Guinea (2001) | Belarus (2002) | |
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Administrative divisions | 33 prefectures and 1 special zone (zone special)*; Beyla, Boffa, Boke, Conakry*, Coyah, Dabola, Dalaba, Dinguiraye, Dubreka, Faranah, Forecariah, Fria, Gaoual, Gueckedou, Kankan, Kerouane, Kindia, Kissidougou, Koubia, Koundara, Kouroussa, Labe, Lelouma, Lola, Macenta, Mali, Mamou, Mandiana, Nzerekore, Pita, Siguiri, Telimele, Tougue, Yomou | 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:
43.12% (male 1,637,000; female 1,645,786) 15-64 years: 54.19% (male 2,015,199; female 2,110,745) 65 years and over: 2.69% (male 84,586; female 120,554) (2001 est.) |
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 | rice, coffee, pineapples, palm kernels, cassava (tapioca), bananas, sweet potatoes; cattle, sheep, goats; timber | grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk |
Airports | 15 (2000 est.) | 136 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
5 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 (2000 est.) |
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:
10 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
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:
245,857 sq km land: 245,857 sq km water: 0 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 | Independent from France since 1958, Guinea did not hold democratic elections until 1993 when Gen. Lansana CONTE (head of the military government) was elected president of the civilian government. He was reelected in 1998. Unrest in Sierra Leone has spilled over into Guinea, threatening stability and creating a humanitarian emergency. | 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 | 39.78 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 9.86 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$NA expenditures: $417.7 million, including capital expenditures of $NA million (2000 est.) |
revenues: $4 billion
expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.) |
Capital | Conakry | Minsk |
Climate | generally hot and humid; monsoonal-type rainy season (June to November) with southwesterly winds; dry season (December to May) with northeasterly harmattan winds | cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime |
Coastline | 320 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | 23 December 1990 (Loi Fundamentale) | 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 Guinea conventional short form: Guinea local long form: Republique de Guinee local short form: Guinee former: French Guinea |
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 | Guinean franc (GNF) | Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR) |
Death rate | 17.53 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 13.99 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | $3.6 billion (1999 est.) | $770 million (2001 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Charge d'Affaires Timberlake FOSTER embassy: Rue Ka 038, Conakry mailing address: B. P. 603, Conakry telephone: [224] 41 15 20, 41 15 21, 41 15 23 FAX: [224] 41 15 22 |
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 | chief of mission:
Ambassador Mohamed Aly THIAM chancery: 2112 Leroy Place NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 483-9420 FAX: [1] (202) 483-8688 |
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 | border incursions by Revolutionary United Front combatants from Sierra Leone; civil war in that country has engendered a massive flow of refugees to southern Guinea and Liberia | boundary demarcation with Latvia and Lithuania is pending European Union funding |
Economic aid - recipient | $359.2 million (1998) | $194.3 million (1995) (1995) |
Economy - overview | Guinea possesses major mineral, hydropower, and agricultural resources, yet remains a poor underdeveloped nation. The country possesses over 30% of the world's bauxite reserves and is the second largest bauxite producer. The mining sector accounted for about 75% of exports in 1999. Long-run improvements in government fiscal arrangements, literacy, and the legal framework are needed if the country is to move out of poverty. The government made encouraging progress in budget management in 1997-99, and reform progress was praised in the World Bank/IMF October 2000 assessment. However, escalating fighting along the Sierra Leonean and Liberian borders will cause major economic disruptions. In addition to direct defense costs, the violence has led to a sharp decline in investor confidence. Foreign mining companies have reduced expatriate staff, while panic buying has created food shortages and inflation in local markets. Real GDP growth is expected to fall to 2% in 2001. | 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 | 697.5 million kWh (1999) | 26.78 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 300 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | 4.15 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production | 750 million kWh (1999) | 24.66 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
46.67% hydro: 53.33% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Mont Nimba 1,752 m |
lowest point: Nyoman River 90 m
highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m |
Environment - current issues | deforestation; inadequate supplies of potable water; desertification; soil contamination and erosion; overfishing, overpopulation in forest region | 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, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected 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 | Peuhl 40%, Malinke 30%, Soussou 20%, smaller ethnic groups 10% | Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4% |
Exchange rates | Guinean francs per US dollar - 1,855.0 (October 2000), 1,572.0 (2000), 1,387.4 (1999), 1,236.8 (1998), 1,095.3 (1997), 1,004.0 (1996) | 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 Lansana CONTE (head of military government since 5 April 1984, elected president 19 December 1993) head of government: Prime Minister Lamine SIDIME (since 8 March 1999) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; candidate must receive a majority of the votes cast to be elected president; election last held 14 December 1998 (next to be held NA December 2003); the prime minister is appointed by the president election results: Lansana CONTE reelected president; percent of vote - Lansana CONTE (PUP) 56.1%, Mamadou Boye BA (UNR-PRP) 24.6%, Alpha CONDE (RPG) 16.6%, |
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 | $820 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | $7.5 billion f.o.b. (2001) |
Exports - commodities | bauxite, alumina, gold, diamonds, coffee, fish, agricultural products | machinery and equipment, mineral products, chemicals, textiles, foodstuffs, metals |
Exports - partners | US, Benelux, Ukraine, Ireland (1999) | Russia 51%, Ukraine 8%, Poland 4%, Germany 3% (2000) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | three equal vertical bands of red (hoist side), yellow, and green; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia; similar to the flag of Rwanda, which has a large black letter R 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 - $10 billion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $84.8 billion (2001 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
22.3% industry: 35.3% services: 42.4% (1998 est.) |
agriculture: 13%
industry: 42% services: 45% (2000) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,300 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $8,200 (2001 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 5% (2000 est.) | 4.1% (2001 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 11 00 N, 10 00 W | 53 00 N, 28 00 E |
