##ciekawa_strona##
Compare Hong Kong (2007) - Belarus (2008)
Compare Hong Kong (2007) z Belarus (2008)
| Hong Kong (2007) | Belarus (2008) | |
 |  | |
| Administrative divisions | none (special administrative region of China) | 6 provinces (voblastsi, singular - voblasts') and 1 municipality* (horad); Brest, Homyel', Horad Minsk*, Hrodna, Mahilyow, Minsk, Vitsyebsk
note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers |
| Age structure | 0-14 years: 13% (male 476,089/female 434,326)
15-64 years: 74% (male 2,515,518/female 2,652,660) 65 years and over: 12.9% (male 419,479/female 482,340) (2007 est.) |
0-14 years: 14.7% (male 733,010/female 691,734)
15-64 years: 70.4% (male 3,327,119/female 3,520,690) 65 years and over: 14.9% (male 471,863/female 980,307) (2007 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | fresh vegetables; poultry, pork; fish | grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk |
| Airports | 2 (2007) | 67 (2007) |
| Airports - with paved runways | total: 2
over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2007) |
total: 36
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 22 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 7 (2007) |
| Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 31
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 27 (2007) |
| Area | total: 1,092 sq km
land: 1,042 sq km water: 50 sq km |
total: 207,600 sq km
land: 207,600 sq km water: 0 sq km |
| Area - comparative | six times the size of Washington, DC | slightly smaller than Kansas |
| Background | Occupied by the UK in 1841, Hong Kong was formally ceded by China the following year; various adjacent lands were added later in the 19th century. Pursuant to an agreement signed by China and the UK on 19 December 1984, Hong Kong became the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China on 1 July 1997. In this agreement, China has promised that, under its "one country, two systems" formula, China's socialist economic system will not be imposed on Hong Kong and that Hong Kong will enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defense affairs for the next 50 years. | 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. Since his election in July 1994 as the country's first president, Alexandr LUKASHENKO has steadily consolidated his power through authoritarian means. Government restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, peaceful assembly, and religion continue. |
| Birth rate | 7.34 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 9.5 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Budget | revenues: $35.18 billion
expenditures: $32.18 billion (2006 est.) |
revenues: $15.35 billion
expenditures: $16.78 billion (2007 est.) |
| Capital | - | name: Minsk
geographic coordinates: 53 54 N, 27 34 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
| Climate | subtropical monsoon; cool and humid in winter, hot and rainy from spring through summer, warm and sunny in fall | cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime |
| Coastline | 733 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
| Constitution | Basic Law, approved in March 1990 by China's National People's Congress, is Hong Kong's "mini-constitution" | 15 March 1994; revised by national referendum of 24 November 1996 giving the presidency greatly expanded powers and became effective 27 November 1996; revised again 17 October 2004 removing presidential term limits |
| Country name | conventional long form: Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
conventional short form: Hong Kong local long form: Xianggang Tebie Xingzhengqu local short form: Xianggang abbreviation: HK |
conventional long form: Republic of Belarus
conventional short form: Belarus local long form: Respublika Byelarus' local short form: Byelarus' former: Belorussian (Byelorussian) Soviet Socialist Republic |
| Death rate | 6.45 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 13.98 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Debt - external | $72.79 billion (2006 est.) | $9.272 billion (30 June 2007) |
| Dependency status | special administrative region of China | - |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Consul General James B. CUNNINGHAM
consulate(s) general: 26 Garden Road, Hong Kong mailing address: PSC 461, Box 1, FPO AP 96521-0006 telephone: [852] 2523-9011 FAX: [852] 2845-1598 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Karen B. STEWART
embassy: 46 Starovilenskaya Street, Minsk 220002 mailing address: PSC 78, Box B Minsk, APO 09723 telephone: [375] (17) 210-12-83, 217-7347, 217-7348 FAX: [375] (17) 234-7853 |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | none (special administrative region of China) | 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 | none | as of January 2007, ground demarcations of the boundaries with Latvia and Lithuania were complete and mapped with final ratification documentation in preparation; 1997 boundary delimitation treaty with Ukraine remains unratified over unresolved financial claims, preventing demarcation and diminishing border security |
| Economic aid - recipient | - | $53.76 million (2005) |
