Compare French Southern and Antarctic Lands (2005) - Belarus (2002)

Compare French Southern and Antarctic Lands (2005) z Belarus (2002)

	French Southern and Antarctic Lands (2005)	Belarus (2002)

Administrative divisions	none (overseas territory of France); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 3 districts named Ile Crozet, Iles Kerguelen, and Iles Saint-Paul et Amsterdam; excludes "Adelie Land" claim in Antarctica that is not recognized by the US	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: 17.3% (male 914,579; female 876,346) 15-64 years: 68.6% (male 3,443,859; female 3,643,628) 65 years and over: 14.1% (male 482,624; female 974,346) (2002 est.)
Agriculture - products	-	grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk
Airports	none (2004 est.)	136 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways	-	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 (2002)
Airports - with unpaved runways	-	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 (2002)
Area	total: 7,829 sq km land: 7,829 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Ile Amsterdam, Ile Saint-Paul, Iles Crozet and Iles Kerguelen; excludes "Adelie Land" claim of about 500,000 sq km in Antarctica that is not recognized by the US	total: 207,600 sq km land: 207,600 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative	slightly less than 1.3 times the size of Delaware	slightly smaller than Kansas
Background	The Southern Lands consist of two archipelagos, Iles Crozet and Iles Kerguelen, and two volcanic islands, Ile Amsterdam and Ile Saint-Paul. They contain no permanent inhabitants and are visited only by researchers studying the native fauna. The Antarctic portion consists of "Adelie Land," a thin slice of the Antarctic continent discovered and claimed by the French in 1840.	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	-	9.86 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Budget	-	revenues: $4 billion expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.)
Capital	-	Minsk
Climate	antarctic	cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime
Coastline	1,232 km	0 km (landlocked)
Constitution	-	30 March 1994; revised by national referendum of 24 November 1996 giving the presidency greatly expanded powers and became effective 27 November 1996
Country name	conventional long form: Territory of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands conventional short form: French Southern and Antarctic Lands local long form: Territoire des Terres Australes et Antarctiques Francaises local short form: Terres Australes et Antarctiques Francaises	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	-	13.99 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Debt - external	-	$770 million (2001 est.)
Dependency status	overseas territory of France since 1955; administered from Paris by Administrateur Superieur Michel CHAMPON (since 20 December 2004), assisted by Secretary General Jean-Yves HERMOSO (since NA)	-
Diplomatic representation from the US	none (overseas territory of France)	chief of mission: Ambassador Michael G. 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 France)	chief of mission: Ambassador Valeriy V. 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	French claim to "Adelie Land" in Antarctica is not recognized by the United States	boundary demarcation with Latvia and Lithuania is pending European Union funding
Economic aid - recipient	-	$194.3 million (1995) (1995)
Economy - overview	Economic activity is limited to servicing meteorological and geophysical research stations and French and other fishing fleets. The fish catches landed on Iles Kerguelen by foreign ships are exported to France and Reunion.	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. 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	-	26.78 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports	-	300 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports	-	4.15 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - production	-	24.66 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source	-	fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: Mont Ross on Iles Kerguelen 1,850 m	lowest point: Nyoman River 90 m highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m
Environment - current issues	NA	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, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea
Ethnic groups	-	Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4%
Exchange rates	-	Belarusian rubles per US dollar - 1,590 (yearend 2001), 1,531.000 (November 2001), 876.750 (2000), 248.795 (1999), 46.127 (1998), 26.020 (1997); note - on 1 January 2000, the national currency was redenominated at one new ruble to 2,000 old rubles
Executive branch	-	chief of state: President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994) head of government: Prime Minister Gennadiy NOVITSKIY (since 1 October 2001); Deputy Prime Ministers Andrei KOBYAKOV (since 13 March 2000), Aleksandr POPKOV (since 10 November 1998), Sergei SIDORSKY (since NA September 2001), Vladimir DRAZHIN (since NA September 2001) 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	-	$7.5 billion f.o.b. (2001)
Exports - commodities	-	machinery and equipment, mineral products, chemicals, textiles, foodstuffs, metals
Exports - partners	-	Russia 51%, Ukraine 8%, Poland 4%, Germany 3% (2000)
Fiscal year	-	calendar year
Flag description	the flag of France is used	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 - $84.8 billion (2001 est.)
