 is likely to decline to around 3%. |
| Electricity - consumption | 26.69 billion kWh (2001) | 146.675 billion kWh (1999) |
| Electricity - exports | 300 million kWh (2001) | 2.3 billion kWh (1999) |
| Electricity - imports | 4.3 billion kWh (2001) | 2.2 billion kWh (1999) |
| Electricity - production | 24.4 billion kWh (2001) | 157.823 billion kWh (1999) |
| Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
47.67% hydro: 9.65% nuclear: 42.67% other: 0.01% (1999) |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point: Nyoman River 90 m
highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m |
lowest point:
Black Sea 0 m highest point: Hora Hoverla 2,061 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 | inadequate supplies of potable water; air and water pollution; deforestation; radiation contamination in the northeast from 1986 accident at Chornobyl' Nuclear Power Plant |
| Environment - international agreements | party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
party to:
Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
| Ethnic groups | Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4% | Ukrainian 73%, Russian 22%, Jewish 1%, other 4% |
| Exchange rates | Belarusian rubles per US dollar - 1,790.92 (2003), 1,920 (2002), 1,390 (2001), 876.75 (2000), 248.795 (1999) | hryvnia per US dollar - 5.4331 (January 2001), 5.4402 (2000), 4.1304 (1999), 2.4495 (1998), 1.8617 (1997), 1.8295 (1996) |
| Executive branch | chief of state: President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994)
head of government: Prime Minister Sergei SIDORSKY (since 19 December 2003); First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir SEMASHKO (since December 2003); Deputy Prime Ministers Andrei KOBYAKOV (since December 2003), Vladimir DRAZHIN (since 24 September 2001), Ivan BAMBIZA (since 25 May 2004), Anatoly TYUTYUNOV (since July 2002) 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; October 2004 referendum ended presidential term limits allowing president to run for a third term in 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 Leonid D. KUCHMA (since 19 July 1994) head of government: Prime Minister Anatoliy KINAKH (since 29 May 2001), First Deputy Prime Minister Oleh DUBYNA (since 29 May 2001) cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president and approved by the Supreme Council note: there is also a National Security and Defense Council or NSDC originally created in 1992 as the National Security Council, but significantly revamped and strengthened under President KUCHMA; the NSDC staff is tasked with developing national security policy on domestic and international matters and advising the president; a Presidential Administration that helps draft presidential edicts and provides policy support to the president; and a Council of Regions that serves as an advisory body created by President KUCHMA in September 1994 that includes chairmen of the Kyyiv (Kiev) and Sevastopol' municipalities and chairmen of the oblasti elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 31 October and 14 November 1999 (next to be held NA 2004); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president and approved by the Supreme Council election results: Leonid D. KUCHMA elected president; percent of vote - Leonid KUCHMA 57.7%, Petro SYMONENKO 38.8% |
| Exports | NA (2001) | $14.6 billion (2000 est.) |
| Exports - commodities | machinery and equipment, mineral products, chemicals, metals; textiles, foodstuffs | ferrous and nonferrous metals, fuel and petroleum products, machinery and transport equipment, food products |
| Exports - partners | Russia 49.1%, UK 9.4%, Poland 4.4%, Germany 4.2%, Netherlands 4.2% (2003) | Russia 24%, Europe 30%, US 5% (2000 est.) |
| 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 Belarusian national ornamention in red | two equal horizontal bands of azure (top) and golden yellow represent grainfields under a blue sky |
| GDP | purchasing power parity - $62.56 billion (2003 est.) | purchasing power parity - $189.4 billion (2000 est.) |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 11.1%
industry: 36.4% services: 52.5% (2003 est.) |
agriculture:
12% industry: 26% services: 62% (1998 est.) |
| GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $6,100 (2003 est.) | purchasing power parity - $3,850 (2000 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate | 6.8% (2003 est.) | 6% (2000 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | 53 00 N, 28 00 E | 49 00 N, 32 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 position at the crossroads between Europe and Asia; second-largest country in Europe |
| Heliports | 1 (2003 est.) | - |
| Highways | total: 74,385 km
paved: 66,203 km unpaved: 8,182 km (2000) |
total:
273,700 km paved: 236,400 km (including 1,770 km of expressways); note - (these roads are said to be hard-surfaced, and include, in addition to conventionally paved roads, some that are surfaced with gravel or other coarse aggregate, making them trafficable in all weather) unpaved: 37,300 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%: 5.1%
highest 10%: 20% (1998) |
lowest 10%:
3.9% highest 10%: 26.4% (1996) |
| 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; a small and lightly regulated financial center; new anti-money-laundering legislation does not meet international standards; few investigations or prosecutions of money-laundering activities | limited cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy, mostly for CIS consumption; some synthetic drug production for export to West; limited government eradication program; used as transshipment point for opiates and other illicit drugs from Africa, Latin America, and Turkey, and to Europe and Russia; drug-related money laundering a minor, but growing, problem |
| Imports | NA (2001) | $15 billion (2000 est.) |