| Economy - overview | Hong Kong has a free market economy highly dependent on international trade. The territory has become more closely linked to mainland China over the past few years. Even before Hong Kong reverted to Chinese administration on 1 July 1997, it had extensive trade and investment ties with China. Hong Kong's service industry over the past decade has grown rapidly as its manufacturing industry has moved to the mainland. Hong Kong also has stepped up its efforts to gain approval to offer more mainland financial services in a bid to remain competitive with China's growing financial centers. Hong Kong's natural resources are limited, and food and raw materials must be imported. Gross imports and exports (including reexports to and from third countries) each exceed GDP in dollar value. Per capita GDP exceeds that of the four big economies of Western Europe. GDP growth averaged a strong 5% from 1989 to 2006, but Hong Kong suffered two recessions in the past eight years because of the Asian financial crisis in 1997-98 and the global downturn in 2001-02. Although the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003 also battered Hong Kong's economy, a solid rise in exports, a boom in tourism from the mainland because of China's easing of travel restrictions, and a return of consumer confidence resulted in the resumption of strong growth from late 2003 through 2006. Moreover, several large initial public offerings of Chinese companies on the Hong Kong stock exchange since late 2005 have helped to boost Hong Kong's status as a financial hub and have contributed to the improved performance of the market in late 2006. | 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 enterprises. Since 2005, the government has re-nationalized a number of private companies. In addition, businesses have been subject to pressure by 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; the Gini coefficient is among the lowest in the world. Because of these restrictive economic policies, Belarus has had trouble attracting foreign investment. Nevertheless, GDP growth has been strong in recent years, reaching nearly 8% in 2007, despite the roadblocks of a tough, centrally directed economy with a high, but decreasing, rate of inflation. Belarus receives heavily discounted oil and natural gas from Russia and much of Belarus' growth can be attributed to the re-export of Russian oil at market prices. Trade with Russia - by far its largest single trade partner - decreased in 2007, largely as a result of a change in the way the Value Added Tax (VAT) on trade was collected. Russia has introduced an export duty on oil shipped to Belarus, which will increase gradually through 2009, and a requirement that Belarusian duties on re-exported Russian oil be shared with Russia - 80% will go to Russia in 2008, and 85% in 2009. Russia also increased Belarusian natural gas prices from $47 per thousand cubic meters (tcm) to $100 per tcm in 2007, and plans to increase prices gradually to world levels by 2011. Russia's recent policy of bringing energy prices for Belarus to world market levels may result in a slowdown in economic growth in Belarus over the next few years. Some policy measures, including tightening of fiscal and monetary policies, improving energy efficiency, and diversifying exports, have been introduced, but external borrowing has been the main mechanism used to manage the growing pressures on the economy. |
| Electricity - consumption | 37.74 billion kWh (2005) | 29.49 billion kWh (2005) |
| Electricity - exports | 4.498 billion kWh (2005) | 5.053 billion kWh (2005) |
| Electricity - imports | 11 billion kWh (2005) | 9.091 billion kWh (2005) |
| Electricity - production | 36.14 billion kWh (2005) | 29.08 billion kWh (2005) |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point: South China Sea 0 m
highest point: Tai Mo Shan 958 m |
lowest point: Nyoman River 90 m
highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m |
| Environment - current issues | air and water pollution from rapid urbanization | 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: Marine Dumping (associate member), Ship Pollution (associate member) | party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
| Ethnic groups | Chinese 94.9%, Filipino 2.1%, other 3% (2001 census) | Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish 3.9%, Ukrainian 2.4%, other 1.1% (1999 census) |
| Exchange rates | Hong Kong dollars per US dollar - 7.7678 (2006), 7.7773 (2005), 7.788 (2004), 7.7868 (2003), 7.7989 (2002) | Belarusian rubles per US dollar - 2,145 (2007), 2,144.6 (2006), 2,150 (2005), 2,160.26 (2004), 2,051.27 (2003) |
| Executive branch | chief of state: President of China HU Jintao (since 15 March 2003)
head of government: Chief Executive Donald TSANG (since 24 June 2005) cabinet: Executive Council consists of 14 official members and 15 non-official members elections: chief executive elected for five-year term by 800-member electoral committee; last held on 25 March 2007 (next to be held in 2012) election results: Donald TSANG elected chief executive receiving 84.1% of the vote; Alan LEONG received 15.9% |
chief of state: President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994)
