##ciekawa_strona##
Compare Reunion (2004) - Belarus (2001)
Compare Reunion (2004) z Belarus (2001)
| Reunion (2004) | Belarus (2001) | |
 |  | |
| Administrative divisions | none (overseas department of France); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 4 arrondissements, 24 communes, and 47 cantons | 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: 30.9% (male 121,050; female 115,440)
15-64 years: 63.1% (male 238,553; female 245,236) 65 years and over: 6% (male 18,626; female 27,248) (2004 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 | sugarcane, vanilla, tobacco, tropical fruits, vegetables, corn | grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk |
| Airports | 2 (2003 est.) | 136 (2000 est.) |
| Airports - with paved runways | total: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 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:
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: 2,517 sq km
land: 2,507 sq km water: 10 sq km |
total:
207,600 sq km land: 207,600 sq km water: 0 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Rhode Island | slightly smaller than Kansas |
| Background | The Portuguese discovered the uninhabited island in 1513. From the 17th to the 19th centuries, French immigration, supplemented by influxes of Africans, Chinese, Malays, and Malabar Indians, gave the island its ethnic mix. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 cost the island its importance as a stopover on the East Indies trade route. | 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 | 19.69 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 9.57 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| Budget | revenues: $1.26 billion
expenditures: $2.62 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (1998) |
revenues:
$4 billion expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.) |
| Capital | Saint-Denis | Minsk |
| Climate | tropical, but temperature moderates with elevation; cool and dry from May to November, hot and rainy from November to April | cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime |
| Coastline | 207 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
| Constitution | 28 September 1958 (French Constitution) | 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: Department of Reunion
conventional short form: Reunion local long form: none local short form: Ile de la Reunion former: Bourbon Island |
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 | euro (EUR) | Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR) |
| Death rate | 5.48 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 13.97 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| Debt - external | NA | $1 billion (2000 est.) |
| Dependency status | overseas department of France | - |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | none (overseas department of France) | 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 | none (overseas department of France) | chief of mission:
Ambassador Valeriy TSEPAKLO chancery: 1619 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 986-1604 FAX: [1] (202) 986-1805 consulate(s) general: New York |
| Disputes - international | none | none |
| Economic aid - recipient | $NA; note - substantial annual subsidies from France (2001 est.) | $194.3 million (1995) |
| Economy - overview | The economy has traditionally been based on agriculture, but services now dominate. Sugarcane has been the primary crop for more than a century, and in some years it accounts for 85% of exports. The government has been pushing the development of a tourist industry to relieve high unemployment, which amounts to one-third of the labor force. The gap in Reunion between the well-off and the poor is extraordinary and accounts for the persistent social tensions. The white and Indian communities are substantially better off than other segments of the population, often approaching European standards, whereas minority groups suffer the poverty and unemployment typical of the poorer nations of the African continent. The outbreak of severe rioting in February 1991 illustrates the seriousness of socioeconomic tensions. The economic well-being of Reunion depends heavily on continued financial assistance from France. | 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 | 1.005 billion kWh (2001) | 27.647 billion kWh (1999) |
| Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | 2.62 billion kWh (1999) |
| Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2001) | 7.1 billion kWh (1999) |
| Electricity - production | 1.08 billion kWh (2001) | 24.911 billion kWh (1999) |
| Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
99.9% hydro: 0.1% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Piton des Neiges 3,069 m |
lowest point:
Nyoman River 90 m highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m |
| Environment - current issues | NA | 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:
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 | French, African, Malagasy, Chinese, Pakistani, Indian | Byelorussian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4% |
| Exchange rates | euros per US dollar - 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999) | 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 Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995), represented by Prefect Dominique VIAN (since 16 August 2004)