| Imports - commodities | mineral products, machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, metals | energy, machinery and parts, transportation equipment, chemicals |
| Imports - partners | Russia 65.8%, Germany 7.1%, Ukraine 3.1% (2003) | Russia 42%, Europe 29%, US 3% (2000 est.) |
| Independence | 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) | 24 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) |
| Industrial production growth rate | 5% (2003 est.) | 12.9% (2000 est.) |
| Industries | metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators | coal, electric power, ferrous and nonferrous metals, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food processing (especially sugar) |
| Infant mortality rate | total: 13.62 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 14.71 deaths/1,000 live births female: 12.47 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
21.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 28.2% (2003 est.) | 25.8% (2000 est.) |
| International organization participation | CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MIGA, NAM, NSG, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (observer) | BSEC, CCC, CE, CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MONUC, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNMOT, UNTAET, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer), ZC |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 32 (2000) |
| Irrigated land | 1,150 sq km (1998 est.) | 26,050 sq km (1993 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; Constitutional Court |
| Labor force | 4.8 million (2000 est.) | 22.8 million (yearend 1997) |
| Labor force - by occupation | NA | industry 32%, agriculture 24%, services 44% (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:
4,558 km border countries: Belarus 891 km, Hungary 103 km, Moldova 939 km, Poland 428 km, Romania (south) 169 km, Romania (west) 362 km, Russia 1,576 km, Slovakia 90 km |
| Land use | arable land: 29.55%
permanent crops: 0.6% other: 69.85% (2001) |
arable land:
58% permanent crops: 2% permanent pastures: 13% forests and woodland: 18% other: 9% (1993 est.) |
| Languages | Belarusian, Russian, other | Ukrainian, Russian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian |
| Legal system | based on civil law system | based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts |
| 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 Predstaviteliy (110 seats; members elected by universal adult suffrage to serve 4-year terms)
elections: last held 18 March and 1 April 2001 and 17 and 31 October 2004 (bi-election will be held March 2005 to fill one unfilled seat in the Palata Predstaviteliy); international observers widely denounced the October 2004 elections as flawed and undemocratic, based on massive government falsification; pro-Lukashenko candidates won every seat, after many opposition candidates were disqualified for technical reasons election results: Soviet Respubliki - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; Palata Pretsaviteley - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA |
unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; under Ukraine's new election law, half of the Supreme Council's seats are allocated on a proportional basis to those parties that gain 4% or more of the national electoral vote; the other 225 members are elected by popular vote in single-mandate constituencies; all serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 29 March 1998 (next to be held NA 2002) election results: percent of vote by party (for parties clearing 4% hurdle on 29 March 1998) - Communist Party 24.7%, Rukh (combined) 9.4%, SPU/SelPU 8.6%, PZU 5.3%, People's Democratic Party 5.0%, Hromada Party 4.7%, Progressive Socialist Party 4.0%, United Social Democratic Party 4.0%; seats by party (as of 25 February 2000) - Communist Party 115, PRVU 36, Fatherland Party 35, United Social Democratic Party 34, People's Democratic Party 27, Trudova Ukrayina Party 27, Rukh K 27, left-center 23, PZU 18, Rukh U 17, SelPU 15, Hromada Party 14, Reforms-Congress 12, independents 14, unaffiliated 31, vacant 5 |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population: 68.57 years
male: 62.79 years female: 74.65 years (2004 est.) |
total population:
66.15 years male: 60.62 years female: 71.96 years (2001 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: 98% male: 100% female: 97% (1989 est.) |
| Location | Eastern Europe, east of Poland | Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland and Russia |
| Map references | Europe | Commonwealth of Independent States |
| Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | continental shelf:
200-m or to the depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
| Merchant marine | - | total:
156 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 757,582 GRT/841,755 DWT ships by type: bulk 8, cargo 110, container 3, liquefied gas 2, passenger 11, passenger/cargo 2, petroleum tanker 14, railcar carrier 2, roll on/roll off 2, short-sea passenger 2 (2000 est.) |
| Military branches | Army, Air and Air Defense Force | Army, Navy, Air Force, Air Defense Force, Internal Troops, Border Troops |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | $176.1 million (FY02) | $500 million (FY99) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.4% (FY02) | 1.4% (FY99) |
| Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 2,764,856 (2004 est.) | males age 15-49:
12,285,623 (2001 est.) |
| Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 2,164,923 (2004 est.) | males age 15-49:
9,630,184 (2001 est.) |
| Military manpower - military age | - | 18 years of age |
| Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 86,716 (2004 est.) | males:
390,823 (2001 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, 24 August (1991) |
| Nationality | noun: Belarusian(s)
adjective: Belarusian |
noun:
Ukrainian(s) adjective: Ukrainian |
| Natural hazards | NA | NA |