GDP - composition by sector	-	agriculture: 13% industry: 42% services: 45% (2000)
GDP - per capita	-	purchasing power parity - $8,200 (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	-	4.1% (2001 est.)
Geographic coordinates	43 00 S, 67 00 E	53 00 N, 28 00 E
Geography - note	islands component is widely scattered across remote locations in the southern Indian Ocean	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: 98,200 km paved: 66,100 km (includes some all-weather gravel-surfaced roads) unpaved: 32,100 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% highest 10%: 20% (1998)
Illicit drugs	-	limited cultivation of opium poppy and cannabis, mostly for the domestic market; transshipment point for illicit drugs to and via Russia, and to the Baltics and Western Europe; lax money-laundering and banking regulations
Imports	-	$8.1 billion f.o.b. (2001)
Imports - commodities	-	mineral products, machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, metals
Imports - partners	-	Russia 65%, Germany 7%, Poland 3% (2000)
Independence	-	25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)
Industrial production growth rate	-	5.4% (2001 est.)
Industries	-	metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators
Infant mortality rate	-	14.12 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	-	46.1% (2001 est.)
International organization participation	-	CCC, CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, 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)	-	23 (2002)
Irrigated land	0 sq km (1998 est.)	1,150 sq km (1998 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)
Labor force	-	4.8 million (2000)
Labor force - by occupation	-	industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA%
Land boundaries	0 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: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2001)	arable land: 29.76% permanent crops: 0.69% other: 69.55% (1998 est.)
Languages	-	Belarusian, Russian, other
Legal system	the laws of France, where applicable, apply	based on civil law system
Legislative branch	-	bicameral Parliament or Natsionalnoye Sobranie consists of the Council of the Republic or Soviet Respubliki (64 seats; 56 members elected by regional councils and 8 members appointed by the president, all for 4-year terms) and the Chamber of Representatives or Palata Pretsaviteley (110 seats; members elected by universal adult suffrage to serve 4-year terms) elections: last held October 2000 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: party affiliation data unavailable; under present political conditions party designations are meaningless
Life expectancy at birth	-	total population: 68.28 years male: 62.3 years female: 74.56 years (2002 est.)
Literacy	-	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98% male: 99% female: 97% (1989 est.)
Location	southeast of Africa, islands in the southern Indian Ocean, about equidistant between Africa, Antarctica, and Australia; note - French Southern and Antarctic Lands include Ile Amsterdam, Ile Saint-Paul, Iles Crozet, and Iles Kerguelen in the southern Indian Ocean, along with the French-claimed sector of Antarctica, "Adelie Land"; the US does not recognize the French claim to "Adelie Land"	Eastern Europe, east of Poland
Map references	Antarctic Region	Europe
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm from Iles Kerguelen (does not include the rest of French Southern and Antarctic Lands)	none (landlocked)
Merchant marine	total: 75 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 3,092,387 GRT/5,056,658 DWT by type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 1, chemical tanker 21, container 19, liquefied gas 7, petroleum tanker 15, roll on/roll off 6, vehicle carrier 4 foreign-owned: 71 (Belgium 5, Denmark 2, France 45, Germany 2, Greece 2, Hong Kong 5, Japan 4, Saudi Arabia 1, Sweden 5) (2005)	-
Military - note	defense is the responsibility of France	-
Military branches	-	Army, Air Force (including air defense), Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards
Military expenditures - dollar figure	-	$156 million (FY98)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	-	1% (FY01)
Military manpower - availability	-	males age 15-49: 2,744,267 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service	-	males age 15-49: 2,149,873 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - military age	-	18 years of age (2002 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually	-	males: 86,396 (2002 est.)
