##ciekawa_strona##
Compare Ghana (2002) - Belarus (2001)
Compare Ghana (2002) z Belarus (2001)
| Ghana (2002) | Belarus (2001) | |
 |  | |
| Administrative divisions | 10 regions; Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo, Central, Eastern, Greater Accra, Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Volta, Western | 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: 40.4% (male 4,116,600; female 4,063,654)
15-64 years: 56.1% (male 5,625,397; female 5,723,786) 65 years and over: 3.5% (male 338,352; female 376,365) (2002 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 | cocoa, rice, coffee, cassava (tapioca), peanuts, corn, shea nuts, bananas; timber | grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk |
| Airports | 12 (2001) | 136 (2000 est.) |
| Airports - with paved runways | total: 7
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (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: 5
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 2 (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: 239,460 sq km
land: 230,940 sq km water: 8,520 sq km |
total:
207,600 sq km land: 207,600 sq km water: 0 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Oregon | slightly smaller than Kansas |
| Background | Formed from the merger of the British colony of the Gold Coast and the Togoland trust territory, Ghana in 1957 became the first country in colonial Africa to gain its independence. A long series of coups resulted in the suspension of the constitution in 1981 and the banning of political parties. A new constitution, restoring multiparty politics, was approved in 1992. Lt. Jerry RAWLINGS, head of state since 1981, won presidential elections in 1992 and 1996, but was constitutionally prevented from running for a third term in 2000. He was succeeded by John KUFUOR, who defeated former Vice President Atta MILLS in a free and fair election. | 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 | 28.08 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 9.57 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| Budget | revenues: $1.603 billion
expenditures: $1.975 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.) |
revenues:
$4 billion expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.) |
| Capital | Accra | Minsk |
| Climate | tropical; warm and comparatively dry along southeast coast; hot and humid in southwest; hot and dry in north | cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime |
| Coastline | 539 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
| Constitution | new constitution approved 28 April 1992 | 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 Ghana
conventional short form: Ghana former: Gold Coast |
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 | cedi (GHC) | Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR) |
| Death rate | 10.31 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 13.97 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| Debt - external | $5.96 billion (2001 est.) | $1 billion (2000 est.) |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Mary Carlin YATES
embassy: 6th and 10th Lanes, 798/1 Osu, Accra mailing address: P. O. Box 194, Accra telephone: [233] (21) 775-347, 775-348 FAX: [233] (21) 701-813 |
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 | chief of mission: Ambassador Alan J. KYEREMATEN
chancery: 3512 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 686-4520 FAX: [1] (202) 686-4527 consulate(s) general: New York |
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 | $6.9 billion (1999) (1999) | $194.3 million (1995) |
| Economy - overview | Well endowed with natural resources, Ghana has roughly twice the per capita output of the poorer countries in West Africa. Even so, Ghana remains heavily dependent on international financial and technical assistance. Gold, timber, and cocoa production are major sources of foreign exchange. The domestic economy continues to revolve around subsistence agriculture, which accounts for 36% of GDP and employs 60% of the work force, mainly small landholders. Excessively expansionary monetary and fiscal policy prior to the 2000 elections led to accelerating inflation in early 2001. A depressed cocoa market and continued weak growth in non-traditional exports led to disappointing growth in 2001. The late 2002 crisis in Cote d'Ivoire has boosted cocoa prices markedly. It remains to be seen if this portends a long-term shift in the cocoa market. Ghana opted for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) program in 2002. | 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 | 5.484 billion kWh (2000) | 27.647 billion kWh (1999) |
| Electricity - exports | 422 million kWh (2000) | 2.62 billion kWh (1999) |
| Electricity - imports | 400 million kWh (2000) | 7.1 billion kWh (1999) |
| Electricity - production | 5.92 billion kWh (2000) | 24.911 billion kWh (1999) |
| Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 30%
hydro: 70% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
fossil fuel:
99.9% hydro: 0.1% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Afadjato 880 m |
lowest point:
Nyoman River 90 m highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m |
| Environment - current issues | recurrent drought in north severely affects agricultural activities; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; poaching and habitat destruction threatens wildlife populations; water pollution; inadequate supplies of potable water | 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, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation |
