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| Introduction | Belarus |
| Background: | 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. |
| People | Belarus |
| Population: | 10,310,520 (July 2004 est.) |
| Age structure: | 0-14 years: 16.3% (male 859,219; female 823,839) 15-64 years: 69.2% (male 3,469,926; female 3,662,203) 65 years and over: 14.5% (male 496,204; female 999,129) (2004 est.) |
| Median age: | total: 36.9 years male: 34.2 years female: 39.5 years (2004 est.) |
| Population growth rate: | -0.11% (2004 est.) |
| Birth rate: | 10.52 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| Death rate: | 14.1 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| Net migration rate: | 2.54 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| Sex ratio: | 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 (2004 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate: | total: 13.62 deaths/1,000 live births female: 12.47 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) male: 14.71 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 68.57 years male: 62.79 years female: 74.65 years (2004 est.) |
| Total fertility rate: | 1.36 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | 0.3% (2001 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | 15,000 (2001 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - deaths: | 1,000 (2001 est.) |
| Nationality: | noun: Belarusian(s) adjective: Belarusian |
| Ethnic groups: | Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4% |
| Religions: | Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.) |
| Languages: | Belarusian, Russian, other |
| Literacy: | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99.6% male: 99.8% female: 99.5% (2003 est.) |
| Government | Belarus |
| Country name: | conventional long form: Republic of Belarus conventional short form: Belarus local short form: none former: Belorussian (Byelorussian) Soviet Socialist Republic local long form: Respublika Byelarus' |
| Government type: | republic in name, although in fact a dictatorship |
| Capital: | Minsk |
| Administrative divisions: | 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 |
| Independence: | 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) |
| 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 |
| Constitution: | 30 March 1994; revised by national referendum of 24 November 1996 giving the presidency greatly expanded powers and became effective 27 November 1996 |
| Legal system: | based on civil law system |
| Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal |
| Executive branch: | chief of state: President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994) head of government: Prime Minister Sergei SIDORSKY (since 19 December 2003); First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir SEMASHKO (since December 2003); Deputy Prime Ministers Andrei KOBYAKOV (since December 2003), Vladimir DRAZHIN (since 24 September 2001), Roman VNUCHKO (since 10 July 2003), Anatoly TYUTYUNOV (since July 2002) cabinet: Council of Ministers election results: Aleksandr LUKASHENKO reelected president; percent of vote - Aleksandr LUKASHENKO 75.6%, Vladimir GONCHARIK 15.4% 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; October 2004 referendum ended presidential term limits allowing president to run for a third term in September 2006; prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president |
| 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) election results: Soviet Respubliki - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; Palata Pretsaviteley - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA elections: last held 18 March and 1 April 2001 and 17 and 31 October 2004 (next to be held March 2005) |
| 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) |
| 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 LEBEDKO]; 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 |
| International organization participation: | CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NAM, NSG, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (observer) |
| Diplomatic representation in the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Mikhail KHVOSTOV chancery: 1619 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 consulate(s) general: New York FAX: [1] (202) 986-1805 telephone: [1] (202) 986-1604 |
| Diplomatic representation from the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador George A. KROL embassy: 46 Starovilenskaya St., Minsk 220002 mailing address: PSC 78, Box B Minsk, APO 09723 telephone: [375] (17) 210-12-83, 217-7347, 217-7348 FAX: [375] (17) 234-7853 |
| 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 Belarusian national ornamention in red |
| Communications | Belarus |
| Telephones - main lines in use: | 3,071,300 (2003) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular: | 1.118 million (2003) |
| Telephone system: | 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' fiber optics form synchronous digital hierarchy rings through other countries' systems; an inadequate analog system remains operational international: country code - 375; Belarus is a member of the Trans-European Line (TEL), Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) fiber-optic line, and has access to the Trans-Siberia Line (TSL); 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 |
| Radio broadcast stations: | AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998) |
| Radios: | 3.02 million (1997) |
| Television broadcast stations: | 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995) |
| Televisions: | 2.52 million (1997) |
| Internet country code: | .by |
| Internet hosts: | 5,308 (2004) |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs): | 23 (2002) |
| Internet users: | 1,391,900 (2003) |
| Transportation | Belarus |
| Railways: | total: 5,523 km broad gauge: 5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2003) |
| Highways: | total: 74,385 km paved: 66,203 km unpaved: 8,182 km (2000) |
| Waterways: | 2,500 km (use limited by location on perimeter of country and by shallowness) (2003) |
| Pipelines: | gas 5,223 km; oil 2,443 km; refined products 1,686 km (2004) |
| Ports and harbors: | Mazyr |
| Airports: | 135 (2003 est.) |
| Airports - with paved runways: | total: 50 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 21 under 914 m: 21 (2003 est.) 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 |
| Airports - with unpaved runways: | total: 85 under 914 m: 64 (2003 est.) 914 to 1,523 m: 11 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 |
| Heliports: | 1 (2003 est.) |
| Military | Belarus |
| Military branches: | Army, Air and Air Defense Force |
| Military manpower - military age and obligation: | 18-27 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation - 18 months (May 2004) |
| Military manpower - availability: | males age 15-49: 2,764,856 (2004 est.) |
| Military manpower - fit for military service: | males age 15-49: 2,164,923 (2004 est.) |
| Military manpower - reaching military age annually: | males: 86,716 (2004 est.) |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure: | $176.1 million (FY02) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP: | 1.4% (FY02) |
| Transnational Issues | Belarus |
| Disputes - international: | 1997 boundary treaty with Ukraine remains unratified over unresolved financial claims, preventing demarcation and diminishing border security; boundaries with Latvia and Lithuania remain undemarcated despite European Union financial support |
| Illicit drugs: | limited cultivation of opium poppy and cannabis, mostly for the domestic market; transshipment point for illicit drugs to and via Russia, and to the Baltics and Western Europe; a small and lightly regulated financial center; new anti-money-laundering legislation does not meet international standards; few investigations or prosecutions of money-laundering activities |
| This page was last updated on 16 December, 2004 |
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