##ciekawa_strona##
Compare Spain (2001) - Belarus (2002)
Compare Spain (2001) z Belarus (2002)
| Spain (2001) | Belarus (2002) | |
 |  | |
| Administrative divisions | 17 autonomous communities (comunidades autonomas, singular - comunidad autonoma); Andalucia, Aragon, Asturias, Baleares (Balearic Islands), Canarias (Canary Islands), Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y Leon, Cataluna, Communidad Valencian, Extremadura, Galicia, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, Navarra, Pais Vasco (Basque Country)
note: there are five places of sovereignty on and off the coast of Morocco: Ceuta and Melilla are administered as autonomous communities; Islas Chafarinas, Penon de Alhucemas, and Penon de Velez de la Gomera are under direct Spanish administration |
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:
14.62% (male 3,015,851; female 2,835,763) 15-64 years: 68.2% (male 13,701,065; female 13,605,314) 65 years and over: 17.18% (male 2,881,334; female 3,998,668) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 17.3% (male 914,579; female 876,346)
15-64 years: 68.6% (male 3,443,859; female 3,643,628) 65 years and over: 14.1% (male 482,624; female 974,346) (2002 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | grain, vegetables, olives, wine grapes, sugar beets, citrus; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products; fish | grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk |
| Airports | 110 (2000 est.) | 136 (2001) |
| Airports - with paved runways | total:
75 over 3,047 m: 15 2,438 to 3,047 m: 10 1,524 to 2,437 m: 18 914 to 1,523 m: 19 under 914 m: 13 (2000 est.) |
total: 33
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 19 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 11 (2002) |
| Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
35 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 9 under 914 m: 25 (2000 est.) |
total: 103
over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 10 1,524 to 2,437 m: 11 914 to 1,523 m: 14 under 914 m: 65 (2002) |
| Area | total:
504,782 sq km land: 499,542 sq km water: 5,240 sq km note: includes Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, and five places of sovereignty (plazas de soberania) on and off the coast of Morocco - Ceuta, Melilla, Islas Chafarinas, Penon de Alhucemas, and Penon de Velez de la Gomera |
total: 207,600 sq km
land: 207,600 sq km water: 0 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly more than twice the size of Oregon | slightly smaller than Kansas |
| Background | Spain's powerful world empire of the 16th and 17th centuries ultimately yielded command of the seas to England. Subsequent failure to embrace the mercantile and industrial revolutions caused the country to fall behind Britain, France, and Germany in economic and political power. Spain remained neutral in World Wars I and II, but suffered through a devastating Civil War (1936-39). In the second half of the 20th century, it has played a catch-up role in the western international community. Continuing concerns are large-scale unemployment and the Basque separatist movement. | After seven decades as a constituent republic of the USSR, Belarus attained its independence in 1991. It has retained closer political and economic ties to Russia than any of the other former Soviet republics. Belarus and Russia signed a treaty on a two-state union on 8 December 1999 envisioning greater political and economic integration. Although Belarus agreed to a framework to carry out the accord, serious implementation has yet to take place. |
| Birth rate | 9.26 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 9.86 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
| Budget | revenues:
$105 billion expenditures: $109 billion, including capital expenditures of $12.8 billion (2000 est.) |
revenues: $4 billion
expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.) |
| Capital | Madrid | Minsk |
| Climate | temperate; clear, hot summers in interior, more moderate and cloudy along coast; cloudy, cold winters in interior, partly cloudy and cool along coast | cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime |
| Coastline | 4,964 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
| Constitution | 6 December 1978, effective 29 December 1978 | 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:
Kingdom of Spain conventional short form: Spain local short form: Espana |
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 | Spanish peseta (ESP); euro (EUR)
note: on 1 January 1999, the EU introduced the euro as a common currency that is now being used by financial institutions in Spain at a fixed rate of 166.386 Spanish pesetas per euro and will replace the local currency for all transactions in 2002 |
Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR) |
| Death rate | 9.13 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 13.99 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
| Debt - external | $90 billion (1993 est.) | $770 million (2001 est.) |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Edward L. ROMERO embassy: Serrano 75, 28006 Madrid mailing address: APO AE 09642 telephone: [34] (91) 587-2200 FAX: [34] (91) 587-2303 consulate(s) general: Barcelona |