head of government: Prime Minister Sergey SIDORSKIY (since 19 December 2003); First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir SEMASHKO (since December 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, Aleksandr LUKASHENKO extended his term to 2001 via a November 1996 referendum; subsequent election held 9 September 2001; an October 2004 referendum ended presidential term limits and allowed the president to run in a third election, which was held on 19 March 2006; prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president election results: Aleksandr LUKASHENKO reelected president; percent of vote - Aleksandr LUKASHENKO 82.6%, Aleksandr MILINKEVICH 6%, Aleksandr KOZULIN 2.3%; note - election marred by electoral fraud |
| Exports | 26,090 bbl/day (2004) | 249,900 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
| Exports - commodities | electrical machinery and appliances, textiles, apparel, footwear, watches and clocks, toys, plastics, precious stones, printed material | machinery and equipment, mineral products, chemicals, metals, textiles, foodstuffs |
| Exports - partners | China 47%, US 15.1%, Japan 4.9% (2006) | Russia 34.7%, Netherlands 17.7%, UK 7.5%, Ukraine 6.3%, Poland 5.2% (2006) |
| Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | calendar year |
| Flag description | red with a stylized, white, five-petal bauhinia flower in the center | 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 Belarusian national ornamentation in red |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 0.1%
industry: 8.6% services: 91.3% (2006 est.) |
agriculture: 8.7%
industry: 40.6% services: 50.6% (2007 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate | 6.9% (2006 est.) | 6.9% (2007 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | 22 15 N, 114 10 E | 53 00 N, 28 00 E |
| Geography - note | more than 200 islands | landlocked; glacial scouring accounts for the flatness of Belarusian terrain and for its 11,000 lakes |
| Heliports | 5 (2007) | 1 (2007) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 3.4%
highest 10%: 23.5% (2002) |
| Illicit drugs | despite strenuous law enforcement efforts, faces difficult challenges in controlling transit of heroin and methamphetamine to regional and world markets; modern banking system provides conduit for money laundering; rising indigenous use of synthetic drugs, especially among young people | 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; a small and lightly regulated financial center; new anti-money-laundering legislation does not meet international standards; few investigations or prosecutions of money-laundering activities |
| Imports | 344,200 bbl/day (2004) | 378,200 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
| Imports - commodities | raw materials and semi-manufactures, consumer goods, capital goods, foodstuffs, fuel (most is re-exported) | mineral products, machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, metals |
| Imports - partners | China 45.9%, Japan 10.3%, Taiwan 7.5%, Singapore 6.3%, US 4.8%, South Korea 4.6% (2006) | Russia 58.6%, Germany 7.5%, Ukraine 5.5% (2006) |
| Independence | none (special administrative region of China) | 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) |
| Industrial production growth rate | 4% (2006 est.) | 5% (2007 est.) |
| Industries | textiles, clothing, tourism, banking, shipping, electronics, plastics, toys, watches, clocks | metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, televisions, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators |
| Infant mortality rate | total: 2.94 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 3.12 deaths/1,000 live births female: 2.74 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
total: 6.63 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 7.67 deaths/1,000 live births female: 5.53 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2% (2006 est.) | 8.3% (2007 est.) |
| International organization participation | APEC, AsDB, BIS, ICC, IHO, IMF, IMO (associate), IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITUC, UNWTO (associate), UPU, WCL, WCO, WMO, WTO | BSEC (observer), CEI, CIS, EAEC, EAPC, EBRD, GCTU, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, NSG, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer) |
| Irrigated land | 20 sq km (1998 est.) | 1,310 sq km (2003) |
| Judicial branch | Court of Final Appeal in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region | 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 | 3.583 million (2006 est.) | 4.3 million (31 December 2005) |
| Labor force - by occupation | manufacturing 7.5%, construction 2.9%, wholesale and retail trade, restaurants, and hotels 43.9%, financing, insurance, and real estate 19.6%, transport and communications 7.1%, community and social services 18.8%
note: above data exclude public sector (2005 est.) |
agriculture: 14%
industry: 34.7% services: 51.3% (2003 est.) |
| Land boundaries | total: 30 km
regional border: China 30 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: 5.05%
permanent crops: 1.01% other: 93.94% (2001) |
arable land: 26.77%
permanent crops: 0.6% other: 72.63% (2005) |
| Languages | Chinese (Cantonese) 89.2% (official), other Chinese dialects 6.4%, English 3.2% (official), other 1.2% (2001 census) | Belarusian, Russian, other |
| Legal system | based on English common law | based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
