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Background:
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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.
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Location:
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Eastern
Europe, east of Poland |
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Geographic coordinates:
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53 00 N,
28 00 E |
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Map references:
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Europe
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Area:
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total:
207,600 sq km
land: 207,600 sq km
water: 0 sq km |
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Area - comparative:
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slightly
smaller than Kansas |
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Land boundaries:
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total:
2,900 km
border countries: Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502
km, Poland 407 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km |
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Coastline:
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0 km
(landlocked) |
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Maritime claims:
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none
(landlocked) |
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Climate:
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cold
winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between
continental and maritime |
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Terrain:
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generally
flat and contains much marshland |
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest
point: Nyoman River 90 m
highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m |
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Natural resources:
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forests,
peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas,
granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel,
clay |
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Land use:
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arable
land: 29.55%
permanent crops: 0.6%
other: 69.85% (2001) |
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Irrigated land:
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1,150 sq
km (1998 est.) |
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Natural hazards:
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NA |
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Environment - current issues:
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soil
pollution from pesticide use; southern part of the
country contaminated with fallout from 1986 nuclear
reactor accident at Chornobyl' in northern Ukraine |
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Environment - international agreements:
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party
to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides,
Air Pollution-Sulfur 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 |
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Geography - note:
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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 |
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Population:
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10,300,483 (July 2005 est.) |
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Age structure:
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0-14
years: 16% (male 839,292/female 804,738)
15-64 years: 69.5% (male 3,481,432/female
3,672,991)
65 years and over: 14.6% (male 498,717/female
1,003,313) (2005 est.) |
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Median age:
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total:
37.03 years
male: 34.32 years
female: 39.7 years (2005 est.) |
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Population growth rate:
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-0.09%
(2005 est.) |
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Birth rate:
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10.83
births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
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Death rate:
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14.15
deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
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Net migration rate:
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2.42
migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
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Sex ratio:
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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 (2005 est.)
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Infant mortality rate:
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total:
13.37 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 14.3 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 12.39 deaths/1,000 live births (2005
est.) |
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Life expectancy at birth:
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total
population: 68.72 years
male: 63.03 years
female: 74.69 years (2005 est.) |
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Total fertility rate:
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1.39
children born/woman (2005 est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
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0.3%
(2001 est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
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15,000
(2001 est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - deaths:
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1,000
(2001 est.) |
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Nationality:
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noun:
Belarusian(s)
adjective: Belarusian |
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Ethnic groups:
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Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish 3.9%, Ukrainian
2.4%, other 1.1% (1999 census) |
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Religions:
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Eastern
Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic,
Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.) |
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Languages:
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Belarusian, Russian, other |
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Literacy:
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definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.6%
male: 99.8%
female: 99.5% (2003 est.) |
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Country name:
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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 |
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Government type:
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republic
in name, although in fact a dictatorship |
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Capital:
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Minsk
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Administrative divisions:
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6
provinces (voblastsi, singular - voblasts') and 1
municipality* (horad); Brest, Homyel', Horad Minsk*,
Hrodna, Mahilyow, Minsk, Vitsyebsk
note: administrative divisions have the same
names as their administrative centers |
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Independence:
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25 August
1991 (from Soviet Union) |
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National holiday:
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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 |
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Constitution:
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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 |
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Legal system:
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based on
civil law system |
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Suffrage:
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18 years
of age; universal |
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Executive branch:
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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)
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; 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
election results: Aleksandr LUKASHENKO reelected
president; percent of vote - Aleksandr LUKASHENKO 75.6%,
Vladimir GONCHARIK 15.4% |
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Legislative branch:
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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: last held 18 March and 1 April 2001
and 17 and 31 October 2004; international observers
widely denounced the October 2004 elections as flawed
and undemocratic, based on massive government
falsification; pro-Lukashenko candidates won every seat,
after many opposition candidates were disqualified for
technical reasons
election results: Soviet Respubliki - percent of
vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; Palata
Predstaviteley - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats
by party - NA |
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Judicial branch:
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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) |
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Political parties and leaders:
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Pro-government parties: Agrarian Party or AP [leader
NA]; Belarusian Communist Party or KPB [leader NA];
Belarusian Patriotic Movement (Belarusian Patriotic
Party) or BPR [Anatoliy BARANKEVICH, chairman]; Liberal
Democratic Party of Belarus [Sergei GAYDUKEVICH];
Social-Sports Party [leader NA]; Opposition parties: 10
Plus Coalition [Alyaksandr MILINKEVICH], includes:
Belarusian Party of Communists or PKB [Syarhey KALYAKIN];
Belarusian Party of Labor (unregistered) [Aleksandr
BUKHVOSTOV, Leonid LEMESHONAK]; Belarusian Popular Front
or BPF [Vintsyuk VYACHORKA]; Belarusian
Social-Democratic Party Narodnaya Hromada or BSDP NH [Alyaksandr
KOZULIN, chairman]; Green Party [Alyaksandr SYKALA];
United Civic Party or UCP [Anatol LYABEDSKA]; Party of
Freedom and Progress (unregistered) [Vladimir NOVOSYAD];
Women's Party "Nadezhda" [Valentina MATUSEVICH,
chairperson] |
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Political pressure groups and leaders:
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Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions [Alyaksandr
YAROSHUK]; Perspektiva kiosk watchdog NGO [Anatol
SHUMCHENKO]; Lenin Communist Union of Youth (youth wing
of the Belarusian Party of Communists or PKB); National
Strike Committee of Entrepreneurs [Aleksandr VASILYEV,
Valery LEVONEVSKY]; Partnership NGO [Nikolay ASTREYKA];
Young Belarus [multiple leaders]; Youth Front (Malady
Front) [Dzmitryy DASHKEVICH, Syarhey BAKHUN]; Zubr youth
group [Vladimir KOBETS] |
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International organization participation:
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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, WToO, WTO
(observer) |
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Diplomatic representation in the US:
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chief
of mission: Ambassador Mikhail KHVOSTOV
chancery: 1619 New Hampshire Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20009
telephone: [1] (202) 986-1604
FAX: [1] (202) 986-1805
consulate(s) general: New York |
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Diplomatic representation from the US:
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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 |
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Flag description:
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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 |
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Economy - overview:
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Belarus's
economy in 2004-05 posted 6.4% and 7.8% 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.
