Compare Jordan (2005) - Belarus (2007)

Compare Jordan (2005) z Belarus (2007)

	Jordan (2005)	Belarus (2007)

Administrative divisions	12 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Ajlun, Al 'Aqabah, Al Balqa', Al Karak, Al Mafraq, 'Amman, At Tafilah, Az Zarqa', Irbid, Jarash, Ma'an, Madaba	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: 34.5% (male 1,015,084/female 973,220) 15-64 years: 61.7% (male 1,897,643/female 1,656,570) 65 years and over: 3.8% (male 106,168/female 111,047) (2005 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	wheat, barley, citrus, tomatoes, melons, olives; sheep, goats, poultry	grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk
Airports	17 (2004 est.)	67 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 15 over 3,047 m: 7 2,438 to 3,047 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.)	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: 2 under 914 m: 2 (2004 est.)	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: 92,300 sq km land: 91,971 sq km water: 329 sq km	total: 207,600 sq km land: 207,600 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative	slightly smaller than Indiana	slightly smaller than Kansas
Background	For most of its history since independence from British administration in 1946, Jordan was ruled by King HUSSEIN (1953-99). A pragmatic ruler, he successfully navigated competing pressures from the major powers (US, USSR, and UK), various Arab states, Israel, and a large internal Palestinian population, despite several wars and coup attempts. In 1989 he reinstituted parliamentary elections and gradual political liberalization; in 1994 he signed a formal peace treaty with Israel. King ABDALLAH II - the eldest son of King HUSSEIN and Princess MUNA - assumed the throne following his father's death in February 1999. Since then, he has consolidated his power and undertaken an aggressive economic reform program. Jordan acceded to the World Trade Organization in 2000, and began to participate in the European Free Trade Association in 2001. After a two-year delay, parliamentary and municipal elections took place in the summer of 2003. The Prime Minister and government appointed in April 2005 declared they would build upon the previous government's achievements to respect political and human rights and improve living standards.	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	21.76 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)	9.5 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Budget	revenues: $3.483 billion expenditures: $3.616 billion, including capital expenditures of $782 million (2004 est.)	revenues: $13.24 billion expenditures: $13.76 billion (2006 est.)
Capital	'Amman	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	mostly arid desert; rainy season in west (November to April)	cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime
Coastline	26 km	0 km (landlocked)
Constitution	1 January 1952; amended 1974, 1976, 1984	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: Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan conventional short form: Jordan local long form: Al Mamlakah al Urduniyah al Hashimiyah local short form: Al Urdun former: Transjordan	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	2.63 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)	13.98 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Debt - external	$7.32 billion (2004 est.)	$5.929 billion (2006 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US	chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires David M. HALE embassy: Abdoun, Amman mailing address: P. O. Box 354, Amman 11118 Jordan; Unit 70200, Box 5, APO AE 09892-0200 telephone: [962] (6) 592-0101 FAX: [962] (6) 592-4102	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	chief of mission: Ambassador Karim Tawfiq KAWAR chancery: 3504 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 966-2664 FAX: [1] (202) 966-3110	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	2004 Agreement settles border dispute with Syria pending demarcation	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	ODA, $500 million (2004 est.)	$53.76 million (2005)
Economy - overview	Jordan is a small Arab country with inadequate supplies of water and other natural resources such as oil. Debt, poverty, and unemployment are fundamental problems, but King ABDALLAH, since assuming the throne in 1999, has undertaken some broad economic reforms in a long-term effort to improve living standards. Amman in the past three years has worked closely with the IMF, practiced careful monetary policy, and made substantial headway with privatization. The government also has liberalized the trade regime sufficiently to secure Jordan's membership in the WTO (2000), a free trade accord with the US (2001), and an association agreement with the EU (2001). These measures have helped improve productivity and have put Jordan on the foreign investment map. Jordan imported most of its oil from Iraq, but the US-led war in Iraq in 2003 made Jordan more dependent on oil from other Gulf nations forcing the Jordanian government to raise retail petroleum product prices and the sales tax base. Jordan's export market, which is heavily dependent on exports to Iraq, was also affected by the war but recovered quickly while contributing to the Iraq recovery effort. The main challenges facing Jordan are reducing dependence on foreign grants, reducing the budget deficit, and creating investment incentives to promote job creation.	Belarus's economy in 2006 posted more than 8% growth. Trade with Russia - by far its largest single trade partner - decreased in 2006, largely as a result of a change in the way the Value Added Tax (VAT) on trade was collected. Trade with European countries increased. 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, which remains low. Growth has been strong in recent years, despite the roadblocks in 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. This growth will be threatened in 2007, however, when Russia raises energy prices closer to world market prices for Belarus. Russia is planning to increase Belarusian gas prices from $47 per thousand cubic meters (tcm) to $100 per tcm for 2007, gradually increasing to world prices by 2011. Russia has also 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 - 70% will go to Russia in 2007, 80% in 2008, and 85% in 2009.