| Legislative branch | unicameral Legislative Council or LEGCO (60 seats; in 2004 30 seats indirectly elected by functional constituencies, 30 elected by popular vote; members serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 12 September 2004 (next to be held in September 2008) election results: percent of vote by party - pro-democracy 63%, pro-Beijing 37%; seats by party - (pro-Beijing 34) DAB 12, Liberal Party 10, FTU 1, independents 11; (pro-democracy 25) Democratic Party 9, CTU 2, ADPL 1, Frontier Party 1, NWSC 1, independents 11; non-voting LEGCO president 1 |
bicameral National Assembly or Natsionalnoye Sobranie consists of the Council of the Republic or Soviet Respubliki (64 seats; 56 members elected by regional councils and eight members appointed by the president, to serve four-year terms) and the Chamber of Representatives or Palata Predstaviteley (110 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 17 and 31 October 2004; international observers widely denounced the elections as flawed and undemocratic based on massive government falsification; pro-LUKASHENKO candidates won every seat after many opposition candidates were disqualified for technical reasons election results: Soviet Respubliki - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; Palata Predstaviteley - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population: 81.68 years
male: 78.99 years female: 84.6 years (2007 est.) |
total population: 70.05 years
male: 64.31 years female: 76.14 years (2007 est.) |
| Literacy | definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school
total population: 93.5% male: 96.9% female: 89.6% (2002) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.6% male: 99.8% female: 99.4% (1999 census) |
| Location | Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China | Eastern Europe, east of Poland |
| Map references | Southeast Asia | Europe |
| Maritime claims | territorial sea: 3 nm | none (landlocked) |
| Merchant marine | total: 1,009 ships (1000 GRT or over) 34,556,075 GRT/57,423,309 DWT
by type: barge carrier 2, bulk carrier 499, cargo 135, chemical tanker 51, combination ore/oil 3, container 173, liquefied gas 24, passenger 6, passenger/cargo 5, petroleum tanker 91, roll on/roll off 4, specialized tanker 8, vehicle carrier 8 foreign-owned: 617 (Belgium 4, Canada 39, China 309, Denmark 12, France 1, Germany 10, Greece 30, Indonesia 7, Japan 78, South Korea 6, Lebanon 1, Norway 30, Pakistan 1, Philippines 10, Portugal 1, Singapore 11, Syria 1, Taiwan 11, UAE 1, UK 32, US 22) registered in other countries: 275 (Bahamas 3, Belize 5, Bermuda 4, Cambodia 11, China 6, Cyprus 2, Honduras 1, India 1, Liberia 21, Malaysia 14, Malta 1, Marshall Islands 4, Mongolia 1, Norway 5, Panama 137, Philippines 2, Seychelles 1, Singapore 37, St Vincent and The Grenadines 7, Tuvalu 10, UK 2, unknown 7) (2007) |
- |
| Military - note | defense is the responsibility of China | - |
| Military branches | no regular indigenous military forces; Hong Kong garrison of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) includes elements of Ground Forces, Navy, and Air Force; these forces are under the direct leadership of the Central Military Commission in Beijing and under administrative control of the adjacent Guangzhou Military Region | Belarus Armed Forces: Land Force, Air and Air Defense Force (2008) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA | 1.4% (2005 est.) |
| National holiday | National Day (Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China), 1 October (1949); note - 1 July 1997 is celebrated as Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day | 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: Chinese/Hong Konger
adjective: Chinese/Hong Kong |
noun: Belarusian(s)
adjective: Belarusian |
| Natural hazards | occasional typhoons | NA |
| Natural resources | outstanding deepwater harbor, feldspar | forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay |
| Net migration rate | 4.72 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 0.38 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Pipelines | - | gas 5,250 km; oil 1,528 km; refined products 1,730 km (2007) |
| Political parties and leaders | Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood or ADPL [Frederick FUNG Kin-kee]; Citizens Party [Alex CHAN Kai-chung]; Civic Party [KUAN Hsin-chi]; Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong or DAB [MA Lik]; Democratic Party [Albert HO]; Frontier Party [Emily LAU Wai-hing]; Liberal Party [James TIEN Pei-chun]
note: political blocs include: pro-democracy - ADPL, Democratic Party, Frontier Party; pro-Beijing - DAB, Liberal Party |
pro-government parties: Agrarian Party or AP [Mikhail SHIMANSKY]; Belarusian Communist Party or KPB; Belarusian Patriotic Movement (Belarusian Patriotic Party) or BPR [Nikolay ULAKHOVICH, chairman]; Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus [Sergey GAYDUKEVICH]; Party of Labor and Justice [Viktor SOKOLOV]; Social-Sports Party [Vladimir ALEXANDROVICH]
