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Compare World (2001) - Belarus (2002)

Compare World (2001) z Belarus (2002)

 World (2001)Belarus (2002)
 WorldBelarus
Administrative divisions 267 nations, dependent areas, other, and miscellaneous entries 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:
29.6% (male 933,647,850; female 886,681,514)

15-64 years:
63.4% (male 1,975,418,386; female 1,931,021,694)

65 years and over:
7% (male 188,760,223; female 241,449,691) (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, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk
Airports - 136 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways - 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: 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:
510.072 million sq km

land:
148.94 million sq km

water:
361.132 million sq km

note:
70.8% of the world's surface is water, 29.2% is land
total: 207,600 sq km


land: 207,600 sq km


water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative land area about 16 times the size of the US slightly smaller than Kansas
Background Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology, from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased concerns about the environment, including loss of forests, shortages of energy and water, the drop in biological diversity, and air pollution; (h) the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of the US as the only world superpower. The planet's population continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820, to 2 billion in 1930, 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1988, and 6 billion in 2000. For the 21st century, the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal weapons of war). 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 21.37 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) 9.86 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Budget - revenues: $4 billion


expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.)
Capital - Minsk
Climate two large areas of polar climates separated by two rather narrow temperate zones from a wide equatorial band of tropical to subtropical climates cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime
Coastline 356,000 km 0 km (landlocked)
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: Republic of Belarus


conventional short form: Belarus


local long form: Respublika Byelarus'


local short form: none


former: Belorussian (Byelorussian) Soviet Socialist Republic
Currency - Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR)
Death rate 8.93 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) 13.99 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Debt - external $2 trillion for less developed countries (2000 est.) $770 million (2001 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US - 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 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 - boundary demarcation with Latvia and Lithuania is pending European Union funding
Economic aid - recipient traditional worldwide foreign aid $50 billion (1997 est.) $194.3 million (1995) (1995)
Economy - overview Growth in global output (gross world product, GWP) rose to 4.8% in 2000 from 3.5% in 1999, despite continued low growth in Japan, severe financial difficulties in other East Asian countries, and widespread dislocations in several transition economies. The US economy continued its remarkable sustained prosperity, growing at 5% in 2000, although growth slowed in fourth quarter 2000; the US accounted for 23% of GWP. The EU economies grew at 3.3% and produced 20% of GWP. China, the second largest economy in the world, continued its strong growth and accounted for 10% of GWP. Japan grew at only 1.3% in 2000; its share in GWP is 7%. As usual, the 15 successor nations of the USSR and the other old Warsaw Pact nations experienced widely different rates of growth. The developing nations also varied in their growth results, with many countries facing population increases that eat up gains in output. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology. Internally, the central government often finds its control over resources slipping as separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in many of the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in India, and in Canada. In Western Europe, governments face the difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. The addition of 80 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of their own internal problems and priorities, the industrialized countries devote insufficient resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from the economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized. Continued financial difficulties in East Asia, Russia, and many African nations, as well as the slowdown in US economic growth, cast a shadow over short-term global economic prospects; GWP probably will grow at 3-4% in 2001. The introduction of the euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in January 1999, while paving the way for an integrated economic powerhouse, poses serious economic risks because of varying levels of income and cultural and political differences among the participating nations. (For specific economic developments in each country of the world in 2000, see the individual country entries.) 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 - 26.78 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports - 300 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports - 4.15 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - production - 24.66 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source fossil fuel:
NA%

hydro:
NA%

nuclear:
NA%

other:
NA%
fossil fuel: 100%


hydro: 0%


nuclear: 0%


other: 0% (2000)
Elevation extremes lowest point:
Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,540 m

highest point:
Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.)
lowest point: Nyoman River 90 m


highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m
Environment - current issues large areas subject to overpopulation, industrial disasters, pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion 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, 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 - Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4%
Exchange rates - 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: 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 $6 trillion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) $7.5 billion f.o.b. (2001)
Exports - commodities the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services machinery and equipment, mineral products, chemicals, textiles, foodstuffs, metals
Exports - partners in value, about 75% of exports from the developed countries Russia 51%, Ukraine 8%, Poland 4%, Germany 3% (2000)
Fiscal year - calendar year
Flag description - 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 GWP (gross world product) - purchasing power parity - $43.6 trillion (2000 est.) purchasing power parity - $84.8 billion (2001 est.)
GDP - composition by sector agriculture:
4%

industry:
32%

services:
64% (1999 est.)
agriculture: 13%


industry: 42%


services: 45% (2000)
GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $7,200 (2000 est.) purchasing power parity - $8,200 (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate 4.8% (2000 est.) 4.1% (2001 est.)
Geographic coordinates - 53 00 N, 28 00 E
Geography - note - 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
Highways total:
NA km

