Belarus
Republic of BelarusRespublika Byelarus'
republicIndependence 25 August 1991 (Belarusian Supreme Soviet
Belarus as the 1999 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 106 fields, one of 34 editions from 1992 to 2025.
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Introduction
1 fieldBackground
For centuries Byelorussia has been fought over, devastated, and partitioned among Russia, Poland, Lithuania, and, in World Wars I and II, Germany. After seven decades as a Soviet republic, the newly named Belarus declared its independence in August 1991. It has retained closer political and economic ties to Russia than any of the other former Soviet republics. On 25 December 1998, Russian President Boris YEL'TSIN and Belarusian President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO signed several agreements intended to provide greater political, economic, and social integration while preserving both states' sovereignty.
Geography
Eastern Europe, east of Poland
18 fieldsLand useshare of 207,600 sq km
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 fieldsPer 1,000 population(1999 est.)
Male · female
Age structure
- 0-14 years:
- 19% (male 1,027,974; female 985,342)
- 15-64 years:
- 67% (male 3,390,552; female 3,591,245)
- 65 years and over:
- 14% (male 463,369; female 943,302) (1999 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:
- 0.88 male(s)/female (1999 est.)
Religions
Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.)
Government
Republic; President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994); Prime Minister Sergey LING (acting since 18 November 1996, confirmed 19 February 1997)
18 fieldsPresidential electionpercent of vote
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 (Belarusian Supreme Soviet declaration of independence from the Soviet Union)
National holiday
- Independence Day, 3 July (1944);
- note--date set by referendum of 24 November 1996;
- represents Minsk liberation from German occupation
Constitution
30 March 1994; revised by national referendum of 24 November 1996 giving the presidency greatly expanded powers and became effective 27 November 1996
Executive branch
- chief of state:
- President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994)
- head of government:
- Prime Minister Sergey LING (acting since 18 November 1996, confirmed 19 February 1997);
- First Deputy Prime Ministers Petr PROKOPOVICH (since 23 December 1996) and Vasiliy DOLGOLEV (since 2 December 1998);
- Deputy Prime Ministers Valeriy KOKOREV (since 23 August 1994), Vladimir ZAMETALIN (since 15 July 1997), Ural LATYPOV (since 30 December 1997), Gennadiy NOVITSKIY (since 11 February 1997), Leonid KOZIK (since 4 February 1997), Aleksandr POPKOV (since 10 November 1998)
- 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; according to the 1994 constitution, the next election should be in 1999, however LUKASHENKO extended his term to 2001 via the November 1996 referendum);
- prime minister and deputy prime ministers 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 or Natsionalnoye Sobranie consists of the Council of the Republic or Soviet Respubliki (64 seats; eight appointed by the president and 56 indirectly elected by deputies of local councils for four-year terms) and the Chamber of Representatives or Palata Pretsaviteley (110 seats; note--present members came from the former Supreme Soviet which LUKASHENKO disbanded in November 1996)
- elections:
- last held May and November-December 1995 (two rounds, each with a run-off; disbanded after the November 1996 referendum; next to be held NA)
- election results:
- 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 61;
- 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
Party of Communists Belarusian or chairman]; Belarusian Patriotic Movement (Belarusian Patriotic
International organization participation
CCC, CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Inmarsat, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (applicant)
Diplomatic representation in the US
- chief of mission:
- Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires CHEREPANSKY
- chancery:
- 1619 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009
- consulate(s) general:
- New York
Diplomatic representation from the US
- chief of mission:
- Ambassador Daniel V. SPECKHARD (recalled to Washington in June 1998; Charge d'Affaires Randall LE COCQ)
- embassy:
- Starovilenskaya #46-220002, Minsk
- mailing address:
- use embassy street address
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 the Belarusian national ornament in red
Economy
31 fieldsGDP--composition by sector(1997 est.)
Electricity
Economy--overview
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 re-imposed administrative controls over prices and currency exchange rates and expanded the state's right to intervene in the management of private enterprise.
This produced a climate hostile to private business, inhibiting domestic and foreign investment. The Government of Belarus has artificially revived economic output since mid-1996 by pursuing a policy of rapid credit expansion. In a vain attempt to keep the rapidly rising inflation in check, the government placed strict price controls on food and consumer products, which resulted in food shortages.
Long lines for dairy products, chicken, and pork became common in the closing months of 1998. With the goal of slowing down the devaluation of the Belarusian ruble, LUKASHENKO in 1997 introduced a new, complex system of legal buying/selling hard currencies. The new "command" system proved to be totally unworkable and resulted in galloping devaluation.
In addition to the burdens imposed on businesses by high inflation and an artificial currency regime, businesses have also been subject to pressure on the part of central and local governments, e.g., arbitrary changes in regulations, numerous rigorous inspections, and retroactive application of new business regulations prohibiting practices that had been legal. A further economic problem is the sizable trade deficit.
Labor force--by occupation
industry and construction 40%, agriculture and forestry 19%, services 41% (1997 est.)
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
Exchange rates
Belarusian rubels per US$1--139,000 (25 January 1999 official Belarusian exchange rate), 46,080 (2nd qtr 1998), 25,964 (1997), 15,500 (yearend 1996), 11,500 (yearend 1995), 10,600 (yearend 1994)
Communications
6 fieldsTelephone system
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's fiber optics form synchronous digital hierarchy rings through other countries' systems;
- an inadequate analog system remains operational
- international:
- Belarus is a member of the Trans-European Line (TEL), Trans-Asia-Europe Fiber-Optic Line (TAE) 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 due to this infrastructure;
- additional analog lines to Russia;
- Intelsat, Eutelsat and Intersputnik earth stations
Television broadcast stations
- 17 (1997);
- note--Belarus has a state-run television broadcasting network;
- independent local television stations exist
Transportation
8 fieldsAirports by runway lengthpaved only
Airports by runway lengthunpaved only
Networkskm
Military
Army, Air Force, Air Defense Force, Interior | Ministry Troops, Border Guards
7 fieldsTransnational Issues
2 fieldsIllicit 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
Cite this entry
Central Intelligence Agency. “Belarus.” The World Factbook 1999. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/belarus/1999.