chief of mission: Ambassador Michael G. KOZAK
embassy: 46 Starovilenskaya St., Minsk 220002 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [375] (17) 210-12-83 FAX: [375] (17) 234-7853 |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Francisco Javier RUPEREZ chancery: 2375 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037 telephone: [1] (202) 452-0100, 728-2340 FAX: [1] (202) 833-5670 consulate(s) general: Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico) |
chief of mission: Ambassador Valeriy V. TSEPAKLO
chancery: 1619 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 986-1604 FAX: [1] (202) 986-1805 consulate(s) general: New York |
| Disputes - international | Gibraltar issue with UK; Spain controls five places of sovereignty (plazas de soberania) on and off the coast of Morocco - the coastal enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, which Morocco contests, as well as the islands of Penon de Alhucemas, Penon de Velez de la Gomera, and Islas Chafarinas | boundary demarcation with Latvia and Lithuania is pending European Union funding |
| Economic aid - donor | ODA, $1.3 billion (1995) | - |
| Economic aid - recipient | - | $194.3 million (1995) (1995) |
| Economy - overview | Spain's mixed capitalist economy supports a GDP that on a per capita basis is 80% that of the four leading West European economies. Its center-right government successfully worked to gain admission to the first group of countries launching the European single currency on 1 January 1999. The AZNAR administration has continued to advocate liberalization, privatization, and deregulation of the economy and has introduced some tax reforms to that end. Unemployment has been steadily falling under the AZNAR administration but remains the highest in the EU at 14%. The government intends to make further progress in changing labor laws and reforming pension schemes, which are key to the sustainability of both Spain's internal economic advances and its competitiveness in a single currency area. Adjusting to the monetary and other economic policies of an integrated Europe - and further reducing unemployment - will pose challenges to Spain in the next few years. | Belarus has seen little structural reform since 1995, when President LUKASHENKO launched the country on the path of "market socialism." In keeping with this policy, LUKASHENKO reimposed administrative controls over prices and currency exchange rates and expanded the state's right to intervene in the management of private enterprise. In addition to the burdens imposed by high inflation and persistent trade deficits, businesses have been subject to pressure on the part of central and local governments, e.g., arbitrary changes in regulations, numerous rigorous inspections, retroactive application of new business regulations, and arrests of "disruptive" businessmen and factory owners. Close relations with Russia, possibly leading to reunion, color the pattern of economic developments. For the time being, Belarus remains self-isolated from the West and its open-market economies. |
| Electricity - consumption | 189.57 billion kWh (1999) | 26.78 billion kWh (2000) |
| Electricity - exports | 6.23 billion kWh (1999) | 300 million kWh (2000) |
| Electricity - imports | 11.945 billion kWh (1999) | 4.15 billion kWh (2000) |
| Electricity - production | 197.694 billion kWh (1999) | 24.66 billion kWh (2000) |
| Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
57.71% hydro: 12.1% nuclear: 28.28% other: 1.91% (1999) |
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Pico de Teide (Tenerife) on Canary Islands 3,718 m |
lowest point: Nyoman River 90 m
highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m |
| Environment - current issues | pollution of the Mediterranean Sea from raw sewage and effluents from the offshore production of oil and gas; water quality and quantity nationwide; air pollution; deforestation; 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:
Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification |
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
| Ethnic groups | composite of Mediterranean and Nordic types | Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4% |
| Exchange rates | euros per US dollar - 1.0659 (January 2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999); pesetas per US dollar - 149.40 (1998), 146.41 (1997), 126.66 (1996) | Belarusian rubles per US dollar - 1,590 (yearend 2001), 1,531.000 (November 2001), 876.750 (2000), 248.795 (1999), 46.127 (1998), 26.020 (1997); note - on 1 January 2000, the national currency was redenominated at one new ruble to 2,000 old rubles |
| Executive branch | chief of state:
King JUAN CARLOS I (since 22 November 1975); Heir Apparent Prince FELIPE, son of the monarch, born 30 January 1968 head of government: President of the Government Jose Maria AZNAR Lopez (since 5 May 1996); First Vice President Juan Jose LUCAS (since 28 February 2000) and Second Vice President (and Minister of Economy) Rodrigo RATO Figaredo (since 5 May 1996) cabinet: Council of Ministers designated by the president note: there is also a Council of State that is the supreme consultative organ of the government elections: the monarch is hereditary; president proposed by the monarch and elected by the National Assembly following legislative elections; election last held 12 March 2000 (next to be held NA March 2004); vice presidents appointed by the monarch on proposal of the president election results: Jose Maria AZNAR Lopez (PP) elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - 44% |