Electricity - consumption	7.094 billion kWh (2002)	29.49 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports	2 million kWh (2002)	5.053 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports	300 million kWh (2002)	9.091 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - production	7.307 billion kWh (2002)	29.08 billion kWh (2005)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m highest point: Jabal Ram 1,734 m	lowest point: Nyoman River 90 m highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m
Environment - current issues	limited natural fresh water resources; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification	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, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements	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	Arab 98%, Circassian 1%, Armenian 1%	Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish 3.9%, Ukrainian 2.4%, other 1.1% (1999 census)
Exchange rates	Jordanian dinars per US dollar - 0.709 (2004), 0.709 (2003), 0.709 (2002), 0.709 (2001), 0.709 (2000)	Belarusian rubles per US dollar - 2,144.6 (2006), 2,150 (2005), 2,160.26 (2004), 2,051.27 (2003), 1,790.92 (2002)
Executive branch	chief of state: King ABDALLAH II (since 7 February 1999); Prince HUSSEIN (born 1994), son of King ABDALLAH, is first in line to inherit the throne head of government: Prime Minister Adnan BADRAN (since 7 April 2005); Deputy Prime Ministers Marwan al-MUASHER and Hisham al-TEL (since 3 July 2005) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister in consultation with the monarch elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; prime minister appointed by the monarch	chief of state: President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994) head of government: Prime Minister Sergei SIDORSKIY (since 19 December 2003); First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir SEMASHKO (since NA 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	0 bbl/day (2004 est.)	249,900 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities	clothing, phosphates, fertilizers, potash, vegetables, manufactures, pharmaceuticals	machinery and equipment, mineral products, chemicals, metals, textiles, foodstuffs
Exports - partners	US 28.9%, Iraq 17.6%, India 7.1%, Saudi Arabia 5.6% (2004)	Russia 34.7%, Netherlands 17.7%, UK 7.5%, Ukraine 6.3%, Poland 5.2% (2006)
Fiscal year	calendar year	calendar year
Flag description	three equal horizontal bands of black (top), representing the Abbassid Caliphate, white, representing the Ummayyad Caliphate, and green, representing the Fatimid Caliphate; a red isosceles triangle on the hoist side, representing the Great Arab Revolt of 1916, and bearing a small white seven-pointed star symbolizing the seven verses of the opening Sura (Al-Fatiha) of the Holy Koran; the seven points on the star represent faith in One God, humanity, national spirit, humility, social justice, virtue, and aspirations; design is based on the Arab Revolt flag of World War I	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: 2.4% industry: 26% services: 71.5% (2004 est.)	agriculture: 9.2% industry: 41.7% services: 49.1% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita	purchasing power parity - $4,500 (2004 est.)	-
GDP - real growth rate	5.1% (2004 est.)	9.9% (2006 est.)
Geographic coordinates	31 00 N, 36 00 E	53 00 N, 28 00 E
Geography - note	strategic location at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba and as the Arab country that shares the longest border with Israel and the occupied West Bank	landlocked; glacial scouring accounts for the flatness of Belarusian terrain and for its 11,000 lakes
Heliports	1 (2004 est.)	1 (2007)
Highways	total: 7,301 km paved: 7,301 km unpaved: 0 km (2002)	-
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: 3.3% highest 10%: 29.8% (1997)	lowest 10%: 3.4% highest 10%: 23.5% (2002)
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; 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	100,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)	378,200 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities	crude oil, textile fabrics, machinery, transport equipment, manufactured goods	mineral products, machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, metals
Imports - partners	Saudi Arabia 19.8%, China 8.4%, Germany 6.8%, US 6.8% (2004)	Russia 58.6%, Germany 7.5%, Ukraine 5.5% (2006)
Independence	25 May 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration)	25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)
Industrial production growth rate	5% (2004 est.)	15.6% (2005 est.)
Industries	phosphate mining, pharmaceuticals, petroleum refining, cement, potash, inorganic chemicals, light manufacturing, tourism	metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, televisions, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators
Infant mortality rate	total: 17.35 deaths/1,000 live births male: 20.75 deaths/1,000 live births female: 13.75 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 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)	3.2% (2004 est.)	7% (2006 est.)
