Kenya (2001) | Belarus (2001) | |
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Administrative divisions | 7 provinces and 1 area*; Central, Coast, Eastern, Nairobi Area*, North Eastern, Nyanza, Rift Valley, 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:
41.95% (male 6,524,776; female 6,381,192) 15-64 years: 55.26% (male 8,529,842; female 8,471,609) 65 years and over: 2.79% (male 376,151; female 482,346) (2001 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 | coffee, tea, corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruit, vegetables; dairy products, beef, pork, poultry, eggs | grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk |
Airports | 230 (2000 est.) | 136 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
22 over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 13 under 914 m: 1 (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 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
208 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 14 914 to 1,523 m: 109 under 914 m: 84 (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 (2000 est.) |
Area | total:
582,650 sq km land: 569,250 sq km water: 13,400 sq km |
total:
207,600 sq km land: 207,600 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly more than twice the size of Nevada | slightly smaller than Kansas |
Background | Revered president and liberation struggle icon Jomo KENYATTA led Kenya from independence until his death in 1978, when current President Daniel Toroitich arap MOI took power in a constitutional succession. The country was a de facto one-party state from 1969 until 1982 when the ruling Kenya African National Union (KANU) made itself the sole legal party in Kenya. MOI acceded to internal and external pressure for political liberalization in late 1991. The ethnically fractured opposition failed to dislodge KANU from power in elections in 1992 and 1997, which were marred by violence and fraud, but are viewed as having generally reflected the will of the Kenyan people. The country faces a period of political uncertainty because MOI is constitutionally required to step down at the next elections that have to be held by early 2003. | 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 | 28.5 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 9.57 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$2.91 billion expenditures: $2.97 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
revenues:
$4 billion expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.) |
Capital | Nairobi | Minsk |
Climate | varies from tropical along coast to arid in interior | cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime |
Coastline | 536 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | 12 December 1963, amended as a republic 1964; reissued with amendments 1979, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1992, and 1997 | 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 Kenya conventional short form: Kenya former: British East Africa |
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 | Kenyan shilling (KES) | Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR) |
Death rate | 14.35 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 13.97 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $6.2 billion (2000) | $1 billion (2000 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Johnnie CARSON embassy: US Embassy, Mombasa Road, Nairobi mailing address: P. O. Box 30137, Box 21A, Unit 64100, APO AE 09831 telephone: [254] (2) 537-800 FAX: [254] (2) 537-810 |
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 Yusuf Abdulraham NZIBO chancery: 2249 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 387-6101 FAX: [1] (202) 462-3829 consulate(s) general: offices in Los Angeles and New York are closed; mission to the UN remains open |
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 | administrative boundary with Sudan does not coincide with international boundary | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $457 million (1997) | $194.3 million (1995) |
Economy - overview | Kenya is well placed to serve as an engine of growth in East Africa, but its economy has been stagnating because of poor management and uneven commitment to reform. In 1993, the government of Kenya implemented a program of economic liberalization and reform that included the removal of import licensing, price controls, and foreign exchange controls. With the support of the World Bank, IMF, and other donors, the reforms led to a brief turnaround in economic performance following a period of negative growth in the early 1990s. Kenya's real GDP grew 5% in 1995 and 4% in 1996, and inflation remained under control. Growth slowed after 1997, averaging only 1.5% in 1997-2000. In 1997, political violence damaged the tourist industry, and Kenya's Enhanced Structural Adjustment Program lapsed due to the government's failure to maintain reform or address public sector corruption. Severe drought in 1999 and 2000 caused water and energy rationing and reduced agricultural sector productivity. A new economic team was put in place in 1999 to revitalize the reform effort, strengthen the civil service, and curb corruption. The IMF and World Bank renewed their support to Kenya in mid-2000, but a number of setbacks to the economic reform program in late 2000 have renewed donor and private sector concern about the government's commitment to sound governance. Long-term barriers to development include electricity shortages, inefficient government dominance of key sectors, endemic corruption, and high population growth. | 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 | 4.075 billion kWh (1999) | 27.647 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 2.62 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 146 million kWh (1999) | 7.1 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 4.225 billion kWh (1999) | 24.911 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
31% hydro: 67% nuclear: 0% other: 2% (1999 est.) |
fossil fuel:
99.9% hydro: 0.1% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: Mount Kenya 5,199 m |
lowest point:
Nyoman River 90 m highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m |