chief of state: President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994)
head of government: Prime Minister Gennadiy NOVITSKIY (since 1 October 2001); Deputy Prime Ministers Andrei KOBYAKOV (since 13 March 2000), Aleksandr POPKOV (since 10 November 1998), Sergei SIDORSKY (since NA September 2001), Vladimir DRAZHIN (since NA September 2001) cabinet: Council of Ministers elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; first election took place 23 June and 10 July 1994; according to the 1994 constitution, the next election should have been held in 1999, however LUKASHENKO extended his term to 2001 via a November 1996 referendum; new election held 9 September 2001 (next election to be held by September 2006); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president election results: Aleksandr LUKASHENKO reelected president; percent of vote - Aleksandr LUKASHENKO 75.6%, Vladimir GONCHARIK 15.4% |
| Exports | $120.5 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | $7.5 billion f.o.b. (2001) |
| Exports - commodities | machinery, motor vehicles; foodstuffs, other consumer goods | machinery and equipment, mineral products, chemicals, textiles, foodstuffs, metals |
| Exports - partners | EU 71% (France 20%, Germany 12%, Italy 9%, Portugal 9%, UK 8%), Latin America 6%, US 5% (2000) | Russia 51%, Ukraine 8%, Poland 4%, Germany 3% (2000) |
| Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
| Flag description | three horizontal bands of red (top), yellow (double width), and red with the national coat of arms on the hoist side of the yellow band; the coat of arms includes the royal seal framed by the Pillars of Hercules, which are the two promontories (Gibraltar and Ceuta) on either side of the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar | 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 - $720.8 billion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $84.8 billion (2001 est.) |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
4% industry: 31% services: 65% (1999) |
agriculture: 13%
industry: 42% services: 45% (2000) |
| GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $18,000 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $8,200 (2001 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate | 4% (2000 est.) | 4.1% (2001 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | 40 00 N, 4 00 W | 53 00 N, 28 00 E |
| Geography - note | strategic location along approaches to Strait of Gibraltar | landlocked; glacial scouring accounts for the flatness of Belarusian terrain and for its 11,000 lakes; the country is geologically well endowed with extensive deposits of granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, and clay |
| Heliports | 2 (2000 est.) | - |
| Highways | total:
346,858 km paved: 343,389 km (including 9,063 km of expressways) unpaved: 3,469 km (1997) |
total: 98,200 km
paved: 66,100 km (includes some all-weather gravel-surfaced roads) unpaved: 32,100 km (these roads are made of unstabilized earth and are difficult to negotiate in wet weather) (1990) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
2.8% highest 10%: 25.2% (1990) |
lowest 10%: 5%
highest 10%: 20% (1998) |
| Illicit drugs | key European gateway country for Latin American cocaine and North African hashish entering the European market; transshipment point for and consumer of Southwest Asian heroin | limited cultivation of opium poppy and cannabis, mostly for the domestic market; transshipment point for illicit drugs to and via Russia, and to the Baltics and Western Europe; lax money-laundering and banking regulations |
| Imports | $153.9 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | $8.1 billion f.o.b. (2001) |
| Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, fuels, chemicals, semifinished goods; foodstuffs, consumer goods (1997) | mineral products, machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, metals |
| Imports - partners | EU 68% (France 18%, Germany 16%, Italy 9%, UK 7%, Benelux 8%), US 8%, OPEC 5%, Latin America 4%, Japan 3% (1999) | Russia 65%, Germany 7%, Poland 3% (2000) |
| Independence | 1492 (expulsion of the Moors and unification) | 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) |
| Industrial production growth rate | 4.5% (2000 est.) | 5.4% (2001 est.) |
| Industries | textiles and apparel (including footwear), food and beverages, metals and metal manufactures, chemicals, shipbuilding, automobiles, machine tools, tourism | metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators |
| Infant mortality rate | 4.92 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | 14.12 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3.4% (2000 est.) | 46.1% (2001 est.) |