International organization participation	ABEDA, AFESD, AMF, CAEU, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAS, MIGA, MINUSTAH, MONUC, NAM, OIC, ONUB, OPCW, OSCE (partner), PCA, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIK, UNMIL, UNMISET, UNOCI, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO	BSEC (observer), CEI, CIS, EAEC, EAPC, EBRD, GCTU, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, 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	750 sq km (1998 est.)	1,310 sq km (2003)
Judicial branch	Court of Cassation; Supreme Court (court of final appeal)	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	1.41 million (2004 est.)	4.3 million (31 December 2005)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture 5%, industry 12.5%, services 82.5% (2001 est.)	agriculture: 14% industry: 34.7% services: 51.3% (2003 est.)
Land boundaries	total: 1,635 km border countries: Iraq 181 km, Israel 238 km, Saudi Arabia 744 km, Syria 375 km, West Bank 97 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: 2.67% permanent crops: 1.83% other: 95.5% (2001)	arable land: 26.77% permanent crops: 0.6% other: 72.63% (2005)
Languages	Arabic (official), English widely understood among upper and middle classes	Belarusian, Russian, other
Legal system	based on Islamic law and French codes; judicial review of legislative acts in a specially provided High Tribunal; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction	based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch	bicameral National Assembly or Majlis al-'Umma consists of the Senate, also called the House of Notables (Majlis al-Ayan) (55 seats; members appointed by the monarch from designated categories of public figures; members serve four-year terms) and the House of Representatives, also called the House of Deputies (Majlis al-Nuwaab) (110 seats; members elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms; note - six seats are reserved for women and are allocated by a special electoral panel if no women are elected) elections: House of Representatives - last held 17 June 2003 (next to be held NA 2007) election results: House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - independents and others 89.6%, Islamic Action Front (IAF) 10.4%; seats by party - independents and others 92, Islamic Action Front 18; note - one of the six quota seats was given to a female IAF candidate note: the House of Representatives has been convened and dissolved by the monarch several times since 1974; in November 1989, the first parliamentary elections in 22 years were held; political parties were not legalized until 1992; King ABDALLAH delayed the 2001 elections until 2003	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: 78.24 years male: 75.75 years female: 80.88 years (2005 est.)	total population: 70.05 years male: 64.31 years female: 76.14 years (2007 est.)
Literacy	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 91.3% male: 95.9% female: 86.3% (2003 est.)	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99.6% male: 99.8% female: 99.4% (1999 census)
Location	Middle East, northwest of Saudi Arabia	Eastern Europe, east of Poland
Map references	Middle East	Europe
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 3 nm	none (landlocked)
Merchant marine	total: 20 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 78,814 GRT/92,695 DWT by type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 7, container 2, passenger/cargo 5, roll on/roll off 4 foreign-owned: 12 (Greece 3, UAE 9) registered in other countries: 14 (2005)	-
Military branches	Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF): Royal Jordanian Land Force, Royal Jordanian Navy, Royal Jordanian Air Force, and Special Operations Command (SOCOM); note - Public Security Directorate normally falls under Ministry of Interior but comes under JAF in wartime or crisis situations	Belarus Armed Forces: Land Force, Air and Air Defense Force (2006)
Military expenditures - dollar figure	$1.46 billion (2004)	-
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	14.6% (2004)	1.4% (2005 est.)
National holiday	Independence Day, 25 May (1946)	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: Jordanian(s) adjective: Jordanian	noun: Belarusian(s) adjective: Belarusian
Natural hazards	droughts; periodic earthquakes	NA
Natural resources	phosphates, potash, shale oil	forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay
Net migration rate	6.42 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)	0.38 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Pipelines	gas 10 km; oil 743 km (2004)	gas 5,223 km; oil 2,321 km; refined products 1,686 km (2006)
