Belarus

Airports

total: 124 usable: 55 with permanent-surface runways: 31 with runways over 3,659 m: 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 28 with runways 1,060-2,439 m: 20 note: a C-130 can land on a 1,060-m airstrip

Highways

total: 98,200 km paved: 66,100 km unpaved: earth 32,100 km (1990)

Inland waterways

NA km

Merchant marine

claims 5% of former Soviet fleet

Pipelines

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

Ports

none; landlocked

Railroads

5,570 km; does not include industrial lines (1990)

Telecommunications

telephone service in Belarus is inadequate for the purposes of either business or the population; total number of telephones 1,849,000 (31 December 1991); telephone density - 18 for each 100 persons; about 70% of the telephones are in homes; over 750,000 applications from households for telephones remain unsatisfied (1992); new investment centers on international connections and business needs; the new BelCel NMT 450 cellular system (a joint venture) is now operating in Minsk but progress has been slower in establishing an INTELSAT earth station; international traffic still relies on the Moscow international gateway switch; broadcast receivers - television 3,538,000, radio 3,140,000, radio receivers with multiple speaker systems for program diffusion 5,615,000

Branches

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

Defense expenditures

56.5 billion rubles, NA% of GDP (1993 est.); note - conversion of the military budget into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading results

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 2,520,487; fit for military service 1,981,749; reach military age (18) annually 71,922 (1994 est.)

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 production): grain (3.6%), potatoes (12.2%), vegetables (3.0%), meat (6.0%), milk (7.0%); net exporter of meat, milk, eggs, flour, potatoes

Budget

revenues: $NA expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Currency

Belarusian rubel note: the government signed a framework agreement with Russia for a monetary union in January 1994, but a schedule and mechanism for merging the two monetary systems and replacing Belarusian rubels with Russian rubles have not been worked out

Economic aid

$NA

Electricity

capacity: 8,025,000 kW production: 37.6 billion kWh consumption per capita: 3,626 kWh (1992)

Exchange rates

NA

Exports

$710 million to outside of the FSU countries (f.o.b., 1993) commodities: machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs partners: Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Bulgaria

External debt

$NA

Fiscal year

calendar year

Illicit drugs

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

Imports

$743 million from outside the FSU countries (c.i.f., 1993) commodities: fuel, industrial raw materials, textiles, sugar partners: Russia, Ukraine, Poland

Industrial production

growth rate -11% (1993); accounts for about 40% of GDP (1992)

Industries

employ about 40% of labor force and produce a wide variety of products including (in percent share of total output of former Soviet Union): tractors (12%); metal-cutting machine tools (11%); off-highway dump trucks up to 110-metric-ton load capacity (100%); wheel-type earthmovers for construction and mining (100%); eight-wheel-drive, high-flotation trucks with cargo capacity of 25 metric tons for use in tundra and roadless areas (100%); equipment for animal husbandry and livestock feeding (25%); motorcycles (21.3%); television sets (11%); chemical fibers (28%); fertilizer (18%); linen fabric (11%); wool fabric (7%); radios; refrigerators; and other consumer goods

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

30% per month (1993)

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $61 billion (1993 estimate from the UN International Comparison Program, as extended to 1991 and published in the World Bank's World Development Report 1993; and as extrapolated to 1993 using official Belarusian statistics, which are very uncertain because of major economic changes since 1990)

National product per capita

$5,890 (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate

-9% (1993 est.)

Overview

Belarus ranks among the most developed of the former Soviet states, with a relatively modern - by Soviet standards - and diverse machine building sector and a robust agriculture sector. It also serves as a transport link for Russian oil exports to the Baltic states and Eastern and Western Europe. The breakup of the Soviet Union and its command economy has resulted in a sharp economic contraction as traditional trade ties have collapsed. At the same time, the Belarusian Government has lagged behind most other former Soviet states in economic reform; privatization has barely begun; the agriculture sector remains highly subsidized; the state retains control over many prices; and the system of state orders and distribution persists. Meanwhile, the national bank continues to pour credits into inefficient enterprises, fueling inflation and weakening incentives to improve performance. The government is pinning its hopes on reintegration with the Russian economy, but such a path would only partially restore traditional trade ties. Until economic reform is embraced, Belarus will continue in its economic morass.

