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Compare Bolivia (2008) - Belarus (2003)

Compare Bolivia (2008) z Belarus (2003)

 Bolivia (2008)Belarus (2003)
 BoliviaBelarus
Administrative divisions 9 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Beni, Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, La Paz, Oruro, Pando, Potosi, Santa Cruz, Tarija 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
Age structure 0-14 years: 34.3% (male 1,593,509/female 1,532,155)


15-64 years: 61.1% (male 2,730,359/female 2,841,872)


65 years and over: 4.6% (male 187,123/female 234,134) (2007 est.)
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.)
Agriculture - products soybeans, coffee, coca, cotton, corn, sugarcane, rice, potatoes; timber grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk
Airports 1,061 (2007) 124 (2002)
Airports - with paved runways total: 16


over 3,047 m: 4


2,438 to 3,047 m: 4


1,524 to 2,437 m: 5


914 to 1,523 m: 3 (2007)
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)
Airports - with unpaved runways total: 1,045


over 3,047 m: 1


2,438 to 3,047 m: 4


1,524 to 2,437 m: 57


914 to 1,523 m: 183


under 914 m: 800 (2007)
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)
Area total: 1,098,580 sq km


land: 1,084,390 sq km


water: 14,190 sq km
total: 207,600 sq km


land: 207,600 sq km


water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative slightly less than three times the size of Montana slightly smaller than Kansas
Background Bolivia, named after independence fighter Simon BOLIVAR, broke away from Spanish rule in 1825; much of its subsequent history has consisted of a series of nearly 200 coups and countercoups. Democratic civilian rule was established in 1982, but leaders have faced difficult problems of deep-seated poverty, social unrest, and illegal drug production. In December 2005, Bolivians elected Movement Toward Socialism leader Evo MORALES president - by the widest margin of any leader since the restoration of civilian rule in 1982 - after he ran on a promise to change the country's traditional political class and empower the nation's poor majority. However, since taking office, his controversial strategies have exacerbated racial and economic tensions between the Amerindian populations of the Andean west and the non-indigenous communities of the eastern lowlands. 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.
Birth rate 22.82 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) 10.18 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Budget revenues: $4.1 billion


expenditures: $4 billion (2007 est.)
revenues: $4 billion


expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.)
Capital name: La Paz (administrative capital)


geographic coordinates: 16 30 S, 68 09 W


time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)


note: Sucre (constitutional capital)
Minsk
Climate varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime
Coastline 0 km (landlocked) 0 km (landlocked)
Constitution 2 February 1967; revised in August 1994; possible referendum on new constitution to be held in 2008 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 Bolivia


conventional short form: Bolivia


local long form: Republica de Bolivia


local short form: Bolivia
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
Currency - Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR)
Death rate 7.44 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) 14.05 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Debt - external $3.8 billion (31December 2007 est.) $851 million (2001 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US chief of mission: Ambassador Philip S. GOLDBERG


embassy: Avenida Arce 2780, La Paz


mailing address: P. O. Box 425, La Paz; APO AA 34032


telephone: [591] (2) 216-8000


FAX: [591] (2) 216-8111
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
Diplomatic representation in the US chief of mission: Ambassador Gustavo GUZMAN Saldana