head of government: President of the General Council Jean-Luc POUDROUX (since NA March 1998) and President of the Regional Council Paul VERGES (since NA March 1993) cabinet: NA elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of the Interior; the presidents of the General and Regional Councils are elected by the members of those councils |
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 | NA (2001) | $7.4 billion (f.o.b., 2000) |
| Exports - commodities | sugar 63%, rum and molasses 4%, perfume essences 2%, lobster 3%, (1993) | machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, textiles, foodstuffs |
| Exports - partners | France 74%, Japan 6%, Comoros 4% (2000) | Russia 66%, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Lithuania (1998) |
| Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
| Flag description | the flag of France is used | 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 - $4.348 billion (2003 est.) | purchasing power parity - $78.8 billion (2000 est.) |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 8%
industry: 19% services: 73% (2000 est.) |
agriculture:
13% industry: 46% services: 41% (1999 est.) |
| GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $5,800 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $7,500 (2000 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate | 2.5% (2003 est.) | 4% (2000 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | 21 06 S, 55 36 E | 53 00 N, 28 00 E |
| Geography - note | this mountainous, volcanic island has an active volcano, Piton de la Fournaise; there is a tropical cyclone center at Saint-Denis, which is the monitoring station for the whole of the Indian Ocean | landlocked |
| Highways | total: 2,724 km
paved: 1,300 km (including 73 km of four-lane road) unpaved: 1,424 km (1994) |
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%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
lowest 10%:
4.9% highest 10%: 19.4% (1993) |
| 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 |
| Imports | NA (2001) | $8.3 billion (f.o.b., 2000) |
| Imports - commodities | manufactured goods, food, beverages, tobacco, machinery and transportation equipment, raw materials, and petroleum products | mineral products, machinery and equipment, metals, chemicals, foodstuffs |
| Imports - partners | France 64%, Bahrain 3%, Germany 3%, Italy 3% (2000) | Russia 54%, Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Lithuania (1998) |
| Independence | none (overseas department of France) | 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) |
| Industrial production growth rate | NA | 5% (2000 est.) |
| Industries | sugar, rum, cigarettes, handicraft items, flower oil extraction | metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earth movers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators |
| Infant mortality rate | total: 7.95 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 8.71 deaths/1,000 live births female: 7.17 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
14.38 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | NA | 200% (2000 est.) |
| International organization participation | InOC, UPU, WFTU | 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) | - | 4 (2000) |
| Irrigated land | 120 sq km (1998 est.) | 1,000 sq km (1993 est.) |
| Judicial branch | Court of Appeals 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 | 309,900 (2000) | 4.8 million (2000) |
| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 13%, industry 12%, services 75% (2000) | industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA% |
| Land boundaries | 0 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: 13.6%
permanent crops: 1.2% other: 85.2% (2001) |
arable land:
29% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 15% forests and woodland: 34% other: 21% (1993 est.) |
| Languages | French (official), Creole widely used | Byelorussian, Russian, other |
| Legal system | French law | based on civil law system |
| Legislative branch | unicameral General Council (49 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve six-year terms) and a unicameral Regional Council (45 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: General Council - last held 15 and 22 March 1998 (next to be held NA 2004); Regional Council - last held 28 March 2004 (next to be held NA 2010) election results: General Council - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - various right-wing candidates 13, PCR 10, PS 10, UDF 8, RPR 6, other left-wing candidates 2; Regional Council (second round) - percent of vote by party - PCR 44.9%, UMP 32.8%, PS-Greens 22.3%; seats by party - PCR 27, UMP 11, PS-Greens 7 note: Reunion elects three representatives to the French Senate; elections last held NA 2001 (next to be held NA 2006); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; Reunion also elects five deputies to the French National Assembly; elections last held 9 June-16 June 2002 (next to be held NA 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - UMP-RPR 1, UMP 1, PCR 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: 73.69 years
male: 70.29 years female: 77.26 years (2004 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: 88.9% male: 87% female: 90.8% (2003 est.) |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98% male: 99% female: 97% (1989 est.) |
| Location | Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar | Eastern Europe, east of Poland |
