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Compare British Virgin Islands (2003) - Belarus (2001)
Compare British Virgin Islands (2003) z Belarus (2001)
| British Virgin Islands (2003) | Belarus (2001) | |
 |  | |
| Administrative divisions | none (overseas territory of the UK) | 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: 21.9% (male 2,401; female 2,358)
15-64 years: 73.1% (male 8,181; female 7,709) 65 years and over: 5% (male 578; female 503) (2003 est.) |
0-14 years:
17.93% (male 947,820; female 908,210) 15-64 years: 68.21% (male 3,428,920; female 3,631,290) 65 years and over: 13.86% (male 473,992; female 959,962) (2001 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | fruits, vegetables; livestock, poultry; fish | grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk |
| Airports | 3 (2002) | 136 (2000 est.) |
| Airports - with paved runways | total: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
total:
33 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 19 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 11 (2000 est.) |
| Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2002) |
total:
103 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 10 1,524 to 2,437 m: 11 914 to 1,523 m: 14 under 914 m: 65 (2000 est.) |
| Area | total: 153 sq km
land: 153 sq km water: 0 sq km note: comprised of 16 inhabited and more than 20 uninhabited islands; includes the island of Anegada |
total:
207,600 sq km land: 207,600 sq km water: 0 sq km |
| Area - comparative | about 0.9 times the size of Washington, DC | slightly smaller than Kansas |
| Background | First settled by the Dutch in 1648, the islands were annexed in 1672 by the English. The economy is closely tied to the larger and more populous US Virgin Islands to the west; the US dollar is the legal currency. | 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 but, to date, neither side has actively sought to implement the accord. |
| Birth rate | 15 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 9.57 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| Budget | revenues: $121.5 million
expenditures: $115.5 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997) |
revenues:
$4 billion expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.) |
| Capital | Road Town | Minsk |
| Climate | subtropical; humid; temperatures moderated by trade winds | cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime |
| Coastline | 80 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
| Constitution | 1 June 1977 | 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: none
conventional short form: British Virgin Islands abbreviation: BVI |
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 | US dollar (USD) | Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR) |
| Death rate | 4.46 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 13.97 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| Debt - external | $36.1 million (1997) | $1 billion (2000 est.) |
| Dependency status | overseas territory of the UK; internal self-governing | - |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | none (overseas territory of the UK) | chief of mission:
Ambassador Michael KOZAK embassy: 46 Starovilenskaya St., Minsk 220002 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [375] (17) 210-12-83 FAX: [375] (17) 234-7853 |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | none (overseas territory of the UK) | chief of mission:
Ambassador Valeriy TSEPAKLO 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 | none | none |
| Economic aid - recipient | NA% | $194.3 million (1995) |
| Economy - overview | The economy, one of the most stable and prosperous in the Caribbean, is highly dependent on tourism, generating an estimated 45% of the national income. An estimated 350,000 tourists, mainly from the US, visited the islands in 1998. Tourism suffered in 2002 because of the lackluster US economy. In the mid-1980s, the government began offering offshore registration to companies wishing to incorporate in the islands, and incorporation fees now generate substantial revenues. Roughly 400,000 companies were on the offshore registry by yearend 2000. The adoption of a comprehensive insurance law in late 1994, which provides a blanket of confidentiality with regulated statutory gateways for investigation of criminal offenses, is expected to make the British Virgin Islands even more attractive to international business. Livestock raising is the most important agricultural activity; poor soils limit the islands' ability to meet domestic food requirements. Because of traditionally close links with the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands has used the dollar as its currency since 1959. | 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 extremely high inflation, businesses have been subject to pressure on the part of central and local governments, e.g., arbitrary changes in regulations, numerous rigorous inspections, and retroactive application of new business regulations prohibiting practices that had been legal. Further economic problems are two consecutive bad harvests, 1998-99, and persistent trade deficits. 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 | 35.43 million kWh (2001) | 27.647 billion kWh (1999) |
| Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | 2.62 billion kWh (1999) |
| Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2001) | 7.1 billion kWh (1999) |
| Electricity - production | 38.1 million kWh (2001) | 24.911 billion kWh (1999) |
| Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) |
fossil fuel:
99.9% hydro: 0.1% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mount Sage 521 m |
lowest point:
Nyoman River 90 m highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m |
| Environment - current issues | limited natural fresh water resources (except for a few seasonal streams and springs on Tortola, most of the islands' water supply comes from wells and rainwater catchments) | 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:
Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
| Ethnic groups | black 83%, white, Indian, Asian and mixed | Byelorussian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4% |
| Exchange rates | the US dollar is used | Belarusian rubles per US dollar - 1,180 (yearend 2000), 730,000 (15 December 1999), 139,000 (25 January 1999), 46,080 (second quarter 1998), 25,964 (1997), 15,500 (yearend 1996); note - on 1 January 2000, the national currency was redenominated at one new ruble to 2,000 old rubles |
| Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor Tom MACAN (since 14 October 2002)
head of government: Chief Minister Orlando SMITH (since 17 June 2003) cabinet: Executive Council appointed by the governor from members of the Legislative Council elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed chief minister by the governor |
chief of state:
President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994) head of government: Prime Minister Vladimir YERMOSHIN (since 18 February 2000); First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey KOBYAKOV (since 13 March 2000); Deputy Prime Ministers Mikhail DEMCHUK (since 14 July 2000), Mikhail KHORSTOV (since 27 November 2000), Valeriy KOKOREV (since 23 August 1994), Leonid KOZIK (since 4 February 1997), Gennadiy NOVITSKIY (since 11 February 1997), Aleksandr POPKOV (since 10 November 1998) 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 (next to be held NA; according to the 1994 constitution, the next election should have been held in 1999, however LUKASHENKO extended his term to 2001 via the November 1996 referendum); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president election results: Aleksandr LUKASHENKO elected president; percent of vote - Aleksandr LUKASHENKO 85%, Vyacheslav KEBICH 15% |
| Exports | NA (2001) | $7.4 billion (f.o.b., 2000) |
| Exports - commodities | rum, fresh fish, fruits, animals; gravel, sand | machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, textiles, foodstuffs |
| Exports - partners | Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US | Russia 66%, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Lithuania (1998) |
| Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | calendar year |
| Flag description | blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Virgin Islander coat of arms centered in the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms depicts a woman flanked on either side by a vertical column of six oil lamps above a scroll bearing the Latin word VIGILATE (Be Watchful) | 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 the Belarusian national ornament in red |
| GDP | purchasing power parity - $320 million (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $78.8 billion (2000 est.) |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 1.8%
industry: 6.2% services: 92% (1996 est.) |
agriculture:
13% industry: 46% services: 41% (1999 est.) |
| GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $16,000 (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $7,500 (2000 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate | 1% (2002 est.) | 4% (2000 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | 18 30 N, 64 30 W | 53 00 N, 28 00 E |
| Geography - note | strong ties to nearby US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico | landlocked |
| Highways | total: 177 km
paved: 177 km unpaved: 0 km (2000) |
total:
63,355 km paved: 60,567 km (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: 2,788 km (these roads are made of unstabilized earth and are difficult to negotiate in wet weather) (1998) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%:
4.9% highest 10%: 19.4% (1993) |
| Illicit drugs | transshipment point for South American narcotics destined for the US and Europe; large offshore financial center | 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 |
| Imports | NA (2001) | $8.3 billion (f.o.b., 2000) |
| Imports - commodities | building materials, automobiles, foodstuffs, machinery | mineral products, machinery and equipment, metals, chemicals, foodstuffs |
| Imports - partners | Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US | Russia 54%, Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Lithuania (1998) |
| Independence | none (overseas territory of the UK) | 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) |
| Industrial production growth rate | NA | 5% (2000 est.) |
| Industries | tourism, light industry, construction, rum, concrete block, offshore financial center | metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earth movers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators |
| Infant mortality rate | total: 18.8 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 21.86 deaths/1,000 live births female: 15.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
14.38 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2.5% (2002) | 200% (2000 est.) |
| International organization participation | Caricom (associate), CDB, ECLAC (associate), Interpol (subbureau), IOC, OECS (associate), UNESCO (associate) | CCC, CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Inmarsat, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NAM, NSG, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (observer) |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 16 (2000) | 4 (2000) |
| Irrigated land | NA sq km | 1,000 sq km (1993 est.) |
| Judicial branch | Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, consisting of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal (one judge of the Supreme Court is a resident of the islands and presides over the High Court); Magistrate's Court; Juvenile Court; Court of Summary Jurisdiction | 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 | 4,911 (1980) | 4.8 million (2000) |
| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% | industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA% |