opposition parties: Belarusian Christian Democracy Party (unregistered) [Pavel SEVERINETS]; Belarusian Party of Communists or PKB [Sergey KALYAKIN]; Belarusian Party of Labor (unregistered) [Aleksandr BUKHVOSTOV, Leonid LEMESHONAK]; Belarusian Popular Front or BPF [Vintsyuk VYACHORKA]; Belarusian Social-Democratic Gramada [Stanislav SHUSHKEVICH]; Belarusian Social Democratic Party Hramada (People's Assembly) or BSDPH [Aleksandr KOZULIN; Anatoliy LEVKOVICH, acting]; Green Party [Oleg GROMYKO]; Party of Freedom and Progress (unregistered) [Vladimir NOVOSYAD]; United Civic Party or UCP [Anatoliy LEBEDKO]; Women's Party "Nadezhda" [Valentina MATUSEVICH, chairperson] other opposition includes: Christian Conservative BPF [Zyanon PAZNIAK]; Ecological Party of Greens [Mikhail KARTASH]; Party of Popular Accord [Sergey YERMAKK]; Republican Party [Vladimir BELAZOR] |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | Chinese General Chamber of Commerce (pro-China); Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong; Confederation of Trade Unions or CTU (pro-democracy) [LAU Chin-shek, president; LEE Cheuk-yan, general secretary]; Federation of Hong Kong Industries; Federation of Trade Unions or FTU (pro-China) [CHENG Yiu-tong, executive councilor]; Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement in China [Szeto WAH, chairman]; Hong Kong and Kowloon Trade Union Council (pro-Taiwan); Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce; Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union [CHEUNG Man-kwong, president]; Neighborhood and Workers' Service Center or NWSC (pro-democracy); The Alliance [Bernard CHAN, exco member] | Assembly of Pro-Democratic NGOs [Sergey MATSKEVICH]; Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions [Aleksandr YAROSHUK]; Belarusian Helsinki Committee [Tatiana PROTKO]; Belarusian Organization of Working Women [Irina ZHIKHAR]; Charter 97 [Andrey SANNIKOV]; For Freedom (unregistered) [Aleksandr MILINKEVICH]; Lenin Communist Union of Youth (youth wing of the Belarusian Party of Communists or PKB); National Strike Committee of Entrepreneurs [Aleksandr VASILYEV, Valery LEVONEVSKY]; Partnership NGO [Nikolay ASTREYKA]; Perspektiva kiosk watchdog NGO [Anatol SHUMCHENKO]; Vyasna [Ales BYALATSKY]; Women's Independent Democratic Movement [Ludmila PETINA]; Youth Front (Malady Front) [Dmitriy DASHKEVICH, Sergey BAKHUN]; Zubr youth group [Vladimir KOBETS] |
| Population | 6,980,412 (July 2007 est.) | 9,724,723 (July 2007 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | NA% | 27.1% (2003 est.) |
| Population growth rate | 0.561% (2007 est.) | -0.41% (2007 est.) |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 5, FM 9, shortwave 0 (2004) | AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998) |
| Railways | - | total: 5,512 km
broad gauge: 5,497 km 1.520-m gauge (874 km electrified) standard gauge: 15 km 1.435 m (2006) |
| Religions | eclectic mixture of local religions 90%, Christian 10% | Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.) |
| Sex ratio | at birth: 1.08 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.096 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.948 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.87 male(s)/female total population: 0.956 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.945 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.481 male(s)/female total population: 0.873 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
| Suffrage | direct election 18 years of age; universal for permanent residents living in the territory of Hong Kong for the past seven years; indirect election limited to about 200,000 members of functional constituencies and an 800-member election committee drawn from broad regional groupings, municipal organizations, and central government bodies | 18 years of age; universal |
| Telephone system | general assessment: modern facilities provide excellent domestic and international services
domestic: microwave radio relay links and extensive fiber-optic network international: country code - 852; multiple international submarine cables provide connections to Asia, US, Australia, the Middle East, and Western Europe; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Pacific Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean); coaxial cable to Guangzhou, China |
general assessment: Belarus lags behind its neighbors in upgrading telecommunications infrastructure; state-owned Beltelcom is the sole provider of fixed-line local and long distance service; fixed-line teledensity of 33 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular telephone density of 58 per 100 persons; modernization of the network progressing with roughly two-thirds of switching equipment now digital
domestic: fixed-line penetration is improving although rural areas continue to be underserved; 4 GSM wireless networks are experiencing rapid growth; strict government controls on telecommunications technologies international: country code - 375; 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); 3 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 (2007) |
| Telephones - main lines in use | 3.85 million (2006) | 3.368 million (2006) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 9.356 million (2006) | 5.96 million (2006) |
| Television broadcast stations | 55 (2 TV networks, each broadcasting on 2 channels) (2006) | 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995) |
| Terrain | hilly to mountainous with steep slopes; lowlands in north | generally flat and contains much marshland |
| Total fertility rate | 0.98 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 1.22 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | 4.9% (2006 est.) | 1.6% officially registered unemployed; large number of underemployed workers (2005) |
| Waterways | - | 2,500 km (use limited by location on perimeter of country and by shallowness) (2003) |
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