Belarus (2004) | Yemen (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 |
17 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Abyan, 'Adan, Al Bayda', Al Hudaydah, Al Jawf, Al Mahrah, Al Mahwit, 'Ataq, Dhamar, Hadhramawt, Hajjah, Ibb, Lahij, Ma'rib, Sa'dah, San'a', Ta'izz
note: there may be three more governorates: Al Daleh, Shabwah, and the capital city of Sana'a |
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:
47.21% (male 4,340,436; female 4,195,076) 15-64 years: 49.79% (male 4,598,301; female 4,402,402) 65 years and over: 3% (male 274,202; female 267,618) (2001 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 | 135 (2003 est.) | 50 (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:
13 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 8 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (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:
37 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 9 1,524 to 2,437 m: 8 914 to 1,523 m: 13 under 914 m: 5 (2000 est.) |
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 | 10.52 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 43.36 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $2.976 billion
expenditures: $3.211 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (2003 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; revised again 17 October 2004 removing presidential term limits | 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 | 14.1 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 9.58 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $851 million (2001 est.) | $4.4 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 Barbara K. BODINE 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 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 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 | 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 | a June 2000 treaty delimited the boundary with Saudi Arabia, but final demarcation requires adjustments based on tribal considerations |
Economic aid - recipient | $194.3 million (1995) | $176.1 million (1995) |
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. | Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, reported strong growth in the mid-1990s with the onset of oil production, but was harmed by low oil prices in 1998. Yemen has embarked on an IMF-supported structural adjustment program designed to modernize and streamline the economy, which has led to foreign debt relief and restructuring. Aided by higher oil prices in 1999-2000, Yemen worked to maintain tight control over spending and implement additional components of the IMF program. A high population growth rate of nearly 3.4% and internal political dissension complicate the government's task. |
Electricity - consumption | 26.69 billion kWh (2001) | 2.232 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 300 million kWh (2001) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 4.3 billion kWh (2001) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 24.4 billion kWh (2001) | 2.4 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
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-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:
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 - 1,790.92 (2003), 1,920 (2002), 1,390 (2001), 876.75 (2000), 248.795 (1999) | Yemeni rials per US dollar - 164.590 (October 2000), 160.683 (2000), 155.718 (1999), 135.882 (1998), 129.281 (1997), 94.157 (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 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 five-year term (a new constitution amendment extends the term by two years to a seven-year term); 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%, Najeeb Qahtan AL-SHAABI 3.7% |
Exports | NA (2001) | $4.2 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | machinery and equipment, mineral products, chemicals, metals; textiles, foodstuffs | crude oil, coffee, dried and salted fish |
Exports - partners | Russia 49.1%, UK 9.4%, Poland 4.4%, Germany 4.2%, Netherlands 4.2% (2003) | Thailand 34%, China 26%, South Korea 14%, Japan 3% (1999) |
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 | 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 - $62.56 billion (2003 est.) | purchasing power parity - $14.4 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 11.1%
industry: 36.4% services: 52.5% (2003 est.) |
agriculture:
20% industry: 42% services: 38% (1998) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $6,100 (2003 est.) | purchasing power parity - $820 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 6.8% (2003 est.) | 6% (2000 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 |
Heliports | 1 (2003 est.) | - |
Highways | total: 74,385 km
paved: 66,203 km unpaved: 8,182 km (2000) |
total:
69,263 km paved: 9,963 km unpaved: 59,300 km (1999) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 5.1%
highest 10%: 20% (1998) |
lowest 10%:
2.3% highest 10%: 30.8% (1992) |
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 | - |
Imports | NA (2001) | $2.7 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | mineral products, machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, metals | food and live animals, machinery and equipment |
Imports - partners | Russia 65.8%, Germany 7.1%, Ukraine 3.1% (2003) | Saudi Arabia 10%, UAE 8%, US 7%, France 7%, Italy 6% (1999) |
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% (2003 est.) | NA% |
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 | 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.) |
68.53 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 28.2% (2003 est.) | 10% (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) | ACC, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, CCC, ESCWA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, NAM, OAS (observer), OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 1,150 sq km (1998 est.) | 5,674 sq km (1999) |
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 est.) | NA |
Labor force - by occupation | 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: 29.55%
permanent crops: 0.6% other: 69.85% (2001) |
arable land:
3% permanent crops: 13% permanent pastures: 33.5% forests and woodland: 4% other: 46.5% (1999) |
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 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 |
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 1997 (next to be held 27 April 2003) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - GPC 189, Islah 52, Nasserite Unionist Party 3, National Arab Socialist Baath Party 2, independents 54, election pending 1; latest seats by party: GPC 223, Islah 64, Nasserite Unionist Party 3, National Arab Socialist Baath Party 2, YSP 2, independents 7 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 68.57 years
male: 62.79 years female: 74.65 years (2004 est.) |
total population:
60.21 years male: 58.45 years female: 62.05 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: 38% male: 53% female: 26% (1990 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:
4 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 15,075 GRT/23,562 DWT ships by type: cargo 1, petroleum tanker 3 (2000 est.) |
Military branches | Army, Air and Air Defense Force | Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, Air Defense Forces, Presidential Guards, paramilitary (includes Police) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $176.1 million (FY02) | $414 million (FY99) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.4% (FY02) | 7.6% (FY99) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 2,764,856 (2004 est.) | males age 15-49:
4,103,093 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 2,164,923 (2004 est.) | males age 15-49:
2,303,257 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 14 years of age |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 86,716 (2004 est.) | males:
238,690 (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 | 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 | 2.54 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | gas 5,223 km; oil 2,443 km; refined products 1,686 km (2004) | crude oil 644 km; petroleum products 32 km |
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 |
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 to be 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 | 10,310,520 (July 2004 est.) | 18,078,035 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 22% (1995 est.) | 19% (1992 est.) |
Population growth rate | -0.11% (2004 est.) | 3.38% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Mazyr | Aden, Al Hudaydah, Al Mukalla, As Salif, Mocha, Nishtun |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998) | AM 6, FM 1, shortwave 2 (1998) |
Radios | - | 1.05 million (1997) |
Railways | total: 5,523 km
broad gauge: 5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2003) |
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 (2004 est.) |
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.02 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 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:
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 | 3,071,300 (2003) | 291,359 (1999) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 1.118 million (2003) | 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 | 1.36 children born/woman (2004 est.) | 6.97 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers (2003 est.) | 30% (1995 est.) |
Waterways | 2,500 km (use limited by location on perimeter of country and by shallowness) (2003) | none |