Geography - note | - | landlocked; glacial scouring accounts for the flatness of Belarusian terrain and for its 11,000 lakes; the country is geologically well endowed with extensive deposits of granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, and clay |
Highways | total:
30,500 km paved: 5,033 km unpaved: 25,467 km (1996) |
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%:
2.6% highest 10%: 32% (1994) |
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 | $634 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | $8.1 billion f.o.b. (2001) |
Imports - commodities | petroleum products, metals, machinery, transport equipment, textiles, grain and other foodstuffs | mineral products, machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, metals |
Imports - partners | France, Belgium, US, Cote d'Ivoire (1999) | Russia 65%, Germany 7%, Poland 3% (2000) |
Independence | 2 October 1958 (from France) | 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) |
Industrial production growth rate | 3.2% (1994) | 5.4% (2001 est.) |
Industries | bauxite, gold, diamonds; alumina refining; light manufacturing and agricultural processing industries | metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators |
Infant mortality rate | 129.03 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | 14.12 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 6% (2000 est.) | 46.1% (2001 est.) |
International organization participation | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, MINURSO, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | 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) | 1 (2000) | 23 (2002) |
Irrigated land | 930 sq km (1993 est.) | 1,150 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel | 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 | 3 million (1999) | 4.8 million (2000) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 80%, industry and services 20% (2000 est.) | industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA% |
Land boundaries | total:
3,399 km border countries: Cote d'Ivoire 610 km, Guinea-Bissau 386 km, Liberia 563 km, Mali 858 km, Senegal 330 km, Sierra Leone 652 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% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 22% forests and woodland: 59% other: 17% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 29.76%
permanent crops: 0.69% other: 69.55% (1998 est.) |
Languages | French (official), each ethnic group has its own language | Belarusian, Russian, other |
Legal system | based on French civil law system, customary law, and decree; legal codes currently being revised; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on civil law system |
Legislative branch | unicameral People's National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale Populaire (114 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 11 June 1995 (next scheduled for 26 November 2000 postponed indefinitely due to border fighting with rebels from Sierra Leone and Liberia) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PUP 71, RPG 19, PRP 9, UNR 9, UPG 2, PDG-AST 1, UNP 1, PDG-RDA 1, other 1 |
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:
45.91 years male: 43.49 years female: 48.42 years (2001 est.) |
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: 35.9% male: 49.9% female: 21.9% (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 North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone | Eastern Europe, east of Poland |
Map references | Africa | Europe |
Maritime claims | exclusive economic zone:
200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | none (2000 est.) | - |
Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force, Republican Guard, Presidential Guard, paramilitary National Gendarmerie, National Police Force (Surete National) | Army, Air Force (including air defense), Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $56 million (FY96) | $156 million (FY98) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.4% (FY96) | 1% (FY01) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
1,764,912 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 2,744,267 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
891,166 (2001 est.) |
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, 2 October (1958) | 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:
Guinean(s) adjective: Guinean |
noun: Belarusian(s)
adjective: Belarusian |
Natural hazards | hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during dry season | NA |
Natural resources | bauxite, iron ore, diamonds, gold, uranium, hydropower, fish | forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay |
Net migration rate | -2.63 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
note: as a result of civil war in neighboring countries, Guinea is host to almost half a million Liberian and Sierra Leonean refugees |
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 | Democratic Party of Guinea or PDG-AST [Marcel CROS]; Democratic Party of Guinea-African Democratic Rally or PDG-RDA [El Hadj Ismael Mohamed Gassim GUSHEIN]; National Union for Progress or UNP [Paul Louis FABER]; Party for Unity and Progress or PUP [Lansana CONTE] - the governing party; Party for Renewal and Progress or PRP [Siradiou DIALLO]; Rally for the Guinean People or RPG [Alpha CONDE]; Union for Progress of Guinea or UPG [Jean-Marie DORE, secretary-general]; Union for the New Republic or UNR [Mamadou Boye BA]; Union of Republican Forces or UFR [Sidya TOURE] | 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 | NA |
Population | 7,613,870 (July 2001 est.) | 10,335,382 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 40% (1994 est.) | 22% (1995 est.) |
Population growth rate | 1.96% (2001 est.) | -0.14% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Boke, Conakry, Kamsar | Mazyr |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 4, FM 8, shortwave 3 (1998) | AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998) |
Radios | 357,000 (1997) | 3.02 million (1997) |
Railways | total:
1,086 km standard gauge: 279 km 1.435-m gauge narrow gauge: 807 km 1.000-m gauge (includes 662 km in common carrier service from Kankan to Conakry) |
total: 5,523 km
broad gauge: 5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2000 est.) |
Religions | Muslim 85%, Christian 8%, indigenous beliefs 7% | 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: 0.99 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2001 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 (2002 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
poor to fair system of open-wire lines, small radiotelephone communication stations, and new microwave radio relay system domestic: microwave radio relay and radiotelephone communication international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
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 | 20,000 (1997) | 2.313 million (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 2,868 (1997) | 8,167 (1997) |
Television broadcast stations | 6 (1997) | 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995) |
Terrain | generally flat coastal plain, hilly to mountainous interior | generally flat and contains much marshland |
Total fertility rate | 5.39 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 1.31 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers |
Waterways | 1,295 km (navigable by shallow-draft native craft) | NA km; note - Belarus has extensive and widely used canal and river systems |