Belarus

Respublika Byelarus'

republicIndependence 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)

Belarus as the 1997 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 99 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.

CapitalMinsk
Position53 00 N, 28 00 E
Area207,600 sq km
LocationEastern Europe, east of Poland
1997

Every edition of Belarus

Populationas each edition published it
10.41 million July 1997 est. · 10.37m in 1992
Population growth% a year
-0.01% 1997 est. · 0.34% in 1993
Median ageyears
Not in this edition 36.7 yrs in 2003
Life expectancyyears at birth
68.4 years 1997 est. · 70.73 yrs in 1993
Fertility ratechildren per woman
1.35 children per woman 1997 est. · 2.1 in 1992
Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births
13.9 deaths per 1,000 live births 1997 est. · 20 in 1992
GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars
$5,000 1996 est. · $5,890 in 1994
GDP real growth% a year
3% 1996 est. · -13% in 1993

Geography

Eastern Europe, east of Poland

18 fields

Land useshare of 207,600 sq km

arable land 29%permanent crops 1%permanent pastures 15%forests and woodland 34%other 21% (1993 est.)irrigated 1,000 sq km (1993 est.)
Area
207,600sq km
land: 207,600 sq kmwater: 0 sq kmslightly smaller than Kansas
Coastline
0km
(landlocked)Maritime claims: none (landlocked)
Highest point
346m
Dzyarzhynskaya Haralowest point: Nyoman River 90 m
Land boundaries
3,098km
border countries: Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 605 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km

Location

Eastern Europe, east of Poland

Geographic coordinates

53 00 N, 28 00 E

Map references

Commonwealth of Independent States

Climate

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

Terrain

generally flat and contains much marshland

Natural resources

forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas

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:
Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Biodiversity, Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified:
Climate Change, Law of the Sea

People

15 fields
Population
10,412,219
(July 1997 est.)growth rate: -0.01% (1997 est.)

Per 1,000 population(1997 est.)

Birth
9.75Death
13.23Net migration
3.38

Ethnic groups

Byelorussian 77.9%Russian 13.2%Polish 4.1%Ukrainian 2.9%other 1.9%
Literacy
98%
definition: age 15 and over can read and writemale : 99%female: 97% (1989 est.)

Age structure

0-14 years:
21% (male 1,092,760; female 1,047,992) 15-64 years : 66% (male 3,346,111; female 3,547,352)
65 years and over:
13% (male 452,267; female 925,737) (July 1997 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:
0.49 male(s)/female
total population:
0.89 male(s)/female (1997 est.)

Infant mortality rate

13.9 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population:
68.4 years
male:
62.48 years
female:
74.61 years (1997 est.)

Total fertility rate

1.35 children born/woman (1997 est.)

Nationality

noun:
Belarusian(s)
adjective:
Belarusian

Religions

Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.)

Languages

Byelorussian, Russian, other

Government

Republic; President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994); Prime Minister Sergey LING (acting since NA November 1996, confirmed NA February 1997)

20 fields

Presidential electionpercent of vote

85%
Aleksandr LUKASHENKO 85%Vyacheslav KEBICH 15%election last held 24 June and 10 July 1994 (next to be held NA 2001 because of the additional two years provided by the November 1996 referendum)

Country name

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

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: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)

Independence

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

National holiday

Independence Day, 3 July (1990); note - date set by referendum of November 1996

Constitution

referendum of 27 November 1996 (declared illegitimate by the international community) adopted a new constitution massing power in the hands of the president; signed into law on 28 November 1996