chancery: 3014 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008


telephone: [1] (202) 483-4410


FAX: [1] (202) 328-3712


consulate(s) general: Houston, Miami, New York, Oklahoma City, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, DC
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
Disputes - international Chile rebuffs Bolivia's reactivated claim to restore the Atacama corridor, ceded to Chile in 1884, offering instead unrestricted but not sovereign maritime access through Chile for Bolivian natural gas and other commodities 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
Economic aid - recipient $582.9 million (2005 est.) $194.3 million (1995)
Economy - overview Bolivia is one of the poorest and least developed countries in Latin America. Following a disastrous economic crisis during the early 1980s, reforms spurred private investment, stimulated economic growth, and cut poverty rates in the 1990s. The period 2003-05 was characterized by political instability, racial tensions, and violent protests against plans - subsequently abandoned - to export Bolivia's newly discovered natural gas reserves to large northern hemisphere markets. In 2005, the government passed a controversial hydrocarbons law that imposed significantly higher royalties and required foreign firms then operating under risk-sharing contracts to surrender all production to the state energy company, which was made the sole exporter of natural gas. The law also required that the state energy company regain control over the five companies that were privatized during the 1990s - a process that is still underway. In 2006, higher earnings for mining and hydrocarbons exports pushed the current account surplus to about 12% of GDP and the government's higher tax take produced a fiscal surplus after years of large deficits. Debt relief from the G8 - announced in 2005 - also has significantly reduced Bolivia's public sector debt burden. Private investment as a share of GDP, however, remains among the lowest in Latin America, and inflation reached double-digit levels in 2007. 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.
Electricity - consumption 3.385 billion kWh (2006) 26.69 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports 177,000 kWh (2005) 300 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports 18,000 kWh (2007) 4.3 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production 5.293 billion kWh (2006) 24.4 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source - fossil fuel: 99.5%


hydro: 0.1%


nuclear: 0%


other: 0.4% (2001)
Elevation extremes lowest point: Rio Paraguay 90 m


highest point: Nevado Sajama 6,542 m
lowest point: Nyoman River 90 m


highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m
Environment - current issues the clearing of land for agricultural purposes and the international demand for tropical timber are contributing to deforestation; soil erosion from overgrazing and poor cultivation methods (including slash-and-burn agriculture); desertification; loss of biodiversity; industrial pollution of water supplies used for drinking and irrigation soil pollution from pesticide use; southern part of the country contaminated with fallout from 1986 nuclear reactor accident at Chornobyl' in northern Ukraine
Environment - international agreements 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: Environmental Modification, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection
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 Quechua 30%, mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 30%, Aymara 25%, white 15% Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4%
Exchange rates bolivianos per US dollar - 7.8616 (2007), 8.0159 (2006), 8.0661 (2005), 7.9363 (2004), 7.6592 (2003) Belarusian rubles per US dollar - NA (2002), 1,390 (2001), 876.75 (2000), 248.8 (1999), 46.13 (1998)
Executive branch chief of state: President Juan Evo MORALES Ayma (since 22 January 2006); Vice President Alvaro GARCIA Linera (since 22 January 2006); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government


head of government: President Juan Evo MORALES Ayma (since 22 January 2006); Vice President Alvaro GARCIA Linera (since 22 January 2006)


cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president


elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a single five-year term; election last held 18 December 2005 (next to be held in 2010)


election results: Juan Evo MORALES Ayma elected president; percent of vote - Juan Evo MORALES Ayma 53.7%; Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez 28.6%; Samuel DORIA MEDINA Arana 7.8%; Michiaki NAGATANI Morishit 6.5%; Felipe QUISPE Huanca 2.2%; Guildo ANGULA Cabrera 0.7%
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%
Exports 18,500 bbl/day (2007 est.) NA (2001)
Exports - commodities natural gas, soybeans and soy products, crude petroleum, zinc ore, tin machinery and equipment, mineral products, chemicals, metals; textiles, foodstuffs
Exports - partners Brazil 45.5%, US 10.8%, Argentina 9.2%, Colombia 6.8%, Japan 5.5%, South Korea 4.3% (2006) Russia 50.8%, Latvia 7.3%, Ukraine 6.3%, Lithuania 4.1%, Germany 4.1% (2002)
Fiscal year calendar year calendar year
Flag description three equal horizontal bands of red (top), yellow, and green with the coat of arms centered on the yellow band


note: similar to the flag of Ghana, which has a large black five-pointed star centered in the yellow band
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.)
GDP - composition by sector agriculture: 14.5%


industry: 30.5%


services: 55% (2006 est.)
agriculture: 15%


industry: 40%


services: 45% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita - purchasing power parity - $8,700 (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate 4% (2007 est.) 4.7% (2002 est.)
Geographic coordinates 17 00 S, 65 00 W 53 00 N, 28 00 E
Geography - note landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m), with Peru 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
Highways - total: 74,385 km