| Land boundaries | 0 km | total:
3,098 km border countries: Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 605 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km |
| Land use | arable land: 20%
permanent crops: 6.67% other: 73.33% (1998 est.) |
arable land:
29% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 15% forests and woodland: 34% other: 21% (1993 est.) |
| Languages | English (official) | Byelorussian, Russian, other |
| Legal system | English law | based on civil law system |
| Legislative branch | unicameral Legislative Council (13 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote, one member from each of 9 electoral districts, four at-large members; members serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 16 May 2003 (next to be held NA 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NDP 8, VIP 5 |
bicameral Parliament or Natsionalnoye Sobranie consists of the Council of the Republic or Soviet Respubliki (64 seats) and the Chamber of Representatives or Palata Pretsaviteley (110 seats)
elections: last held October 2000 (next to be held NA) election results: party affiliation data unavailable; under present political conditions party designations are meaningless |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population: 76.06 years
male: 75.07 years female: 77.1 years (2003 est.) |
total population:
68.14 years male: 62.06 years female: 74.52 years (2001 est.) |
| Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97.8% (1991 est.) male: NA% female: NA% |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98% male: 99% female: 97% (1989 est.) |
| Location | Caribbean, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Puerto Rico | Eastern Europe, east of Poland |
| Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Commonwealth of Independent States |
| Maritime claims | exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 3 NM |
none (landlocked) |
| Merchant marine | total: 1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) 19,203 GRT/28,864 DWT
ships by type: cargo 1 (2002 est.) |
- |
| Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the UK | - |
| Military branches | - | Army, Air Force, Air Defense Force, Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $156 million (FY98) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 1.2% (FY98) |
| Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49:
2,729,956 (2001 est.) |
| Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49:
2,138,743 (2001 est.) |
| Military manpower - military age | - | 18 years of age |
| Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males:
86,396 (2001 est.) |
| National holiday | Territory Day, 1 July | 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: British Virgin Islander(s)
adjective: British Virgin Islander |
noun:
Belarusian(s) adjective: Belarusian |
| Natural hazards | hurricanes and tropical storms (July to October) | NA |
| Natural resources | NEGL | forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas |
| Net migration rate | 10.45 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 2.89 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| Pipelines | - | crude oil 1,470 km; refined products 1,100 km; natural gas 1,980 km (1992) |
| Political parties and leaders | Concerned Citizens Movement or CCM [Ethlyn SMITH]; National Democratic Party or NDP [Orlando SMITH]; United Party or UP [Gregory MADURO]; Virgin Islands Party or VIP [Ralph T. O'NEAL] | Agrarian Party or AP [Semyon SHARETSKY, chairman]; 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 or SDBP [Nikolay STATKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Social-Democratic Party Hromada [Stanislav SHUSHKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Socialist Party [Vyacheslav KUZNETSOV]; Civic Accord Bloc (United Civic Party) or CAB [Stanislav BOGDANKEVICH, chairman]; 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 Nadezhda [Valentina POLEVIKOVA, chairperson] |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
| Population | 21,730 (July 2003 est.) | 10,350,194 (July 2001 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | NA% | 22% (1995 est.) |
| Population growth rate | 2.1% (2003 est.) | -0.15% (2001 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | Road Town | Mazyr |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 4, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998) |
| Radios | - | 3.02 million (1997) |
| Railways | 0 km | total:
5,523 km broad gauge: 5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2000) |
| Religions | Protestant 86% (Methodist 33%, Anglican 17%, Church of God 9%, Seventh-Day Adventist 6%, Baptist 4%, Jehovah's Witnesses 2%, other 15%), Roman Catholic 10%, none 2%, other 2% (1991) | 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: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.15 male(s)/female total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.49 male(s)/female total population: 0.88 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
| Telephone system | general assessment: worldwide telephone service
domestic: NA international: submarine cable to Bermuda |
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 | 10,000 (1996) | 2.313 million (1997) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | NA | 8,167 (1997) |
| Television broadcast stations | 1 (plus one cable company) (1997) | 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995) |
| Terrain | coral islands relatively flat; volcanic islands steep, hilly | generally flat and contains much marshland |
| Total fertility rate | 1.72 children born/woman (2003 est.) | 1.28 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | 3% (1995) | 2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers |
| Waterways | none | NA km; note - Belarus has extensive and widely used canal and river systems |
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