Belarus

republicIndependence 1 January 1919 Belorussian Republic

Belarus as the 1992 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 76 fields, one of 34 editions from 1992 to 2025.

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe open editionEach field below ends in its editions, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down.

CapitalMensk

Area207,600 km2

Populationas each edition published it

10.37 million July 1992 · 9.46m in 2025

Population growth% a year

Not in this edition 0.34% in 1993

Median ageyears

Not in this edition 36.7 yrs in 2003

Life expectancyyears at birth

Not in this edition 70.73 yrs in 1993

Fertility ratechildren per woman

2.1 children per woman 1992 · 1.45 in 2025

Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births

20 deaths per 1,000 live births 1992 · 2.1 in 2025

GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars

Not in this edition $5,890 in 1994

GDP real growth% a year

Not in this edition -13% in 1993

Geography

13 fields

Total area

207,600km2

Comparative area: slightly smaller than Kansas

Land boundaries

3,098km total

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

Climate

mild and moist; transitional between continental and maritime

Terrain

generally flat and contains much marshland

Land use

arable land NA%;
permanent crops NA%;
meadows and pastures NA%;
forest and woodland NA%;
other NA%;
includes irrigated NA%

Environment

southern part of Belarus highly contaminated with fallout from 1986 nuclear reactor accident at Chernobyl'

People

14 fields

Population

10,373,881

(July 1992), growth rate 0.5% (1992)

Per 1,000 population(1992)

Birth

15Death

11Net migration

Ethnic divisions

Byelorussian 77.9%Russian 13.2%Poles 4.1%Ukrainian 2.9%Jews 1.1%other 0.8%

Nationality

noun - Belarusian(s); adjective - Belarusian

Religions

Russian Orthodox NA%, unknown NA%, none NA%, other NA%

Languages

Byelorussian NA%, Russian NA%, other NA%

Literacy

NA% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write

Labor force

5,418,000; industry and construction 42%, agriculture and forestry 20%, other 38% (1990)

Government

Republic

20 fields

Administrative divisions

6 oblasts (oblastey, singular - oblast');
Brest, Gomel', Grodno, Minsk, Mogilev, Vitebsk;
note - all oblasts have the same name as their administrative center

Independence

1 January 1919 Belorussian Republic;
30 December 1922 joined with the USSR;
25 August 1991 redeclared independence

Leaders

Chief of State:: Chairman of the Supreme Soviet Stanislav S. SHUSHKEVICH (since NA 1991)
Head of Government:: Prime Minister Vyacheslav F. KEBICH (since NA April 1990), First Deputy Prime Minister Mikhail MYASNIKOVICH (since early 1991)

Political parties and leaders

Belarusian Popular Front, Zenon POZNYAK, chairman;
United Democratic Party, Stanislav GUSAK, co-chairman;
Social Democratic Gramada, Mikhail TKACHEV, chairman;
Belarus Workers Union, Mikhail SOBOL, Chairman

Elections

President:: NA
Supreme Soviet:: last held 4 March 1990 (next to be held NA);
results - percent of vote by party NA;
seats - (360 total) number of seats by party NA;
note - 50 seats are for public bodies

Other political or pressure groups

Member of

CE, CIS, CSCE, ECE, IAEA, ILO, INMARSAT, IOC, ITU, NACC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador Martynov;
Chancery at NA NW, Washington, DC 200__;
telephone NA

US:: Ambassador (vacant);
David SWARTZ, Charge d'Affaires;
Embassy at Hotel Belarus (telephone 8-011-7-0172-69-08-02) plus 7 hours;
(mailing address is APO New York is 09862);
telephone NA

Economy

17 fields

Inflation, consumer prices

81%

(1991)

External debt

$2.6billion

(end of 1991)

In many ways Belarus resembles the three Baltic states, for example, in its industrial competence, its higher-than-average standard of living, and its critical dependence on the other former Soviet states for fuels and raw materials. Belarus ranks fourth in gross output among the former Soviet republics, producing 4% of the total GDP and employing 4% of the labor force.

Once a mainly agricultural area, it now supplies important producer and consumer goods - sometimes as the sole producer - to the other states. The soil in Belarus is not as fertile as the black earth of Ukraine, but by emphasizing favorable crops and livestock (especially pigs and chickens), Belarus has become a net exporter to the other republics of meat, milk, eggs, flour, and potatoes.

Belarus produces only small amounts of oil and gas and receives most of its fuel from Russia through the Druzhba oil pipeline and the Northern Lights gas pipeline. These pipelines transit Belarus enroute to Eastern Europe. Belarus produces petrochemicals, plastics, synthetic fibers (nearly 30% of former Soviet output), and fertilizer (20% of former Soviet output). Raw material resources are limited to potash and peat deposits.

The peat (more than one-third of the total for the former Soviet Union) is used in domestic heating as boiler fuel for electric power stations and in the production of chemicals. The potash supports fertilizer production.

GDP

NA - $NA, per capita $NA; real growth rate --2% (1991)

Unemployment rate

NA%

Budget

revenues $NA million; expenditures $NA million, including capital expenditures of $NA million

Exports

$4.3 billion (f.o.b., 1990)

commodities:: machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs
partners:: NA

Imports

$5.6 billion (c.i.f., 1990)

commodities:: machinery, chemicals, textiles
partners:: NA

Industrial production

growth rate --1.5% (1991)

Electricity

7,500,000 kW capacity; 38,700 million kWh produced, 3,770 kWh per capita (1991)

Industries

employ about 27% of labor force and produce a wide variety of products essential to the other states; products include (in percent share of total

output of former Soviet Union):: tractors(12%);
metal-cutting machine tools (11%);
off-highway dump trucksup 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

Agriculture

accounts for 5.7% of total agricultural output of former Soviet Union;
employs 29% 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, and potatoes

Illicit drugs

illicit producer of opium mostly for the domestic market; transshipment point for illicit drugs to Western Europe

Economic aid

Currency

as of May 1992, retaining ruble as currency

Exchange rates

Fiscal year

calendar year

Communications

9 fields

Networkskm

Highways

98,200Railroads

5,570 (1990)

Highways: (1990); 66,100 km hard surfaced, 32,100 km earth · Railroads: (includes NA km electrified); does not include industrial lines

Railroads

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

Highways

98,200 km total (1990); 66,100 km hard surfaced, 32,100 km earth

Inland waterways

NA km

Pipelines

Ports

none - landlocked

Merchant marine

none - landlocked

Civil air

NA major transport aircraft

Airports

Telecommunications

telephone network has 1.7 million lines, 15% of which are switched automatically;
Minsk has 450,000 lines;
telephone density is approximately 17 per 100 persons;
as of 31 January 1990, 721,000 applications from households for telephones were still unsatisfied;
international connections to other former Soviet republics are by landline or microwave and to other countries by leased connection through the Moscow international gateway switch