Belarus
Republic of BelarusRespublika Byelarus'
republic in name, although in fact a dictatorshipIndependence 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)
Belarus as the 2008 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 133 fields, one of 34 editions from 1992 to 2025.
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Introduction
1 fieldBackground
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.
Since his election in July 1994 as the country's first president, Alexandr LUKASHENKO has steadily consolidated his power through authoritarian means. Government restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, peaceful assembly, and religion continue.
Geography
Eastern Europe, east of Poland
20 fieldsLand useshare of 207,600 sq km
Natural resources
forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)
- total:
- 2.79 cu km/yr (23%/47%/30%)
- per capita:
- 286 cu m/yr (2000)
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-Sulfur 85, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
- signed, but not ratified:
- none of the selected agreements
Geography - note
landlocked; glacial scouring accounts for the flatness of Belarusian terrain and for its 11,000 lakes
People
21 fieldsAge structuremale left, female right · (2008 est.)
Per 1,000 population(2008 est.)
Male · female
Ethnic groups(1999 census)
Government
Republic in name, although in fact a dictatorship; President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994); Prime Minister Sergey SIDORSKIY (since 19 December 2003)
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:
- Byelarus'
- former:
- Belorussian (Byelorussian) Soviet Socialist Republic
Capital
- name:
- Minsk
- geographic coordinates:
- 53 54 N, 27 34 E
- time difference:
- UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
- daylight saving time:
- +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
Administrative divisions
6 provinces (voblastsi, singular - voblasts') and 1 municipality* (horad); Brest, Homyel', Horad Minsk*, Hrodna, Mahilyow, Minsk, Vitsyebsk note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers
National holiday
Independence Day, 3 July (1944); note - 3 July 1944 was the date Minsk was liberated from German troops, 25 August 1991 was the date of independence from the Soviet Union
Constitution
- 15 March 1994;
- revised by national referendum of 24 November 1996 giving the presidency greatly expanded powers and became effective 27 November 1996;
- revised again 17 October 2004 removing presidential term limits
Executive branch
- chief of state:
- President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994)
- head of government:
- Prime Minister Sergey SIDORSKIY (since 19 December 2003); First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir SEMASHKO (since December 2003)
- cabinet:
- Council of Ministers
- 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, Aleksandr LUKASHENKO extended his term to 2001 via a November 1996 referendum;
- subsequent election held 9 September 2001;
- an October 2004 referendum ended presidential term limits and allowed the president to run in a third election, which was held on 19 March 2006;
- prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president
- election results:
- Aleksandr LUKASHENKO reelected president;
- percent of vote - Aleksandr LUKASHENKO 82.6%, Aleksandr MILINKEVICH 6%, Aleksandr KOZULIN 2.3%;
- note - election marred by electoral fraud
Legislative branch
bicameral National Assembly or Natsionalnoye Sobranie consists of the Council of the Republic or Soviet Respubliki (64 seats; 56 members elected by regional councils and eight members appointed by the president, to serve four-year terms) and the Chamber of Representatives or Palata Predstaviteley (110 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
- elections:
- Palata Predstaviteley - last held 28 September 2008 (next to be held fall of 2012);
- international observers widely denounced the elections as flawed and undemocratic based on massive government falsification;
- pro-LUKASHENKO candidates won all 110 seats
- election results:
- Soviet Respubliki - percent of vote by party - NA;
- seats by party - NA;
- Palata Predstaviteley - percent of vote by party - NA;
- seats by party - NA
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
- pro-government parties:
- Agrarian Party or AP [Mikhail SHIMANSKY];
- Belarusian Communist Party or KPB;
- Belarusian Patriotic Movement (Belarusian Patriotic Party) or BPR [Nikolay ULAKHOVICH, chairman];
- Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus [Sergey GAYDUKEVICH];
- Party of Labor and Justice [Viktor SOKOLOV];
- Social-Sports Party [Vladimir ALEXANDROVICH]
- opposition parties:
- Belarusian Christian Democracy Party (unregistered) [Pavel SEVERINETS];
- Belarusian Party of Communists or PKB [Sergey KALYAKIN];
- Belarusian Party of Labor (unregistered) [Aleksandr BUKHVOSTOV, Leonid LEMESHONAK];
- Belarusian Popular Front or BPF [Vintsyuk VYACHORKA];
- Belarusian Social-Democratic Gramada [Stanislav SHUSHKEVICH];
- Belarusian Social Democratic Party Hramada (People's Assembly) or BSDPH [Aleksandr KOZULIN; Anatoliy LEVKOVICH, acting];
- Green Party [Oleg GROMYKO];
- Party of Freedom and Progress (unregistered) [Vladimir NOVOSYAD];
- United Civic Party or UCP [Anatoliy LEBEDKO];
- Women's Party "Nadezhda" [Valentina MATUSEVICH, chairperson]
- other opposition includes:
- Christian Conservative BPF [Zyanon PAZNIAK];
- Ecological Party of Greens [Mikhail KARTASH];
- Party of Popular Accord [Sergey YERMAKK];
- Republican Party [Vladimir BELAZOR]
Political pressure groups and leaders