Unemployment rate

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

Area

total area: 207,600 sq km land area: 207,600 sq km comparative area: slightly smaller than Kansas

Climate

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

Coastline

0 km (landlocked)

Environment

current issues: soil pollution from pesticide use; southern part of Belarus contaminated with fallout from 1986 nuclear reactor accident at Chornobyl' natural hazards: NA international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur, Biodiversity, Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection; signed, but not ratified - Climate Change, Law of the Sea

International disputes

none

Irrigated land

1,490 sq km (1990)

Land boundaries

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

Land use

arable land: 29% permanent crops: 1% meadows and pastures: 15% forest and woodland: 0% other: 55%

Location

Eastern Europe, between Poland and Russia

Map references

Asia, Commonwealth of Independent States - European States, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

none; landlocked

Natural resources

forest land, peat deposits

Note

landlocked

Terrain

generally flat and contains much marshland

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

Capital

Minsk

Constitution

adopted 15 March 1994; replaces constitution of April 1978

Digraph

BO

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Sergey Nikolayevich MARTYNOV chancery: 1619 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: (202) 986-1604

Executive branch

chief of state: President-elect Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (elected 10 July 1994, but not yet inaugurated) election held June 24 and 10 July 1994 (next to be held NA); Aleksandr LUKASHENKO 80%, Vyacheslav KEBICH 14% head of government: Prime Minister Vyacheslav F. KEBICH (since NA April 1990; offered his resignation on the election of LUCHASHENKO), First Deputy Prime Minister Mikhail MYASNIKOVICH (since NA 1991) cabinet: Council of Ministers note: first presidential elections took place in June-July 1994

FAX

(202) 986-1805)

Flag

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

Independence

25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Legal system

based on civil law system

Legislative branch

unicameral

Member of

CBSS (observer), CE (guest), CEI (participating), CIS, CSCE, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IFC, ILO, IMF, INMARSAT, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), IOC, ITU, NACC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

Names

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

National holiday

Independence Day, 27 July (1990)

Political parties and leaders

Belarusian Popular Front (BPF), Zenon PAZNYAK, chairman; United Democratic Party of Belarus (UDPB), Aleksandr DOBROVOLSKIY, chairman; Social Democratic Party of Belarus (SDBP), Mikhail TKACHEV, chairman; Belarus Workers Union, Mikhail SOBOL, Chairman; Belarus Peasants Party; Party of People's Unity, Gennadiy KARPENKO; Movement for Democracy, Social Progress, and Justice (DSPS; includes the Communist Party), Viktor CHIKIN, chairman

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Supreme Soviet

elections last held 4 April 1990 (next to be held NA); results - Communists 87%; seats - (360 total) number of seats by party NA; note - 50 seats are for public bodies; the Communist Party obtained an overwhelming majority

Type

republic

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: (vacant); Charge d'Affaires George KROL embassy: Starovilenskaya #46, Minsk mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: 7-0172-34-65-37

Birth rate

13.12 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate

11.16 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Ethnic divisions

Byelorussian 77.9%, Russian 13.2%, Polish 4.1%, Ukrainian 2.9%, other 1.9%

Infant mortality rate

18.9 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Labor force

4.887 million by occupation: industry and construction 40%, agriculture and forestry 21%, other 39% (1992)

Languages

Byelorussian, Russian, other

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 70.88 years male: 66.2 years female: 75.79 years (1994 est.)

Literacy

age 9-49 can read and write (1979) total population: 100% male: 100% female: 100%

Nationality

noun: Belarusian(s) adjective: Belarusian

Net migration rate

1.27 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Population

10,404,862 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate

0.32% (1994 est.)

Religions

Eastern Orthodox, other

Total fertility rate

1.88 children born/woman (1994 est.)