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 African 98.5% (major tribes - Akan 44%, Moshi-Dagomba 16%, Ewe 13%, Ga 8%, Gurma 3%, Yoruba 1%), European and other 1.5% (1998) | Byelorussian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4% |
| Exchange rates | cedis per US dollar - 7,195 (January 2002), 7,170.76 (2001), 5,455.06 (2000), 2,669.30 (1999), 2,314.15 (1998), 2,050.17 (1997) | 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: President John Agyekum KUFUOR (since 7 January 2001); Vice President Alhaji Aliu MAHAMA (since 7 January 2001); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President John Agyekum KUFUOR (since 7 January 2001); Vice President Alhaji Aliu MAHAMA (since 7 January 2001); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Council of Ministers; president nominates members subject to approval by Parliament elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms; election last held 7 and 28 December 2000 (next to be held NA December 2004) election results: John Agyekum KUFUOR elected president in runoff election; percent of vote - John KUFUOR 56.4%, John Atta MILLS 43.6% |
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 | $1.94 billion f.o.b. (2000) | $7.4 billion (f.o.b., 2000) |
| Exports - commodities | gold, cocoa, timber, tuna, bauxite, aluminum, manganese ore, diamonds | machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, textiles, foodstuffs |
| Exports - partners | Togo, UK, Italy, Netherlands, Germany, US, France (1998) | Russia 66%, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Lithuania (1998) |
| Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
| Flag description | three equal horizontal bands of red (top), yellow, and green with a large black five-pointed star centered in the yellow band; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia; similar to the flag of Bolivia, which has a coat of arms 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 the Belarusian national ornament in red |
| GDP | purchasing power parity - $39.4 billion (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $78.8 billion (2000 est.) |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 36%
industry: 25% services: 39% (2000 est.) |
agriculture:
13% industry: 46% services: 41% (1999 est.) |
| GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,980 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $7,500 (2000 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate | 3% (2001 est.) | 4% (2000 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | 8 00 N, 2 00 W | 53 00 N, 28 00 E |
| Geography - note | Lake Volta is the world's largest artificial lake | landlocked |
| Highways | total: 38,940 km
paved: 9,346 km (including 30 km of expressways) unpaved: 29,594 km (2001) |
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%: 2%
highest 10%: 30% (1998) |
lowest 10%:
4.9% highest 10%: 19.4% (1993) |
| Illicit drugs | illicit producer of cannabis for the international drug trade; major transit hub for Southwest and Southeast Asian heroin and, to a lesser extent, South American cocaine destined for Europe and the US; widespread crime and corruption have made money laundering a problem, but the lack of a well-developed financial infrastructure limits the country's utility as a money-laundering 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 | $2.83 billion f.o.b. (2000) | $8.3 billion (f.o.b., 2000) |
| Imports - commodities | capital equipment, petroleum, foodstuffs | mineral products, machinery and equipment, metals, chemicals, foodstuffs |
| Imports - partners | UK, Nigeria, US, Germany, Italy, Spain (1998) | Russia 54%, Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Lithuania (1998) |
| Independence | 6 March 1957 (from UK) | 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) |
| Industrial production growth rate | 3.8% (2000 est.) | 5% (2000 est.) |
| Industries | mining, lumbering, light manufacturing, aluminum smelting, food processing | metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earth movers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators |
| Infant mortality rate | 55.64 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | 14.38 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 25% (2001 est.) | 200% (2000 est.) |
| International organization participation | ABEDA, ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM, OAS (observer), OAU, OPCW, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNMOT, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | 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) | 12 (2000) | 4 (2000) |
| Irrigated land | 110 sq km (1998 est.) | 1,000 sq km (1993 est.) |
| Judicial branch | Supreme Court | 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 | 9 million (2000 est.) | 4.8 million (2000) |
| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 60%, industry 15%, services 25% (1999 est.) | industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA% |
| Land boundaries | total: 2,094 km
border countries: Burkina Faso 549 km, Cote d'Ivoire 668 km, Togo 877 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: 15.82%
permanent crops: 7.47% other: 76.71% (1998 est.) |
arable land:
29% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 15% forests and woodland: 34% other: 21% (1993 est.) |
| Languages | English (official), African languages (including Akan, Moshi-Dagomba, Ewe, and Ga) | Byelorussian, Russian, other |
| Legal system | based on English common law and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on civil law system |
| Legislative branch | unicameral Parliament (200 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 7 December 2000 (next to be held NA December 2004) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NPP 100, NDC 92, PNC 3, CPP 1, independents 4 |
