Belarus

Belarus 

Geography                 Economy                 Defense Forces
 

People                    Transportation          Government



Communications            History      	          Travel

GEOGRAPHY

Location

Eastern Europe, east of Poland

Area

Land Boundaries

Total 3,098 km, Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 605 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km

Coastline

0 km (landlocked)

Maritime Claims

None; landlocked

International Disputes

None

Climate

Cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime

Terrain

Generally flat and contains much marshland
lowest point: Nyoman River 90 m
highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m

Natural Resources

Land Use

Irrigated Land

1,490 sq km (1990)

Environment

Note: Landlocked

PEOPLE

Population

10,415,973 (July 1996 est.)
10,437,418 (July 1995 est.)

Age Structure

0-14 Years

21% (male 1,136,499; female 1,090,101) (July 1996 est.)
22% (male 1,166,439; female 1,126,062) (July 1995 est.)

15-64 Years

66% (male 3,334,077; female 3,536,982) (July 1996 est.)
65% (male 3,293,196; female 3,494,891) (July 1995 est.)

65 Years and Over

13% (male 429,574; female 888,740) (July 1996 est.)
13% (female 913,508; male 443,322) (July 1995 est.)

Population Growth Rate

0.2% (1996 est.)
0.3% (1995 est.)

Birth Rate

12.15 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)
12.98 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death Rate

13.64 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)
11.23 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Net Migration Rate

3.51 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)
1.27 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Sex ratio:

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: 0.48 male(s)/female
all ages: 0.89 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Infant Mortality Rate

13.4 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)
18.6 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Life Expectancy at Birth

Total Fertility Rate

1.69 children born/woman (1996 est.)
1.87 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Nationality

Ethnic Divisions

Religions

Languages

Byelorussian, Russian, other

Literacy

Age 15 and over that can read and write (1989 est.)

Labor Force

4.259 million

By occupation:

GOVERNMENT

Names

Digraph

BO

Type

Republic

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: The administrative centers of the voblastsi are included in parentheses

Independence

25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union); the Belarussian Supreme Soviet issued a proclamation of independence; on 17 July 1990 Belarus issued a declaration of sovereignty

National Holiday

Independence Day, 27 July (1990)

Constitution

Adopted 15 March 1994; replaces constitution of April 1978

Legal System

Based on civil law system

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Executive Branch

Note: First presidential elections took place in June-July 1994

Legislative Branch

Unicameral

Supreme Soviet

elections last held May, Nov-Dec 1995 (two rounds, each with a run-off; next to be held NA 2000); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (260 total) KPB 42, Agrarian 33, CAB 9, Party of People's Concord 8, UPNAZ 2, SDPB 2, BPR 1, Green Party 1, Republican Party of Labor and Justice 1, BSP 1, NFB 1, Social and Sports Party 1, Ecological Party 1, independents 95, vacant 62

Judicial Branch

Supreme Court

Political Parties and Leaders

Belarusian Communist Party (KPB), Vasiliy NOVIKOV, Viktor CHIKIN, chairmen; Agrarian Party, Semen SHARETSKIY; Civic Accord Bloc (CAB); Party of People's Concord, Gennadiy KARPENKO; Party of All-Belarusian Unity and Concord (UPNAZ), Dmitriy BULAKOV; Belarusian Social-Democrat Hramada (SDBP), Alex TRUSOV; Belarusian Patriotic Movement (BPR), Anatol BARANKEVICH; Green Party of Belarus, Mikalay KARTASH; Republican Party of Labor and Justice, Anatol NETSILKIN; Belarus Peasants (BSP), Yevgeniy LUGIN, chairman; Belarusian Popular Front (NFB), Zenon POZNYAK, chairman; Belarusian Social Sports Party, Vladimir ALEKSANDROVICH; Ecological Party, Aleksiy MIKULICH; National Democratic Party of Belarus (NDPB), Victor NAVUMENKA; United Democratic Party of Belarus (ADPB), Aleksandr DOBROVOLSKIY; Belarusian Socialist Party (SPB), Vyacheslav KUZNETSOV; Slavic Assembly (SAB), Nikolai SYARECHEV; Liberal-Democratic Party (LDPB), Vasil KRIVENKA; Belarusian Christian-Democratic Unity (BKDZ), Petr SILKO; Polish Democratic Union (PDZ), Konstantin TARASEVICH; Party of Beer Lovers, Yuriy GONCHAR; Belarusian Labor Party (BPP), Aleksandr BUKHVOSTOV