| International organization participation | AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECLAC, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNTAET, UNU, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC | CCC, CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NAM, NSG, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (observer) |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 56 (2000) | 23 (2002) |
| Irrigated land | 34,530 sq km (1993 est.) | 1,150 sq km (1998 est.) |
| Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Tribunal Supremo | 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 | 17 million (2000) | 4.8 million (2000) |
| Labor force - by occupation | services 64%, manufacturing, mining, and construction 28%, agriculture 8% (1997 est.) | industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA% |
| Land boundaries | total:
1,917.8 km border countries: Andorra 63.7 km, France 623 km, Gibraltar 1.2 km, Portugal 1,214 km, Morocco (Ceuta) 6.3 km, Morocco (Melilla) 9.6 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:
30% permanent crops: 9% permanent pastures: 21% forests and woodland: 32% other: 8% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 29.76%
permanent crops: 0.69% other: 69.55% (1998 est.) |
| Languages | Castilian Spanish (official) 74%, Catalan 17%, Galician 7%, Basque 2% | Belarusian, Russian, other |
| Legal system | civil law system, with regional applications; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on civil law system |
| Legislative branch | bicameral; General Courts or National Assembly or Las Cortes Generales consists of the Senate or Senado (259 seats - 208 members directly elected by popular vote and the other 51 appointed by the regional legislatures to serve four-year terms) and the Congress of Deputies or Congreso de los Diputados (350 seats; members are elected by popular vote on block lists by proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 12 March 2000 (next to be held NA March 2004); Congress of Deputies - last held 12 March 2000 (next to be held NA March 2004) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PP 127, PSOE 61, CiU 8, PNV 6, CC 5, PIL 1; Congress of Deputies - percent of vote by party - PP 44.5%, PSOE 34%, CiU 4.2%, IU 5.4%, PNV 1.5%, CC 1%, BNG 1.3%; seats by party - PP 183, PSOE 125, CiU 15, IU 8, PNV 7, CC 4, BNG 3, other 5 |
bicameral Parliament or Natsionalnoye Sobranie consists of the Council of the Republic or Soviet Respubliki (64 seats; 56 members elected by regional councils and 8 members appointed by the president, all for 4-year terms) and the Chamber of Representatives or Palata Pretsaviteley (110 seats; members elected by universal adult suffrage to serve 4-year terms)
elections: last held October 2000 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: party affiliation data unavailable; under present political conditions party designations are meaningless |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population:
78.93 years male: 75.47 years female: 82.62 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 68.28 years
male: 62.3 years female: 74.56 years (2002 est.) |
| Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 97% male: NA% female: NA% |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98% male: 99% female: 97% (1989 est.) |
| Location | Southwestern Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay, Mediterranean Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, and Pyrenees Mountains, southwest of France | Eastern Europe, east of Poland |
| Map references | Europe | Europe |
| Maritime claims | contiguous zone:
24 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM (applies only to the Atlantic Ocean) territorial sea: 12 NM |
none (landlocked) |
| Merchant marine | total:
135 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,208,730 GRT/1,773,378 DWT ships by type: bulk 10, cargo 26, chemical tanker 10, container 9, liquefied gas 2, livestock carrier 1, passenger 1, petroleum tanker 24, refrigerated cargo 5, roll on/roll off 35, short-sea passenger 8, specialized tanker 1, vehicle carrier 3 (2000 est.) |
- |
| Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Civil Guard, National Police, Coastal Civil Guard | Army, Air Force (including air defense), Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | $6 billion (FY97) | $156 million (FY98) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.1% (FY97) | 1% (FY01) |
| Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
10,551,945 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 2,744,267 (2002 est.) |
| Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
8,448,150 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 2,149,873 (2002 est.) |
| Military manpower - military age | 20 years of age | 18 years of age (2002 est.) |
| Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
281,043 (2001 est.) |
males: 86,396 (2002 est.) |
| National holiday | Hispanic Day, 12 October | 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:
Spaniard(s) adjective: Spanish |
noun: Belarusian(s)
adjective: Belarusian |
| Natural hazards | periodic droughts | NA |
| Natural resources | coal, lignite, iron ore, uranium, mercury, pyrites, fluorspar, gypsum, zinc, lead, tungsten, copper, kaolin, potash, hydropower, arable land | forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay |