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: 57.06 years
male: 55.66 years female: 58.51 years (2002 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: 64.5% male: 75.9% female: 53.5% (1995 est.) |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98% male: 99% female: 97% (1989 est.) |
| Location | Western Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea, between Cote d'Ivoire and Togo | Eastern Europe, east of Poland |
| Map references | Africa | Commonwealth of Independent States |
| Maritime claims | contiguous zone: 24 NM
continental shelf: 200 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
none (landlocked) |
| Merchant marine | total: 7 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 16,450 GRT/22,097 DWT
ships by type: petroleum tanker 2, refrigerated cargo 5 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Brazil 1, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1, Spain 1 (2002 est.) |
- |
| Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force, National Police Force | Army, Air Force, Air Defense Force, Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | $35.2 million (FY01) | $156 million (FY98) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 0.7% (FY01) | 1.2% (FY98) |
| Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 5,045,355 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49:
2,729,956 (2001 est.) |
| Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 2,799,292 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49:
2,138,743 (2001 est.) |
| Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age (2002 est.) | 18 years of age |
| Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 213,237 (2002 est.) | males:
86,396 (2001 est.) |
| National holiday | Independence Day, 6 March (1957) | 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: Ghanaian(s)
adjective: Ghanaian |
noun:
Belarusian(s) adjective: Belarusian |
| Natural hazards | dry, dusty, northeastern harmattan winds occur from January to March; droughts | NA |
| Natural resources | gold, timber, industrial diamonds, bauxite, manganese, fish, rubber, hydropower | forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas |
| Net migration rate | -0.74 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 2.89 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| People - note | there are 9,500 Liberians, 2,000 Sierra Leoneans, and 1,000 Togolese refugees residing in Ghana (2002) | - |
| Pipelines | 0 km | crude oil 1,470 km; refined products 1,100 km; natural gas 1,980 km (1992) |
| Political parties and leaders | Convention People's Party or CPP [Nii Noi DOWUONA, general secretary]; Every Ghanaian Living Everywhere or EGLE [Owuraku AMOFA, chairman]; Great Consolidated Popular Party or GCPP [Dan LARTY]; National Convention Party or NCP [Sarpong KUMA-KUMA]; National Democratic Congress or NDC [Dr. Huudu YAHAYA, general secretary]; New Patriotic Party or NPP [Samuel Arthur ODOI-SYKES]; People's Convention Party or PCP [P. K. DONKOH-AYIFI, acting chairman]; People's Heritage Party or PHP [Emmanuel Alexander ERSKINE]; People's National Convention or PNC [Edward MAHAMA]; Reform Party [Kyeretwie OPUKU, general secretary] | 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 | 20,244,154
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2002 est.) |
10,350,194 (July 2001 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | 31% (1992 est.) | 22% (1995 est.) |
| Population growth rate | 1.7% (2002 est.) | -0.15% (2001 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | Takoradi, Tema | Mazyr |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 0, FM 49, shortwave 3 (2001) | AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998) |
| Radios | 12.5 million (2001) | 3.02 million (1997) |
| Railways | total: 953 km
narrow gauge: 953 km 1.067-m gauge; undergoing major rehabilitation (2001 est.) |
total:
5,523 km broad gauge: 5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2000) |
| Religions | indigenous beliefs 21%, Muslim 16%, Christian 63% | Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.) |
| Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.9 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2002 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: poor to fair system; Internet accessible; many rural communities not yet connected; expansion of services is underway
domestic: primarily microwave radio relay; wireless local loop has been installed international: satellite earth stations - 4 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); microwave radio relay link to Panaftel system connects Ghana to its neighbors |
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 | 240,000 (2001) | 2.313 million (1997) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 150,000 (2001) | 8,167 (1997) |
| Television broadcast stations | 10 (2001) | 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995) |
| Terrain | mostly low plains with dissected plateau in south-central area | generally flat and contains much marshland |
| Total fertility rate | 3.69 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 1.28 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | 20% (1997 est.) | 2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers |
| Waterways | 1,293 km
note: Volta, Ankobra, and Tano Rivers provide 168 km of perennial navigation for launches and lighters; Lake Volta provides 1,125 km of arterial and feeder waterways |
NA km; note - Belarus has extensive and widely used canal and river systems |
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