Guide to Belarus Introduction 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. Since his election in July 1995 as the country's first president, Alexander LUKASHENKO has steadily consolidated his power through authoritarian means. Government restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, peaceful assembly, and religion continue.
Geography Location: Eastern Europe, east of Poland
Geographic coordinates: 53 00 N, 28 00 E
Map references: Europe
Area: total
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Kansas
Land boundaries: total
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims: none (landlocked)
Climate: cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime
Terrain: generally flat and contains much marshland
Elevation extremes: lowest point
Natural resources: forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay
Land use: arable land
Irrigated land: 1,150 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: NA
Environment - current issues: 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
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
People Population: 10,300,483 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years
Median age: total
Population growth rate: -0.09% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 10.83 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 14.15 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate: 2.42 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth
Infant mortality rate: total
Life expectancy at birth: total population
Total fertility rate: 1.39 children born/woman (2005 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
Ethnic groups: Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish 3.9%, Ukrainian 2.4%, other 1.1% (1999 census)
Religions: Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.)
Languages: Belarusian, Russian, other
Literacy: definition
Government Country name: conventional long form
Government type: republic in name, although in fact a dictatorship
Capital: Minsk
Administrative divisions: 6 provinces (voblastsi, singular - voblasts') and 1 municipality* (horad); Brest, Homyel', Horad Minsk*, Hrodna, Mahilyow, Minsk, Vitsyebsk note
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: 15 March 1994; revised by national referendum of 24 November 1996 giving the presidency greatly expanded powers and became effective 27 November 1996; revised again 17 October 2004 removing presidential term limits
Legal system: based on civil law system
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state
Legislative branch: bicameral National Assembly 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 Predstaviteley (110 seats; members elected by universal adult suffrage to serve 4-year terms) elections
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: Pro-government parties
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, MIGA, NAM, NSG, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission
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
Economy Economy - overview: Belarus's economy in 2003-04 posted 6.1% and 6.4% growth. Still, the economy continues to be hampered by high inflation, persistent trade deficits, and ongoing rocky relations with Russia, Belarus' largest trading partner and energy supplier. 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 enterprises. In addition, 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. A wide range of redistributive policies has helped those at the bottom of the ladder; the Gini coefficient is among the lowest in the world. For the time being, Belarus remains self-isolated from the West and its open-market economies. Growth has been strong in recent years, despite the roadblocks in a tough, centrally directed economy and the high, but decreasing, rate of inflation. Growth has been buoyed by increased Russian demand for generally noncompetitive Belarusian goods.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $70.5 billion (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 6.4% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $6,800 (2004 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture
Labor force: 4.305 million (31 December 2003)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 14%, industry 34.7%, services 51.3% (2003 est.)
Unemployment rate: 2% officially registered unemployed; large number of underemployed workers (2004)
Population below poverty line: 27.1% (2003 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 21.7 (1998)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 17.4% (2004 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): 21.8% of GDP (2004 est.)
Budget: revenues
Agriculture - products: grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk
Industries: metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, televisions, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators
Industrial production growth rate: 4% (2004 est.)
Electricity - production: 30 billion kWh (2004)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel
Electricity - consumption: 34.3 billion kWh (2004)
Electricity - exports: 800 million kWh (2004)
Electricity - imports: 3.2 billion kWh (2003)
Oil - production: 36,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - consumption: 285,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)
Oil - exports: 14,500 bbl/day (2003 est.)
Oil - imports: 360,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Natural gas - production: 250 million cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: 18.8 billion cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - imports: 18.5 billion cu m (2004 est.)
Current account balance: $-1.119 billion (2004 est.)
Exports: $11.47 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities: machinery and equipment, mineral products, chemicals, metals; textiles, foodstuffs
Exports - partners: Russia 47%, UK 8.3%, Netherlands 6.7%, Poland 5.3% (2004)
Imports: $13.57 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities: mineral products, machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, metals
Imports - partners: Russia 68.2%, Germany 6.6%, Ukraine 3.3% (2004)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $770.2 million (2004 est.)
Debt - external: $600 million (2004 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $194.3 million (1995)
Currency (code): Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR)
Currency code: BYB/BYR
Exchange rates: Belarusian rubles per US dollar - 2,160.26 (2004), 2,051.27 (2003), 1,790.92 (2002), 1,390 (2001), 876.75 (2000)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications Telephones - main lines in use: 3,071,300 (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 1.118 million (2003)
Telephone system: general assessment
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 Railways: total
Highways: total
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: 133 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total
Airports - with unpaved runways: total
Heliports: 1 (2004 est.)
Military Military branches: Army, Air and Air Defense Force
Military service age and obligation: 18-27 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation - 18 months (May 2004)
Manpower available for military service: males age 18-49
Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49
Manpower reaching military service age annually: males
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $176.1 million (FY02)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.4% (FY02)
Transnational Issues Disputes - international: 1997 boundary treaty with Ukraine remains unratified over unresolved financial claims, preventing demarcation and diminishing border security; boundary with Latvia remains undemarcated but a third of the border with Lithuania was demarcated in 2004
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
Last updated: 20 October, 2005
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