| Net migration rate | 0.87 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 2.78 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
| Pipelines | crude oil 265 km; petroleum products 1,794 km; natural gas 1,666 km | crude oil 1,470 km; refined products 1,100 km; natural gas 1,980 km (1992) |
| Political parties and leaders | Basque Nationalist Party or PNV [Xabier ARZALLUS Antia]; Canarian Coalition or CC (a coalition of five parties) [Paulino RIVERO]; Convergence and Union or CiU [Jordi PUJOL i Soley, secretary general] (a coalition of the Democratic Convergence of Catalonia or CDC [Jordi PUJOL i Soley] and the Democratic Union of Catalonia or UDC [Josep Antoni DURAN y LLEIDA]); Galician Nationalist Bloc or BNG [Xose Manuel BEIRAS]; Party of Independents from Lanzarote or PIL [Dimas MARTIN Martin]; Popular Party or PP [Jose Maria AZNAR Lopez]; Spanish Socialist Workers Party or PSOE [Jose Luis Rodriguez ZAPATERO]; United Left or IU (a coalition of parties including the PCE and other small parties) [Gaspar LLAMAZARES] | Agrarian Party or AP [Mikhail SHIMANSKY]; Belarusian Communist Party or KPB [Viktor CHIKIN, chairman]; Belarusian Ecological Green Party (merger of Belarusian Ecological Party and Green Party of Belarus) [leader NA]; Belarusian Patriotic Movement (Belarusian Patriotic Party) or BPR [Anatoliy BARANKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Popular Front or BNF [Vintsuk VYACHORKA]; Belarusian Social-Democrat Party or SDBP [Nikolay STATKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Social-Democratic Party or Hromada [Stanislav SHUSHKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Socialist Party [Vyacheslav KUZNETSOV]; Civic Accord Bloc (United Civic Party) or CAB [Anatol LIABEDZKA]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDPB [Sergei GAYDUKEVICH, chairman]; Party of Communists Belarusian or PKB [Sergei KALYAKIN, chairman]; Republican Party of Labor and Justice or RPPS [Anatoliy NETYLKIN, chairman]; Social-Democrat Party of Popular Accord or PPA [Leanid SECHKA]; Women's Party or "Nadezhda" [Valentina POLEVIKOVA, chairperson] |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | business and landowning interests; Catholic Church; Euskal Herritarok or EH [Herri BATASUNA]; free labor unions (authorized in April 1977); on the extreme left, the Basque Fatherland and Liberty or ETA and the First of October Antifascist Resistance Group or GRAPO use terrorism to oppose the government; Opus Dei; Socialist General Union of Workers or UGT and the smaller independent Workers Syndical Union or USO; university students; Workers Confederation or CC.OO | NA |
| Population | 40,037,995 (July 2001 est.) | 10,335,382 (July 2002 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | NA% | 22% (1995 est.) |
| Population growth rate | 0.1% (2001 est.) | -0.14% (2002 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | Aviles, Barcelona, Bilbao, Cadiz, Cartagena, Castellon de la Plana, Ceuta, Huelva, La Coruna, Las Palmas (Canary Islands), Malaga, Melilla, Pasajes, Gijon, Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Canary Islands), Santander, Tarragona, Valencia, Vigo | Mazyr |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 208, FM 715, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998) |
| Radios | 13.1 million (1997) | 3.02 million (1997) |
| Railways | total:
13,950 km broad gauge: 12,781 km 1.668-m gauge (6,358 km electrified; 2,295 km double track) standard gauge: 525 km 1.435-m gauge (525 km electrified) narrow gauge: 644 km 1.000-m gauge (438 km electrified) (1998) |
total: 5,523 km
broad gauge: 5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2000 est.) |
| Religions | Roman Catholic 99%, other 1% | Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.) |
| Sex ratio | at birth:
1.07 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.5 male(s)/female total population: 0.88 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
| Telephone system | general assessment:
generally adequate, modern facilities; teledensity is 44 main lines for each 100 persons domestic: NA international: 22 coaxial submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), NA Eutelsat; tropospheric scatter to adjacent countries |
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 | 17.336 million (1999) | 2.313 million (1997) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 8.394 million (1999) | 8,167 (1997) |
| Television broadcast stations | 224 (plus 2,105 repeaters)
note: these figures include 11 television broadcast stations and 88 repeaters in the Canary Islands (1995) |
47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995) |
| Terrain | large, flat to dissected plateau surrounded by rugged hills; Pyrenees in north | generally flat and contains much marshland |
| Total fertility rate | 1.15 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 1.31 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | 14% (2000 est.) | 2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers |
| Waterways | 1,045 km (of minor economic importance) | NA km; note - Belarus has extensive and widely used canal and river systems |
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