| Natural resources | forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay | iron ore, coal, manganese, natural gas, oil, salt, sulfur, graphite, titanium, magnesium, kaolin, nickel, mercury, timber, arable land |
| Net migration rate | 2.54 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) | -0.63 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| Pipelines | gas 5,223 km; oil 2,443 km; refined products 1,686 km (2004) | crude oil 4,000 km (1995); petroleum products 4,500 km (1995); natural gas 34,400 km (1998) |
| Political parties and leaders | Pro-government parties: Agrarian Party or AP; Belarusian Communist Party or KPB; Belarusian Patriotic Movement (Belarusian Patriotic Party) or BPR [Anatoliy BARANKEVICH, chairman]; Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus [Sergei GAYDUKEVICH]; Social-Sports Party; Opposition parties: Belarusian Popular Front or BNF [Vintsuk VYACHORKA]; Belarusian Social-Democrat Party Narodnaya Gromada or BSDP NG [Nikolay STATKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Social-Democratic Party Hromada [Stanislav SHUSHKEVICH, chairman]; United Civic Party or UCP [Anatol LEBEDKO]; Party of Communists Belarusian or PKB [Sergei KALYAKIN, chairman]; Women's Party "Nadezhda" [Valentina MATUSEVICH, chairperson]
note: the opposition Belarusian Party of Labor [Aleksandr BUKHVOSTOV] was liquidated in August 2004, but remains active |
Communist Party of Ukraine [Petro SYMONENKO]; Fatherland (Motherland) All Ukrainian Party [Yuliya TYMOSHENKO, chairperson]; Green Party of Ukraine or PZU [Vitaliy KONONOV, chairman]; Hromada [Pavlo LAZARENKO]; Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine or PRVU [Volodymyr RYBAK]; Peasant Party of Ukraine or SelPU [Serhiy DOVHAN]; People's Democratic Party [Valeriy PUSTOVOYTENKO, chairman]; People's Movement of Ukraine or Rukh U [Hennadiy UDOVENKO, chairman]; Progressive Socialist Party [Nataliya VITRENKO]; Reforms and Order Party/Reforms-Congress [Viktor PYNZENYK]; Socialist Party of Ukraine or SPU [Oleksandr MOROZ, chairman]; Solidarity [leader NA]; Trudova Ukrayina/Working Ukraine [Igor SHAROV, chairman]; Ukrainian Popular Movement or Rukh K [Yuriy KOSTENKO, chairman]; United Social Democratic Party of Ukraine [Viktor MEDVEDCHUK]
note: and numerous smaller parties |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
| Population | 10,310,520 (July 2004 est.) | 48,760,474 (July 2001 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | 22% (1995 est.) | 50% (1999 est.) |
| Population growth rate | -0.11% (2004 est.) | -0.78% (2001 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | Mazyr | Berdyans'k, Illichivs'k, Izmayil, Kerch, Kherson, Kiev (Kyyiv), Mariupol', Mykolayiv, Odesa, Reni, Sevastopol' |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998) | AM 134, FM 289, shortwave 4 (1998) |
| Radios | - | 45.05 million (1997) |
| Railways | total: 5,523 km
broad gauge: 5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2003) |
total:
23,350 km broad gauge: 23,350 km 1.524-m gauge (8,600 km electrified) |
| Religions | Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.) | Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate, Ukrainian Orthodox - Kiev Patriarchate, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox, Ukrainian Catholic (Uniate), Protestant, Jewish |
| 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 (2004 est.) |
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.91 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.49 male(s)/female total population: 0.86 male(s)/female (2001 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' fiber optics form synchronous digital hierarchy rings through other countries' systems; an inadequate analog system remains operational international: country code - 375; 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:
Ukraine's telecommunication development plan, running through 2005, emphasizes improving domestic trunk lines, international connections, and the mobile cellular system domestic: at independence in December 1991, Ukraine inherited a telephone system that was antiquated, inefficient, and in disrepair; more than 3.5 million applications for telephones could not be satisfied; telephone density is now rising slowly and the domestic trunk system is being improved; the mobile cellular telephone system is expanding at a high rate international: two new domestic trunk lines are a part of the fiber-optic Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) system and three Ukrainian links have been installed in the fiber-optic Trans-European Lines (TEL) project which connects 18 countries; additional international service is provided by the Italy-Turkey-Ukraine-Russia (ITUR) fiber-optic submarine cable and by earth stations in the Intelsat, Inmarsat, and Intersputnik satellite systems |
| Telephones - main lines in use | 3,071,300 (2003) | 9.45 million (April 1999) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 1.118 million (2003) | 236,000 (1998) |
| Television broadcast stations | 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995) | at least 33 (plus 21 repeaters that relay broadcasts from Russia) (1997) |
| Terrain | generally flat and contains much marshland | most of Ukraine consists of fertile plains (steppes) and plateaus, mountains being found only in the west (the Carpathians), and in the Crimean Peninsula in the extreme south |
| Total fertility rate | 1.36 children born/woman (2004 est.) | 1.29 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | 2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers (2003 est.) | 4.3% officially registered; large number of unregistered or underemployed workers (December 1999) |
| Waterways | 2,500 km (use limited by location on perimeter of country and by shallowness) (2003) | 4,499 km
note: (1,672 km are on the Pryp'yat' and Dnistr) (1990) |
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