paved: 66,203 km


unpaved: 8,182 km (2000)
Household income or consumption by percentage share lowest 10%: 0.3%


highest 10%: 47.2% (2002)
lowest 10%: 5.1%


highest 10%: 20% (1998)
Illicit drugs world's third-largest cultivator of coca (after Colombia and Peru) with an estimated 26,500 hectares under cultivation in August 2005, an 8% increase from 2004; transit country for Peruvian and Colombian cocaine destined for Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Europe; cultivation steadily increasing despite eradication and alternative crop programs; money-laundering activity related to narcotics trade, especially along the borders with Brazil and Paraguay; major cocaine consumption limited cultivation of opium poppy and cannabis, mostly for the domestic market; transshipment point for illicit drugs to and via Russia, and to the Baltics and Western Europe; lax money-laundering and banking regulations
Imports 8,600 bbl/day (2007 est.) NA (2001)
Imports - commodities petroleum products, plastics, paper, aircraft and aircraft parts, prepared foods, automobiles, insecticides, soybeans mineral products, machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, metals
Imports - partners Brazil 29.3%, Argentina 16%, Chile 12.1%, US 9.1%, Peru 8.1% (2006) Russia 68.2%, Germany 9.4%, Ukraine 3.2% (2002)
Independence 6 August 1825 (from Spain) 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)
Industrial production growth rate 1.1% (2007 est.) 2.5% (2002 est.)
Industries mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverages, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators
Infant mortality rate total: 50.43 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 53.93 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 46.76 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
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.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 12% (2007 est.) 42.8% (2002 est.)
International organization participation CAN, CSN, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur (associate), MIGA, MINUSTAH, MONUC, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMISET, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO 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)
Irrigated land 1,320 sq km (2003) 1,150 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges appointed for 10-year terms by National Congress); District Courts (one in each department); provincial and local courts (to try minor cases); Constitutional Tribunal (5 primary or titulares and 5 alternate or suplente magistrates appointed by Congress; to rule on constitutional issues); National Electoral Court (6 members elected by Congress, Supreme Court, the President, and the political party with the highest vote in the last election for 4-year terms) 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 4.793 million (2006 est.) 4.8 million (2000)
Labor force - by occupation agriculture: 40%


industry: 17%


services: 43% (2006 est.)
industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA%
Land boundaries total: 6,940 km


border countries: Argentina 832 km, Brazil 3,423 km, Chile 860 km, Paraguay 750 km, Peru 1,075 km
total: 2,900 km


border countries: Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 407 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km
Land use arable land: 2.78%


permanent crops: 0.19%


other: 97.03% (2005)
arable land: 29.76%


permanent crops: 0.69%


other: 69.55% (1998 est.)
Languages Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara (official) Belarusian, Russian, other
Legal system based on Spanish law and Napoleonic Code; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction based on civil law system
Legislative branch bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of Chamber of Senators or Camara de Senadores (27 seats; members are elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve five-year terms) and Chamber of Deputies or Camara de Diputados (130 seats; 70 members are directly elected from their districts and 60 are elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve five-year terms)


elections: Chamber of Senators and Chamber of Deputies - last held 18 December 2005 (next to be held in 2010)


election results: Chamber of Senators - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PODEMOS 13, MAS 12, UN 1, MNR 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - MAS 73, PODEMOS 43, UN 8, MNR 6
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
Life expectancy at birth total population: 66.19 years


male: 63.53 years


female: 68.97 years (2007 est.)
total population: 68.43 years


male: 62.54 years


female: 74.6 years (2003 est.)
Literacy definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 86.7%


male: 93.1%


female: 80.7% (2001 census)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 99.6%