Environment - current issues | water pollution from urban and industrial wastes; degradation of water quality from increased use of pesticides and fertilizers; water hyacinth infestation in Lake Victoria; deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; poaching | 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, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, 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, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
Ethnic groups | Kikuyu 22%, Luhya 14%, Luo 13%, Kalenjin 12%, Kamba 11%, Kisii 6%, Meru 6%, other African 15%, non-African (Asian, European, and Arab) 1% | Byelorussian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4% |
Exchange rates | Kenyan shillings per US dollar - 78.733 (December 2000), 76.176 (2000), 70.326 (1999), 60.367 (1998), 58.732 (1997), 57.115 (1996) | 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 Daniel Toroitich arap MOI (since 14 October 1978); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Daniel Toroitich arap MOI (since 14 October 1978); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president elections: president elected by popular vote from among the members of the National Assembly for a five-year term; in addition to receiving the largest number of votes in absolute terms, the presidential candidate must also win 25% or more of the vote in at least five of Kenya's seven provinces and one area to avoid a runoff; election last held 29 December 1997 (next to be held by early 2003); vice president appointed by the president election results: President Daniel Toroitich arap MOI reelected; percent of vote - Daniel T. arap MOI (KANU) 40.6%, Mwai KIBAKI (DP) 31.5%, Raila ODINGA (NDP) 11.1%, Michael WAMALWA (FORD-K) 8.4%, Charity NGILU (SDP) 7.8% |
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 | $1.7 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | $7.4 billion (f.o.b., 2000) |
Exports - commodities | tea, coffee, horticultural products, petroleum products, fish, cement | machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, textiles, foodstuffs |
Exports - partners | Uganda 18%, UK 15%, Tanzania 12%, Pakistan 8% (1999) | Russia 66%, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Lithuania (1998) |
Fiscal year | 1 July - 30 June | calendar year |
Flag description | three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and green; the red band is edged in white; a large warrior's shield covering crossed spears is superimposed at 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 the Belarusian national ornament in red |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $45.6 billion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $78.8 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
25% industry: 13% services: 62% (1999 est.) |
agriculture:
13% industry: 46% services: 41% (1999 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,500 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $7,500 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 0.4% (2000 est.) | 4% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 1 00 N, 38 00 E | 53 00 N, 28 00 E |
Geography - note | the Kenyan Highlands comprise one of the most successful agricultural production regions in Africa; glaciers on Mt. Kenya; unique physiography supports abundant and varied wildlife of scientific and economic value | landlocked |
Highways | total:
63,800 km paved: 8,868 km unpaved: 54,932 km (1996) |
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%:
1.8% highest 10%: 34.9% (1994) |
lowest 10%:
4.9% highest 10%: 19.4% (1993) |
Illicit drugs | widespread harvesting of small plots of marijuana; transit country for South Asian heroin destined for Europe and North America; Indian methaqualone also transits on way to South Africa | 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 | $3 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | $8.3 billion (f.o.b., 2000) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and transportation equipment, petroleum products, iron and steel | mineral products, machinery and equipment, metals, chemicals, foodstuffs |
Imports - partners | UK 12%, UAE 8%, Japan 8%, US 7% (1999) | Russia 54%, Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Lithuania (1998) |
Independence | 12 December 1963 (from UK) | 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) |
Industrial production growth rate | 0.5% (2000 est.) | 5% (2000 est.) |
Industries | small-scale consumer goods (plastic, furniture, batteries, textiles, soap, cigarettes, flour), agricultural products processing; oil refining, cement; tourism | metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earth movers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators |
Infant mortality rate | 67.99 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | 14.38 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 7% (2000 est.) | 200% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, EADB, ECA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM, OAU, OPCW, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNTAET, UNU, UPU, 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) | 5 (2000) | 4 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 660 sq km (1993 est.) | 1,000 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | Court of Appeal (chief justice is appointed by the president); High 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 | 9.2 million (1998 est.) | 4.8 million (2000) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 75%-80% | industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA% |
Land boundaries | total:
3,446 km border countries: Ethiopia 830 km, Somalia 682 km, Sudan 232 km, Tanzania 769 km, Uganda 933 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:
7% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 37% forests and woodland: 30% other: 25% (1993 est.) |
arable land:
29% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 15% forests and woodland: 34% other: 21% (1993 est.) |
Languages | English (official), Kiswahili (official), numerous indigenous languages | Byelorussian, Russian, other |
Legal system | based on English common law, tribal law, and Islamic law; judicial review in High Court; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations; constitutional amendment of 1982 making Kenya a de jure one-party state repealed in 1991 | based on civil law system |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Assembly or Bunge (222 seats; 210 members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms, 12 so-called "nominated" members who are appointed by the president, but selected by the parties in proportion to their parliamentary vote totals)