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GDP (purchasing power parity):
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$77.77
billion (2005 est.) |
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GDP (official exchange rate):
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$23.94
billion (2005 est.) |
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GDP - real growth rate:
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7.8%
(2005 est.) |
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GDP - per capita:
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purchasing power parity - $7,600 (2005 est.) |
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GDP - composition by sector:
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agriculture: 11.1%
industry: 38.4%
services: 50.4% (2004 est.) |
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Labor force:
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4.305
million (31 December 2003) |
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Labor force - by occupation:
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agriculture 14%, industry 34.7%, services 51.3% (2003
est.) |
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Unemployment rate:
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2%
officially registered unemployed; large number of
underemployed workers (2004) |
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Population below poverty line:
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27.1%
(2003 est.) |
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Household income or consumption by percentage share:
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lowest
10%: 5.1%
highest 10%: 20% (1998) |
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Distribution of family income - Gini index:
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30.4
(2000) |
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Inflation rate (consumer prices):
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11.5%
(2005 est.) |
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Investment (gross fixed):
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24.2% of
GDP (2005 est.) |
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Budget:
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revenues: $5.903 billion
expenditures: $6.343 billion, including capital
expenditures of $180 million (2005 est.) |
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Agriculture - products:
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grain,
potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk |
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Industries:
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metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks,
earthmovers, motorcycles, televisions, chemical fibers,
fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators |
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Industrial production growth rate:
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4% (2004
est.) |
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Electricity - production:
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30
billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity - consumption:
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34.3
billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity - exports:
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800
million kWh (2004) |
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Electricity - imports:
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7 billion
kWh (2003) |
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Oil - production:
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36,000
bbl/day (2004 est.) |
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Oil - consumption:
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252,000
bbl/day (2003 est.) |
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Oil - exports:
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14,500
bbl/day (2003 est.) |
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Oil - imports:
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360,000
bbl/day (2004 est.) |
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Natural gas - production:
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250
million cu m (2004 est.) |
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Natural gas - consumption:
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18.8
billion cu m (2004 est.) |
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Natural gas - exports:
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0 cu m
(2004 est.) |
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Natural gas - imports:
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18.5
billion cu m (2004 est.) |
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Current account balance:
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$312.4
million (2005 est.) |
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Exports:
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$16.14
billion f.o.b. (2005 est.) |
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Exports - partners:
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Russia
47%, UK 8.3%, Netherlands 6.7%, Poland 5.3% (2004) |
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Imports:
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$16.94
billion f.o.b. (2005 est.) |
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Imports - partners:
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Russia
68.2%, Germany 6.6%, Ukraine 3.3% (2004) |
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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
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$835.4
million (2005 est.) |
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Debt - external:
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$4.662
billion (30 June 2005 est.) |
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Economic aid - recipient:
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$194.3
million (1995) |
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Currency (code):
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Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR) |
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Exchange rates:
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Belarusian rubles per US dollar - 2,140 (2005), 2,160.26
(2004), 2,051.27 (2003), 1,790.92 (2002), 1,390 (2001)
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Fiscal year:
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calendar
year |
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Telephones - main lines in use:
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3,071,300
(2003) |
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Telephones - mobile cellular:
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1.118
million (2003) |
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Telephone system:
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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 |
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Radio broadcast stations:
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AM 28, FM
37, shortwave 11 (1998) |
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Television broadcast stations:
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47 (plus
27 repeaters) (1995) |
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Internet country code:
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.by |
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Internet hosts:
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5,308
(2004) |
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Internet users:
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1,391,900
(2003) |
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Airports:
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133 (2004
est.) |
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Airports - with paved runways:
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total:
44
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 22
1,524 to 2,437 m: 4
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 15 (2005 est.) |
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Airports - with unpaved runways:
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total:
57
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 5
914 to 1,523 m: 7
under 914 m: 42 (2005 est.) |
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Heliports:
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1 (2005
est.) |
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Pipelines:
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gas 5,223
km; oil 2,443 km; refined products 1,686 km (2004) |
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Railways:
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total:
5,512 km
broad gauge: 5,497 km 1.520-m gauge (874 km
electrified)
standard gauge: 15 km 1.435-m (2004) |
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Roadways:
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total:
93,055 km
paved: 93,055 km (2003) |
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Waterways:
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2,500 km
(use limited by location on perimeter of country and by
shallowness) (2003) |
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Ports and terminals:
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Mazyr
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Military branches:
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Army, Air
and Air Defense Force |
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Military service age and obligation:
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18-27
years of age for compulsory military service; conscript
service obligation - 18 months (2005) |
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Manpower available for military service:
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males
age 18-49: 2,520,644 (2005 est.) |
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Manpower fit for military service:
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males
age 18-49: 1,657,984 (2005 est.) |
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Manpower reaching military service age annually:
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males:
85,202 (2005 est.) |
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Military expenditures - dollar figure:
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$176.1
million (FY02) |
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Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
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1.4%
(FY02) |
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Disputes - international:
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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 |
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Illicit drugs:
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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 |
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