Political parties and leaders	Al-Ajyal [Muhammad KHALAYLEH, secretary general]; Al-Umma (Nation) Party [Ahmad al-HANANDEH, secretary general]; Arab Land Party [Dr. Ayishah Salih HIJAZAYN, secretary general]; Ba'th Arab Progressive Party [Fu'ad DABBUR, secretary general]; Communist Party [Munir HAMARINAH, secretary general]; Constitutional National Party [Ahmad al-SHUNNAQ, secretary general; Democratic Arab Islamic Movement [Yusuf ABU BAKR, president]; Green Party [Muhammad BATAYNEH, secretary general]; Islamic Action Front [Hazma MANSOUR, secretary general]; Islamic al-Walsat Party [Marwan al-FAURI], secretary general; Jordanian Democratic Left Party [Musa MA'AYTEH, secretary general]; Jordanian Democratic Popular Unity Party [Sa'id Dhiyab Ali MUSTAFA, secretary general]; Jordanian People's Democratic (Hashd) Party [Ahmad YUSUF, secretary general]; Jordanian Progressive Party [Fawwaz al-ZUBI, secretary general]; Labor Party [Dr. Mazin Sulayman Jiryis HANNA, secretary general]; Muslim Centrist Party [leader NA]; National Action (Haqq) Party [Tariq al-KAYYALI, secretary general]; National Constitutional Party [Abdul Hadi MAJALI, secretary general]; National Movement for Direct Democracy [Mahmud al-NUWAYHI, secretary general]; Pan-Arab (Democratic) Movement [Mahmud al-NUWAYHI, secretary general]; (Arab) Socialist Ba'th Party [Taysir al-HIMSI, secretary general]	pro-government parties: Agrarian Party or AP [Mikhail SHIMANSKY]; Belarusian Communist Party or KPB; Belarusian Patriotic Movement (Belarusian Patriotic Party) or BPR [Nikolai ULAKHOVICH, chairman]; Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus [Sergei GAYDUKEVICH]; Party of Labor and Justice [Viktor SOKOLOV]; Social-Sports Party [Vladimir ALEXANDROVICH] opposition parties: 10 Plus Coalition [Aleksandr MILINKEVICH], includes: Belarusian Party of Communists or PKB [Syarhey KALYAKIN]; Belarusian Party of Labor (unregistered) [Aleksandr BUKHVOSTOV, Leonid LEMESHONAK]; Belarusian Popular Front or BPF [Vintsyuk VYACHORKA]; Belarusian Social-Democratic Gramada [Stanislav SHUSHKEVICH]; Green Party [Oleg GROMYKO]; Party of Freedom and Progress (unregistered) [Vladimir NOVOSYAD]; United Civic Party or UCP [Anatol LYABEDKA]; Women's Party "Nadezhda" [Valentina MATUSEVICH, chairperson] other opposition includes: Belarusian Social-Democratic Party (People's Assembly) or BSDP NH [Aleksandr KOZULIN]; Christian Conservative BPF [Zyanon PAZNIAK]; Ecological Party of Greens [Mikhail KARTASH]; Party of Popular Accord [Sergei YERMAKK]; Republican Party [Vladimir BELAZOR]
Political pressure groups and leaders	Anti-Normalization Committee [Ali Abu SUKKAR, president vice chairman]; Jordanian Bar Association [Saleh ARMOUTI, president]; Jordanian Press Association [Sayf al-SHARIF, president]; Muslim Brotherhood [Abd-al-Majid DHUNAYBAT, secretary general]	Assembly of Pro-Democratic NGOs [Sergey MATSKEVICH]; Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions [Alyaksandr YAROSHUK]; Belarusian Helsinki Committee [Tatiana PROTKO]; Belarusian Organization of Working Women [Irina ZHIKHAR]; Charter 97 [Andrey SANNIKOV]; 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) [Dzmitryy DASHKEVICH, Syarhey BAKHUN]; Zubr youth group [Vladimir KOBETS]
Population	5,759,732 (July 2005 est.)	9,724,723 (July 2007 est.)
Population below poverty line	30% (2001 est.)	27.1% (2003 est.)
Population growth rate	2.56% (2005 est.)	-0.41% (2007 est.)
Ports and harbors	Al 'Aqabah	-
Radio broadcast stations	AM 6, FM 5, shortwave 1 (1999)	AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998)
Railways	total: 505 km narrow gauge: 505 km 1.050-m gauge (2004)	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	Sunni Muslim 92%, Christian 6% (majority Greek Orthodox, but some Greek and Roman Catholics, Syrian Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, and Protestant denominations), other 2% (several small Shi'a Muslim and Druze populations) (2001 est.)	Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.)
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.15 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.96 male(s)/female total population: 1.1 male(s)/female (2005 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	18 years of age; universal	18 years of age; universal
Telephone system	general assessment: service has improved recently with increased use of digital switching equipment, but better access to the telephone system is needed in the rural areas and easier access to pay telephones is needed by the urban public domestic: microwave radio relay transmission and coaxial and fiber-optic cable are employed on trunk lines; considerable use of mobile cellular systems; Internet service is available international: country code - 962; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat, 1 Arabsat, and 29 land and maritime Inmarsat terminals; fiber-optic cable to Saudi Arabia and microwave radio relay link with Egypt and Syria; connection to international submarine cable FLAG (Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe); participant in MEDARABTEL; international links total about 4,000	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	622,600 (2003)	3.368 million (2006)
Telephones - mobile cellular	1,325,300 (2003)	5.96 million (2006)
Television broadcast stations	20 (plus 96 repeaters) (1995)	47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995)
Terrain	mostly desert plateau in east, highland area in west; Great Rift Valley separates East and West Banks of the Jordan River	generally flat and contains much marshland
Total fertility rate	2.71 children born/woman (2005 est.)	1.22 children born/woman (2007 est.)
Unemployment rate	15% official rate; unofficial rate is approximately 30% (2004 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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