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Executive branch

chief of state:
President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994)
head of government:
  • Prime Minister Sergey LING (acting since NA November 1996, confirmed NA February 1997);
  • First Deputy Prime Minister Pyotr PROKOPOVICH (since NA);
  • Deputy Prime Ministers Vladimir GARKUN (since NA), Valeriy KOKAREV (since NA), Vladimir RUSAKEVICH (since NA), Vasyl DALGALYOV (since NA)
cabinet:
Council of Ministers
elections:
  • president elected by popular vote for a five-year term;
  • election last held 24 June and 10 July 1994 (next to be held NA 2001 because of the additional two years provided by the November 1996 referendum);
  • prime minister appointed by the president
election results:
Aleksandr LUKASHENKO elected president; percent of vote - Aleksandr LUKASHENKO 85%, Vyacheslav KEBICH 15%

note: first presidential elections took place in June-July 1994

Legislative branch

bicameral Parliament established by the 28 November Constitution consists of the Council of the Republic (64 seats; the president appoints 8 and each oblast plus the Minsk city government elect 8) and the Chamber of Representatives (110 seats; note - present members came from the defunct Supreme Soviet)

elections:
last held May and November-December 1995 (two rounds, each with a run-off; next to be held NA 2000)
election results :
  • percent of vote by party - NA;
  • seats by party - 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;
  • note - after the November 1996 referendum, seats for the Chamber of Representatives were filled by former Supreme Soviet
members as follows:
  • PKB 24, Agrarian 14, Party of Peoples Concord 5, LDPB 1, UPNAZ 1, Green World Party 1, Belarusian Social Sports Party 1, Ecological Party 1, Republican Party of Labor and Justice 1, independents 60;
  • 58 of the 64 seats in the Council of the Republic have been appointed/elected

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

  • Belarusian Communist Party or KPB [Yefrem SOKOLOV and Viktor CHIKIN, chairmen];
  • Agrarian Party [Aleksandr PAVLOV, chairman];
  • Civic Accord Bloc (United Civic Party) or CAB [Stanislav BOGDANKEVICH, chairman];
  • Party of People's Concord [Leonid SECHKO, chairman];
  • Party of All-Belarusian Unity and Concord or UPNAZ [Dmitriy BULAKOV, chairman];
  • Belarusian Social-Democrat Hramada or SDBP [Nikolai STATKEVICH, chairman];
  • Belarusian Patriotic Movement (Belarusian Patriotic Party) or BPR [Anatol BARANKEVICH];
  • Green Party of Belarus [Nikolai KARTASH, chairman];
  • Republican Party of Labor and Justice [Anatol NETYLKIN, chairman];
  • Belarus Peasants or BSP [Yevgeniy LUGIN, chairman];
  • Belarusian Popular Front or NFB [Levon BARSHEVSKIY, acting chairman];
  • Belarusian Social Sports Party [Aleksandr ALEKSANDROVICH, chairman];
  • Ecological Party [Liudmila YELIZAROVA, chairman];
  • National Democratic Party of Belarus or NDPB [Viktor NAUMENKO, chairman];
  • United Democratic Party of Belarus or ADPB [Aleksandr DOBROVOLSKIY];
  • Belarusian Socialist Party or SPB [Vyacheslav KUZNETSOV];
  • Slavic Assembly or SAB [Nikolai SYARECHEV];
  • Liberal-Democratic Party or LDPB [Sergei GAIDUKEVICH, chairman];
  • Belarusian Christian-Democratic Unity or BKDZ [Petr SILKO];
  • Polish Democratic Union or PDZ [Konstantin TARASEVICH];
  • Party of Beer Lovers [Yuriy GONCHAR];
  • Party of Communists Belarusian or PKB [Sergei KALYAKIN and Vasiliy NOVIKOV, chairmen];
  • Belarusian Labor Party or BPP [Aleksandr BUKHVOSTOV]

International organization participation

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

Diplomatic representation in the US

chief of mission :
Ambassador-designate Valeriy TSEPKALO
chancery:
1619 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009
telephone:
[1] (202) 986-1604

FAX

[1] (202) 986-1805; consulate(s) general: New York

Diplomatic representation from the US

chief of mission :
Ambassador Kenneth Spencer YALOWITZ
embassy:
Starovilenskaya #46-220002, Minsk
mailing address:
use embassy street address
telephone:
[375] (172) 31-50-00

FAX

[375] (172) 34-78-53

Flag description

  • red horizontal band (top) and green horizontal band one-half the width of the red band;
  • a white vertical stripe of white on the hoist side bears in red the Belarusian national ornament

Economy

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.