paved:
NA km

unpaved:
NA km
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%:
NA%

highest 10%:
NA%
lowest 10%: 5%


highest 10%: 20% (1998)
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; lax money-laundering and banking regulations
Imports $6 trillion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) $8.1 billion f.o.b. (2001)
Imports - commodities the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services mineral products, machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, metals
Imports - partners in value, about 75% of imports by the developed countries Russia 65%, Germany 7%, Poland 3% (2000)
Independence - 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)
Industrial production growth rate 6% (2000 est.) 5.4% (2001 est.)
Industries dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adjusting to these technological forces; the accelerated development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating already grim environmental problems metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators
Infant mortality rate 52.61 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) 14.12 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) all countries 25%; developed countries 1% to 3% typically; developing countries 5% to 60% typically (2000 est.)

note:
national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases, from stable prices in Japan to hyperinflation in a number of Third World countries
46.1% (2001 est.)
International organization participation - 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) 10,350 (2000 est.) 23 (2002)
Irrigated land 2,481,250 sq km (1993 est.) 1,150 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch - 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 NA 4.8 million (2000)
Labor force - by occupation agricultue NA%, industry NA%, services NA% industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA%
Land boundaries the land boundaries in the world total 251,480.24 km (not counting shared boundaries twice) 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:
10%

permanent crops:
1%

permanent pastures:
26%

forests and woodland:
32%

other:
31% (1993 est.)
arable land: 29.76%


permanent crops: 0.69%


other: 69.55% (1998 est.)
Languages - Belarusian, Russian, other
Legal system all members of the UN plus Switzerland are parties to the statute that established the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court based on civil law system
Legislative branch - 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:
63.79 years

male:
62.15 years

female:
65.51 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: 98%


male: 99%


female: 97% (1989 est.)
Location - Eastern Europe, east of Poland
Map references World, Time Zones Europe
Maritime claims contiguous zone:
24 NM claimed by most, but can vary

continental shelf:
200-m depth claimed by most or to depth of exploitation; others claim 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin

exclusive fishing zone:
200 NM claimed by most, but can vary

exclusive economic zone:
200 NM claimed by most, but can vary

territorial sea:
12 NM claimed by most, but can vary

note:
boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 NM; 43 nations and other areas that are landlocked include Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe
none (landlocked)
Military branches - Army, Air Force (including air defense), Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards
Military expenditures - dollar figure aggregate real expenditure on arms worldwide in 1999 remained at approximately the 1998 level, about three-quarters of a trillion dollars (1999 est.) $156 million (FY98)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP roughly 2% of gross world product (1999 est.) 1% (FY01)
Military manpower - availability - males age 15-49: 2,744,267 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service - males age 15-49: 2,149,873 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - military age - 18 years of age (2002 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually - males: 86,396 (2002 est.)
National holiday - 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: Belarusian(s)


adjective: Belarusian
Natural hazards large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions) NA
Natural resources the rapid using up of nonrenewable mineral resources, the depletion of forest areas and wetlands, the extinction of animal and plant species, and the deterioration in air and water quality (especially in Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay
Net migration rate - 2.78 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Pipelines - crude oil 1,470 km; refined products 1,100 km; natural gas 1,980 km (1992)
Political parties and leaders - 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 - NA
Population 6,157,400,560 (July 2001 est.) 10,335,382 (July 2002 est.)
Population below poverty line - 22% (1995 est.)
Population growth rate 1.25% (2001 est.) -0.14% (2002 est.)
Ports and harbors Chiba, Houston, Kawasaki, Kobe, Marseille, Mina' al Ahmadi (Kuwait), New Orleans, New York, Rotterdam, Yokohama Mazyr
Radio broadcast stations AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998)
Radios NA 3.02 million (1997)
Railways total:
1,201,337 km includes about 190,000 to 195,000 km of electrified routes of which 147,760 km are in Europe, 24,509 km in the Far East, 11,050 km in Africa, 4,223 km in South America, and 4,160 km in North America; note - fastest speed in daily service is 300 km/hr attained by France's Societe Nationale des Chemins-de-Fer Francais (SNCF) Le Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) - Atlantique line

broad gauge:
251,153 km

standard gauge:
710,754 km

narrow gauge:
239,430 km
total: 5,523 km


broad gauge: 5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2000 est.)
Religions - 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:
1.02 male(s)/female

65 years and over:
0.78 male(s)/female

total population:
1.05 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
Telephone system general assessment:
NA

domestic:
NA

international:
NA
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 NA 2.313 million (1997)
Telephones - mobile cellular NA 8,167 (1997)
Television broadcast stations NA 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995)
Terrain the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean generally flat and contains much marshland
Total fertility rate 2.73 children born/woman (2001 est.) 1.31 children born/woman (2002 est.)
Unemployment rate 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment (2000 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
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