Belarus

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.

party to:

Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 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

• 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

0-14 years:

16.8% (male 885,265; female 848,516)

15-64 years:

68.9% (male 3,456,769; female 3,652,766)

65 years and over:

14.3% (male 490,529; female 988,306) (2003 est.)

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 (2003 est.)

noun:

Belarusian(s)

adjective:

Belarusian

conventional long form:

Republic of Belarus

conventional short form:

Belarus

local short form:

none

former:

Belorussian (Byelorussian) Soviet Socialist Republic

local long form:

Respublika Byelarus'

• 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 - when using a place name with the adjectival ending 'skaya,' the word voblasts' should be added to the place name

note: voblasti have the administrative center name following in parentheses

chief of state:

President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994)

head of government:

• Prime Minister Sergei SIDORSKY (acting; since 10 July 2003);
• Deputy Prime Ministers Andrei KOBYAKOV (since 13 March 2000), Sergei SIDORSKY (since 24 September 2001), Vladimir DRAZHIN (since 24 September 2001), Roman VNUCHKO (since 10 July 2003)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers

election results:

Aleksandr LUKASHENKO reelected president; percent of vote - Aleksandr LUKASHENKO 75.6%, Vladimir GONCHARIK 15.4%

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 (next election to be held by September 2006);
• prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president

• 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)

• Agrarian Party or AP [Mikhail SHIMANSKY];
• Belarusian Communist Party or KPB [Viktor CHIKIN, chairman];
• Belarusian Ecological Green Party (merger of Belarusian Ecological Party and Green Party of Belarus) [leader NA];
• Belarusian Patriotic Movement (Belarusian Patriotic Party) or BPR [Anatoliy BARANKEVICH, chairman];
• Belarusian Popular Front or BNF [Vintsuk VYACHORKA];
• Belarusian Social-Democrat Party or SDBP [Nikolay STATKEVICH, chairman];
• Belarusian Social-Democratic Party or Hromada [Stanislav SHUSHKEVICH, chairman];
• Belarusian Socialist Party [Vyacheslav KUZNETSOV];
• Civic Accord Bloc (United Civic Party) or CAB [Anatol LIABEDZKA];
• Liberal Democratic Party or LDPB [Sergei GAYDUKEVICH, chairman];
• Party of Communists Belarusian or PKB [Sergei KALYAKIN, chairman];
• Republican Party of Labor and Justice or RPPS [Anatoliy NETYLKIN, chairman];
• Social-Democrat Party of Popular Accord or PPA [Leanid SECHKA];
• Women's Party or "Nadezhda" [Valentina POLEVIKOVA, chairperson]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Mikhail KHVOSTOV

chancery:

1619 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009

consulate(s) general:

New York

FAX:

[1] (202) 986-1805

telephone:

[1] (202) 986-1604

chief of mission:

Ambassador Michael G. KOZAK

embassy:

46 Starovilenskaya St., Minsk 220002

mailing address:

PSC 78, Box B Minsk, APO 09723

telephone:

[375] (17) 210-12-83

FAX:

[375] (17) 234-7853

• 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 a Belarusian national ornament in red

lowest 10%:

5.1%

highest 10%:

20% (1998)

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'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 (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

total:

5,523 km

broad gauge:

5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2002)

total:

74,385 km

paved:

66,203 km

unpaved:

8,182 km (2000)

• 1997 boundary treaty with Ukraine remains unratified over unresolved financial claims, preventing demarcation and encouraging illegal border crossing;
• boundaries with Latvia and Lithuania remain undemarcated despite European Union financial support

• 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;
• lax money-laundering and banking regulations