| Map references | World | Commonwealth of Independent States |
| Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
none (landlocked) |
| Merchant marine | total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 28,264 GRT/44,885 DWT
by type: chemical tanker 1 foreign-owned: Sweden 1 registered in other countries: 1 |
- |
| Military - note | defense is the responsibility of France | - |
| Military branches | no regular indigenous military forces; French forces (including Army, Navy, Air Force, and Gendarmerie) | Army, Air Force, Air Defense Force, Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $156 million (FY98) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 1.2% (FY98) |
| Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 202,385 (2004 est.) | males age 15-49:
2,729,956 (2001 est.) |
| Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 103,073 (2004 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: 7,070 (2004 est.) | males:
86,396 (2001 est.) |
| National holiday | Bastille Day, 14 July (1789) | 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: Reunionese (singular and plural)
adjective: Reunionese |
noun:
Belarusian(s) adjective: Belarusian |
| Natural hazards | periodic, devastating cyclones (December to April); Piton de la Fournaise on the southeastern coast is an active volcano | NA |
| Natural resources | fish, arable land, hydropower | forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas |
| Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 2.89 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| Pipelines | - | crude oil 1,470 km; refined products 1,100 km; natural gas 1,980 km (1992) |
| Political parties and leaders | Communist Party of Reunion or PCR [Paul VERGES]; Rally for the Republic or RPR [Andre Maurice PIHOUEE]; Socialist Party or PS [Jean-Claude FRUTEAU]; Union for French Democracy or UDF [Gilbert GERARD]; Union for a Popular Movement or UMP [leader NA] | Agrarian Party or AP [Semyon SHARETSKY, chairman]; Belarusian Communist Party or KPB [Viktor CHIKIN, chairman]; Belarusian Ecological Green Party (merger of Belarusian Ecological Party and Green Party of Belarus) [leader NA]; Belarusian Patriotic Movement (Belarusian Patriotic Party) or BPR [Anatoliy BARANKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Popular Front or BNF [Vintsuk VYACHORKA]; Belarusian Social-Democrat or SDBP [Nikolay STATKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Social-Democratic Party Hromada [Stanislav SHUSHKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Socialist Party [Vyacheslav KUZNETSOV]; Civic Accord Bloc (United Civic Party) or CAB [Stanislav BOGDANKEVICH, chairman]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDPB [Sergei GAYDUKEVICH, chairman]; Party of Communists Belarusian or PKB [Sergei KALYAKIN, chairman]; Republican Party of Labor and Justice or RPPS [Anatoliy NETYLKIN, chairman]; Social-Democrat Party of Popular Accord or PPA [Leanid SECHKA]; Women's Party Nadezhda [Valentina POLEVIKOVA, chairperson] |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
| Population | 766,153 (July 2004 est.) | 10,350,194 (July 2001 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | NA | 22% (1995 est.) |
| Population growth rate | 1.42% (2004 est.) | -0.15% (2001 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | Le Port, Pointe des Galets | Mazyr |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 55, shortwave 0 (2001) | AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998) |
| Radios | - | 3.02 million (1997) |
| Railways | - | total:
5,523 km broad gauge: 5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2000) |
| Religions | Roman Catholic 86%, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist (1995) | Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.) |
| Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2004 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: adequate system; principal center is Saint-Denis
domestic: modern open-wire and microwave radio relay network international: country code - 262; radiotelephone communication to Comoros, France, Madagascar; new microwave route to Mauritius; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean); fiber optic submarine cable (SAT-3/WASC/SAFE) provides connectivity to Europe and Asia |
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 | 300,000 est (2001) | 2.313 million (1997) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 489,800 (2002) | 8,167 (1997) |
| Television broadcast stations | 35 (plus 18 low-power repeaters) (2001) | 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995) |
| Terrain | mostly rugged and mountainous; fertile lowlands along coast | generally flat and contains much marshland |
| Total fertility rate | 2.5 children born/woman (2004 est.) | 1.28 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | 36% (1999 est.) | 2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers |
| Waterways | - | NA km; note - Belarus has extensive and widely used canal and river systems |
Sitemap:
Compare countries listing (map site) |
Country listing (map site)
Links: Add to favorites | Information about this website | Stats | Polityka prywatnosci
This page was generated in ##czas## s. Size this page: ##rozmiar_strony## kB.
Links: Add to favorites | Information about this website | Stats | Polityka prywatnosci
This page was generated in ##czas## s. Size this page: ##rozmiar_strony## kB.