National holiday	-	Independence Day, 3 July (1944); note - 3 July 1944 was the date Minsk was liberated from German troops, 25 August 1991 was the date of independence from the Soviet Union
Nationality	-	noun: Belarusian(s) adjective: Belarusian
Natural hazards	Ile Amsterdam and Ile Saint-Paul are extinct volcanoes	NA
Natural resources	fish, crayfish	forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay
Net migration rate	-	2.78 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Pipelines	-	crude oil 1,470 km; refined products 1,100 km; natural gas 1,980 km (1992)
Political parties and leaders	-	Agrarian Party or AP [Mikhail SHIMANSKY]; Belarusian Communist Party or KPB [Viktor CHIKIN, chairman]; Belarusian Ecological Green Party (merger of Belarusian Ecological Party and Green Party of Belarus) [leader NA]; Belarusian Patriotic Movement (Belarusian Patriotic Party) or BPR [Anatoliy BARANKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Popular Front or BNF [Vintsuk VYACHORKA]; Belarusian Social-Democrat Party or SDBP [Nikolay STATKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Social-Democratic Party or Hromada [Stanislav SHUSHKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Socialist Party [Vyacheslav KUZNETSOV]; Civic Accord Bloc (United Civic Party) or CAB [Anatol LIABEDZKA]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDPB [Sergei GAYDUKEVICH, chairman]; Party of Communists Belarusian or PKB [Sergei KALYAKIN, chairman]; Republican Party of Labor and Justice or RPPS [Anatoliy NETYLKIN, chairman]; Social-Democrat Party of Popular Accord or PPA [Leanid SECHKA]; Women's Party or "Nadezhda" [Valentina POLEVIKOVA, chairperson]
Political pressure groups and leaders	-	NA
Population	no indigenous inhabitants (July 2005 est.) note: in 2002, there were 145 researchers whose numbers vary from winter (July) to summer (January) (July 2005 est.)	10,335,382 (July 2002 est.)
Population below poverty line	-	22% (1995 est.)
Population growth rate	-	-0.14% (2002 est.)
Ports and harbors	none; offshore anchorage only	Mazyr
Radio broadcast stations	-	AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998)
Radios	-	3.02 million (1997)
Railways	-	total: 5,523 km broad gauge: 5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2000 est.)
Religions	-	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: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.5 male(s)/female total population: 0.88 male(s)/female (2002 est.)
Suffrage	-	18 years of age; universal
Telephone system	-	general assessment: the Ministry of Telecommunications controls all telecommunications through its carrier (a joint stock company) Beltelcom which is a monopoly domestic: local - Minsk has a digital metropolitan network and a cellular NMT-450 network; waiting lists for telephones are long; local service outside Minsk is neglected and poor; intercity - Belarus has a partly developed fiber-optic backbone system presently serving at least 13 major cities (1998); Belarus's fiber optics form synchronous digital hierarchy rings through other countries' systems; an inadequate analog system remains operational international: Belarus is a member of the Trans-European Line (TEL), Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) fiber-optic line, and has access to the Trans-Siberia Line (TSL); three fiber-optic segments provide connectivity to Latvia, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine; worldwide service is available to Belarus through this infrastructure; additional analog lines to Russia; Intelsat, Eutelsat, and Intersputnik earth stations
Telephones - main lines in use	-	2.313 million (1997)
Telephones - mobile cellular	-	8,167 (1997)
Television broadcast stations	-	47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995)
Terrain	volcanic	generally flat and contains much marshland
Total fertility rate	-	1.31 children born/woman (2002 est.)
Unemployment rate	-	2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers
Waterways	-	NA km; note - Belarus has extensive and widely used canal and river systems

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