22 fields
Real growth rate
3%
(1996 est.)industrial production growth: 3.2% (1996 est.)
Unemployment rate
3.1%
officially registered unemployed (December 1996); large numbers of underemployed workers
Labor force
4.731million
by occupation: industry and construction 36%, agriculture and forestry 19%, services 45% (1995)

GDP - composition by sector(1991 est.)

agriculture 21%industry 49%services 30% (1991 est.)

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 in December 1991, 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 exchange rate policies and suspended Minsk's $300 million standby program in November 1995.

The overvalued ruble 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 rose from 5%-20% to 20%-40%. In general, as of the beginning of 1997, Belarus has badly lagged in moving away from the old centrally planned policies of the former USSR.

GDP

purchasing power parity - $51.9 billion (1996 estimate as extrapolated from World Bank estimate for 1994)

GDP - per capita

purchasing power parity - $5,000 (1996 est.)

Budget

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

Industries

tractors, metal-cutting machine tools, off-highway dump trucks up to 110-metric-ton load capacity, wheel-type earth movers for construction and mining, eight-wheel-drive, high-flotation trucks with cargo capacity of 25 metric tons for use in tundra and roadless areas, equipment for animal husbandry and livestock feeding, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, linen fabric, wool fabric, radios, refrigerators, other consumer goods

Electricity - capacity

7.21 million kW (1994)

Electricity - production

23.7 billion kWh (1996)

Agriculture - products

grain, potatoes, vegetables; meat, milk

Exports

total value:
$5.2 billion (f.o.b., 1996)
commodities:
machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs
partners:
Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Germany

Imports

total value:
$6.8 billion (c.i.f., 1996)
commodities:
fuel, natural gas, industrial raw materials, textiles, sugar
partners:
Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Germany

Debt - external

$2 billion (September 1995 est.)

Economic aid

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

Currency

Belarusian ruble (BR)

Exchange rates

Belarusian rubles per US$1 - 16,613 (September monthly average 1996),15,500 (yearend 1996), 11,500 (yearend 1995), 10,600 (yearend 1994), 699 (yearend 1993), 15 (yearend 1992)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Communications

6 fields
Fixed lines
1.849 million
(1991 est.)

Telephone system

  • 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
domestic :
the new NMT-450 analog cellular system is now operating in Minsk
international:
  • international traffic is carried by the Moscow international gateway switch and also by satellite;
  • satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (through Canada) and 1 Eutelsat (through the UK)

Radio broadcast stations

AM 35, FM 18, shortwave 0

Radios

3.17 million (1991 est.) (5,615,000 with multiple speaker systems for program diffusion)

Television broadcast stations

2 (one national and one private; the license of the private station was suspended during the parliamentary elections of 1994)

Televisions

3.5 million (1992 est.)

Transportation

9 fields

Airports by runway lengthpaved only

under 914 m
11
over 3,047 m : 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 18 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5

Airports by runway lengthunpaved only

under 914 m
62
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m : 6 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 9

Networkskm

Highways
51,547Railways
5,488
Highways: paved: 50,825 km · unpaved: 722 km (1995 est.) · Railways: broad gauge: 5,488 km 1.520-m gauge (873 km electrified) (1993)

Railways

total:
5,488 km
broad gauge:
5,488 km 1.520-m gauge (873 km electrified) (1993)

Highways

total:
51,547 km
paved:
50,825 km
unpaved:
722 km (1995 est.)

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)

Merchant marine

note: claims 5% of former Soviet fleet (1995 est.)

Airports

118 (1996 est.)

Military

Army, Air Force, Air Defense Force, Interior | Ministry Troops, Border Guards

7 fields

Military branches

Army, Air Force, Air Defense Force, Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards

Military manpower - availability

males age 15-49: 2,659,236 (1997 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure

2.4 trillion rubles (1997); note - conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading results

Transnational Issues

2 fields

Disputes - international

treaty with Lithuania defining the border awaits demarcation

Illicit drugs

limited cultivation of opium poppy and cannabis, mostly for the domestic market; transshipment point for illicit drugs to Russia and Western Europe BELGIUM

Central Intelligence Agency. “Belarus.” The World Factbook 1997. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/belarus/1997.

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