male: 99.8%


female: 99.5% (2003 est.)
Location Central South America, southwest of Brazil Eastern Europe, east of Poland
Map references South America Europe
Maritime claims none (landlocked) none (landlocked)
Merchant marine total: 25 ships (1000 GRT or over) 73,877 GRT/110,148 DWT


by type: bulk carrier 1, cargo 12, carrier 1, passenger/cargo 2, petroleum tanker 9


foreign-owned: 9 (Argentina 1, China 1, Egypt 1, Iran 1, Italy 1, Singapore 1, Syria 1, Taiwan 1, Yemen 1) (2007)
-
Military branches Bolivian Armed Forces: Bolivian Army (Ejercito Boliviano), Bolivian Navy (Armada Boliviana; includes marines), Bolivian Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Boliviana, FAB) (2008) Army, Air Force (including air defense), Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards
Military expenditures - dollar figure - $176.1 million (FY02)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP 1.9% (2006) 1.4% (FY02)
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, 6 August (1825) 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: Bolivian(s)


adjective: Bolivian
noun: Belarusian(s)


adjective: Belarusian
Natural hazards flooding in the northeast (March-April) NA
Natural resources tin, natural gas, petroleum, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron, lead, gold, timber, hydropower forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay
Net migration rate -1.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) 2.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Pipelines gas 4,860 km; liquid petroleum gas 47 km; oil 2,475 km; refined products 1,589 km; unknown (oil/water) 247 km (2007) gas 4,519 km; oil 1,811 km; refined products 1,686 km (2003)
Political parties and leaders Free Bolivia Movement or MBL [Franz BARRIOS]; Movement Toward Socialism or MAS [Juan Evo MORALES Ayma]; Movement Without Fear or MSM [Juan DEL GRANADO]; National Revolutionary Movement or MNR [Mirta QUEVEDO]; National Unity [Samuel DORIA MEDINA Arana]; Poder Democratico Nacional or PODEMOS [Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez]; Social Alliance [Rene JOAQUINO] 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 Cocalero groups; indigenous organizations; labor unions; Sole Confederation of Campesino Workers of Bolivia or CSUTCB NA
Population 9,119,152 (July 2007 est.) 10,322,151 (July 2003 est.)
Population below poverty line 60% (2006 est.) 22% (1995 est.)
Population growth rate 1.42% (2007 est.) -0.12% (2003 est.)
Ports and harbors - Mazyr
Radio broadcast stations AM 171, FM 73, shortwave 77 (1999) AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998)
Railways total: 3,504 km


narrow gauge: 3,504 km 1.000-m gauge (2006)
total: 5,523 km


broad gauge: 5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2002)
Religions Roman Catholic 95%, Protestant (Evangelical Methodist) 5% Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.)
Sex ratio at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female


under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 0.961 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.799 male(s)/female


total population: 0.979 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
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.)
Suffrage 18 years of age, universal and compulsory (married); 21 years of age, universal and compulsory (single) 18 years of age; universal
Telephone system general assessment: privatization beginning in 1995; reliability has steadily improved; new subscribers face bureaucratic difficulties; most telephones are concentrated in La Paz and other cities; mobile- cellular telephone use expanding rapidly; fixed-line teledensity of 7 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular telephone density of 27 per 100 persons


domestic: primary trunk system, which is being expanded, employs digital microwave radio relay; some areas are served by fiber-optic cable; mobile cellular systems are being expanded


international: country code - 591; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2007)
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
Telephones - main lines in use 646,300 (2005) 2.313 million (1997)
Telephones - mobile cellular 2.421 million (2005) 8,167 (1997)
Television broadcast stations 48 (1997) 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995)
Terrain rugged Andes Mountains with a highland plateau (Altiplano), hills, lowland plains of the Amazon Basin generally flat and contains much marshland
Total fertility rate 2.76 children born/woman (2007 est.) 1.34 children born/woman (2003 est.)
Unemployment rate 8% in urban areas; widespread underemployment (2006) 2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers
Waterways 10,000 km (commercially navigable) (2007) NA km; note - Belarus has extensive and widely used canal and river systems
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