Member of

CCC, CE (guest), CIS, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NACC, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (applicant)

National Anthem

Flag

Three horizontal bands of white (top), red, and white

ECONOMY

Overview

At the time of independence in late 1991, Belarus was one of the most developed of the former Soviet states, inheriting a modern - by Soviet standards - machine building sector and robust agricultural sector. However, the breakup of the Soviet Union and its traditional trade ties, as well as the government's failure to embrace market reforms, has resulted in a sharp economic decline. Privatization is virtually nonexistent and the system of state orders and distribution persists. Although President LUKASHENKO pronounces his 1995 macro stabilization policies a success - annual inflation dropped from 2,220% in 1994 to 244% in 1995 - the IMF has criticized his insistence on maintaining the steady exchange rate for Belarusian rubel, which has traded at 11,500 to the dollar since late 1994. The IMF suspended Minsk's $300 million standby program in November 1995 until the government would agree to a devaluation of the rubel. The overvalued rubel has especially hurt Belarusian exporters, most of which now operate at a loss. In addition, the January 1995 Customs Union agreement with Russia - which required Minsk to adjust its foreign trade practices to mirror Moscow's - has resulted in higher import tariffs for Belarusian consumers; tariffs have risen from 5%-20% to 20%-40%.

National Product

GDP - purchasing power parity - $49.2 billion (1995 estimate as extrapolated from World Bank estimate for 1994), $53.4 billion (1994 estimate as extrapolated from World Bank estimate for 1992)

National Product Real Growth Rate

-10% (1995 est.)
-20% (1994)

National Product Per Capita

$4,700 (1995 est.)
$5,130 (1994 est.)

Inflation Rate (consumer Prices)

244% (1995 est.)
29% per month (1994)

Unemployment Rate

2.6% officially registered unemployed (December 1994); large numbers of underemployed workers
1.4% officially registered unemployed (December 1993); large numbers of underemployed workers

Budget

Exports

$4.2 billion (f.o.b., 1995)
$968 million to outside of the FSU countries (f.o.b., 1994)

Commodities:

Partners:

Imports

$4.6 billion (c.i.f., 1995)
$534 million from outside the FSU countries (c.i.f., 1994)

Commodities:

Partners:

  • Germany

    • External Debt

    $2 billion (September 1995 est.)
    $1.5 billion (July 1994 est.)

    Industrial Production

    Growth rate -11% (1995 est.), -19% (1994); accounts for about 40% of GDP (1992)

    Electricity

    Industries

    Agriculture

    Accounts for almost 25% of GDP and 5.7% of total agricultural output of former Soviet Union; employs 21% of the labor force; in 1988 produced the following (in percent of total Soviet

    Illicit Drugs

    Illicit cultivator of opium poppy and cannabis; mostly for the domestic market; transshipment point for illicit drugs to Western Europe

    Economic Aid

    ODA, $186 million (1993)
    note: commitments, $3,930 million ($1,845 million disbursements), 1992-95

    Currency

    Belarusian rubel (BR)

    Exchange Rates

    Belarusian rubels per US$1 - 11,500 (end 1995), 10,600 (end December 1994)

    Fiscal Year

    Calendar year

    TRANSPORTATION

    Railroads

    Highways

    Inland Waterways

    NA km; note - Belarus has extensive and widely used canal and river systems

    Pipelines

    Crude oil 1,470 km; refined products 1,100 km; natural gas 1,980 km (1992)

    Ports

    Mazyr

    Merchant Marine

    Note: Claims 5% of former Soviet fleet

    Airports

    COMMUNICATIONS

    Telephone System

    1,849,000 telephones (1991 est.); 18 telephones/100 persons; telephone service inadequate for the purposes of either business or the population; about 70% of the telephones are in homes; over 750,000 applications from households for telephones remain unsatisfied (1992 est.); new investment centers on international connections and business needs

    Radio

    Television

    DEFENSE FORCES

    Branches

    Army, Air Force, Air Defense Force, Republic Security Forces (internal and border troops)

    Manpower Availability

    Males age 15-49 2,635,570; males fit for military service 2,067,676; males reach military age (18) annually 76,006 (1996 est.)

    Defense Expenditures

    892 billion rubles, 1% of GDP (1995); note - conversion of the military budget into U.S. dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading results

    History
    World Atlas