elections: last held 29 December 1997 (next to be held by early 2003) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - KANU 107, FORD-A 1, FORD-K 17, FORD-People 3, DP 39, NDP 21, SDP 15, SAFINA 5, smaller parties 2; seats appointed by the president - KANU 6, FORD-K 1, DP 2, SDP 1, NDP 1, SAFINA 1 |
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:
47.49 years male: 46.57 years female: 48.44 years (2001 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: 78.1% male: 86.3% female: 70% (1995 est.) |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98% male: 99% female: 97% (1989 est.) |
Location | Eastern Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean, between Somalia and Tanzania | Eastern Europe, east of Poland |
Map references | Africa | Commonwealth of Independent States |
Maritime claims | continental shelf:
200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | total:
2 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,893 GRT/6,255 DWT ships by type: petroleum tanker 1, roll on/roll off 1 (2000 est.) |
- |
Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force, paramilitary General Service Unit of the Police | Army, Air Force, Air Defense Force, Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $197 million (FY98/99) | $156 million (FY98) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.9% (FY98/99) | 1.2% (FY98) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
7,712,402 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49:
2,729,956 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
4,774,889 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49:
2,138,743 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 18 years of age |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males:
86,396 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 12 December (1963) | 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:
Kenyan(s) adjective: Kenyan |
noun:
Belarusian(s) adjective: Belarusian |
Natural hazards | recurring drought in northern and eastern regions; flooding during rainy seasons | NA |
Natural resources | gold, limestone, soda ash, salt barites, rubies, fluorspar, garnets, wildlife, hydropower | forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas |
Net migration rate | -1.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
note: according to UNHCR, by the end of 1999 Kenya was host to 223,700 refugees from neighboring countries, including: Somalia 141,000 and Sudan 64,250 |
2.89 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | petroleum products 483 km | crude oil 1,470 km; refined products 1,100 km; natural gas 1,980 km (1992) |
Political parties and leaders | Democratic Party of Kenya or DP [Mwai KIBAKI]; Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-Asili or FORD-A [Martin SHIKUKU, secretary general]; Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-Kenya or FORD-K [Michael Kijana WAMALWA]; Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-People or FORD-People [Kimaniwa NYOIKE, chairman]; Kenya African National Union or KANU [President Daniel Toroitich arap MOI] - the governing party; National Development Party or NDP [Raila ODINGA, president]; SAFINA [Farah MAALIM, chairman]; Social Democratic Party or SDP [Dr. Apollo NJONJO, secretary general and Justus NYANG'AYA, chairman] | 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 | human rights groups; labor unions; Muslim organizations; National Convention Executive Council or NCEC, a proreform coalition of political parties and nongovernment organizations [Kivutha KIBWANA]; Protestant National Council of Churches of Kenya or NCCK [Mutava MUSYIMI]; Roman Catholic and other Christian churches; Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims or SUPKEM [Shaykh Abdul Gafur al-BUSAIDY, chairman] | NA |
Population | 30,765,916
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 2001 est.) |
10,350,194 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 42% (1992 est.) | 22% (1995 est.) |
Population growth rate | 1.27% (2001 est.) | -0.15% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Kisumu, Lamu, Mombasa | Mazyr |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 24, FM 8, shortwave 6 (1999) | AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998) |
Radios | 3.07 million (1997) | 3.02 million (1997) |
Railways | total:
2,778 km narrow gauge: 2,778 km 1.000-m gauge note: the line connecting Nairobi with the port of Mombasa is the most important in the country |
total:
5,523 km broad gauge: 5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2000) |
Religions | Protestant 38%, Roman Catholic 28%, indigenous beliefs 26%, Muslim 7%, other 1%
note: a large majority of Kenyans are Christian, but estimates for the percentage of the population that adheres to Islam or indigenous beliefs vary widely |
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: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2001 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:
unreliable; little attempt to modernize except for service to business domestic: trunks are primarily microwave radio relay; business data commonly transferred by a very small aperture terminal (VSAT) system international: satellite earth stations - 4 Intelsat |
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 | 290,000 (1998) | 2.313 million (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 5,345 (1997) | 8,167 (1997) |
Television broadcast stations | 8 (1997) | 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995) |
Terrain | low plains rise to central highlands bisected by Great Rift Valley; fertile plateau in west | generally flat and contains much marshland |
Total fertility rate | 3.5 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 1.28 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 50% (1998 est.) | 2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers |
Waterways | NA
note: part of the Lake Victoria system is within the boundaries of Kenya |
NA km; note - Belarus has extensive and widely used canal and river systems |