- Assembly of Pro-Democratic NGOs [Sergey MATSKEVICH];
- Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions [Aleksandr YAROSHUK];
- Belarusian Helsinki Committee [Tatiana PROTKO];
- Belarusian Organization of Working Women [Irina ZHIKHAR];
- Charter 97 [Andrey SANNIKOV];
- For Freedom (unregistered) [Aleksandr MILINKEVICH];
- Lenin Communist Union of Youth (youth wing of the Belarusian Party of Communists or PKB);
- National Strike Committee of Entrepreneurs [Aleksandr VASILYEV, Valery LEVONEVSKY];
- Partnership NGO [Nikolay ASTREYKA];
- Perspektiva kiosk watchdog NGO [Anatol SHUMCHENKO];
- Vyasna [Ales BYALATSKY];
- Women's Independent Democratic Movement [Ludmila PETINA];
- Youth Front (Malady Front) [Dmitriy DASHKEVICH, Sergey BAKHUN];
- Zubr youth group [Vladimir KOBETS]
International organization participation
BSEC (observer), CEI, CIS, CSTO, EAEC, EAPC, EBRD, FAO, GCTU, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, NSG, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)
Diplomatic representation in the US
- chief of mission:
- Ambassador Mikhail KHVOSTOV
- 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 (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Jonathan MOORE
- embassy:
- 46 Starovilenskaya Street, Minsk 220002
- mailing address:
- PSC 78, Box B Minsk, APO 09723
- telephone:
- [375] (17) 210-12-83, 217-7347, 217-7348
- FAX:
- [375] (17) 234-7853
Flag description
- 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 Belarusian national ornamentation in red
Economy
48 fieldsGDP - composition by sector(2007 est.)
Trading partnersexports left, imports right
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 reimposed administrative controls over prices and currency exchange rates and expanded the state's right to intervene in the management of private enterprises.
Since 2005, the government has re-nationalized a number of private companies. In addition, businesses have been subject to pressure by central and local governments, e.g., arbitrary changes in regulations, numerous rigorous inspections, retroactive application of new business regulations, and arrests of "disruptive" businessmen and factory owners.
A wide range of redistributive policies has helped those at the bottom of the ladder; the Gini coefficient is among the lowest in the world. Because of these restrictive economic policies, Belarus has had trouble attracting foreign investment. Nevertheless, GDP growth has been strong in recent years, reaching nearly 7% in 2007, despite the roadblocks of a tough, centrally directed economy with a high, but decreasing, rate of inflation.
Belarus receives heavily discounted oil and natural gas from Russia and much of Belarus' growth can be attributed to the re-export of Russian oil at market prices. Trade with Russia - by far its largest single trade partner - decreased in 2007, largely as a result of a change in the way the Value Added Tax (VAT) on trade was collected.
Russia has introduced an export duty on oil shipped to Belarus, which will increase gradually through 2009, and a requirement that Belarusian duties on re-exported Russian oil be shared with Russia - 80% will go to Russia in 2008, and 85% in 2009. Russia also increased Belarusian natural gas prices from $47 per thousand cubic meters (tcm) to $100 per tcm in 2007, and plans to increase prices gradually to world levels by 2011.
Russia's recent policy of bringing energy prices for Belarus to world market levels may result in a slowdown in economic growth in Belarus over the next few years. Some policy measures, including tightening of fiscal and monetary policies, improving energy efficiency, and diversifying exports, have been introduced, but external borrowing has been the main mechanism used to manage the growing pressures on the economy.
Unemployment rate
1.6% officially registered unemployed; large number of underemployed workers (2005)
Industries
metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, televisions, synthetic fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators
Exports - commodities
machinery and equipment, mineral products, chemicals, metals, textiles, foodstuffs
Exchange rates
Belarusian rubles (BYB/BYR) per US dollar - 2,145 (2007), 2,144.6 (2006), 2,150 (2005), 2,160.26 (2004), 2,051.27 (2003)
Communications
8 fieldsTelephone system
- general assessment:
- Belarus lags behind its neighbors in upgrading telecommunications infrastructure;
- state-owned Beltelcom is the sole provider of fixed-line local and long distance service;
- fixed-line teledensity of roughly 35 per 100 persons;
- mobile-cellular telephone density of about 60 per 100 persons;
- modernization of the network progressing with roughly two-thirds of switching equipment now digital
- domestic:
- fixed-line penetration is improving although rural areas continue to be underserved;
- 3 GSM wireless networks are experiencing rapid growth;
- strict government controls on telecommunications technologies
- international:
- country code - 375;
- 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);
- 3 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 (2007)
Transportation
9 fieldsAirports by runway lengthpaved left, unpaved right
Networkskm
Railways
- total:
- 5,512 km
- broad gauge:
- 5,497 km 1.520-m gauge (874 km electrified)
- standard gauge:
- 15 km 1.435 m (2006)
Military
Belarus Armed Forces: Land Force, Air and Air Defense Force (2008)
6 fieldsMilitary service age and obligation
18-27 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation - 18 months (2005)
Manpower available for military service
- males age 16-49:
- 2,491,643
- females age 16-49:
- 2,528,779 (2008 est.)
Transnational Issues
2 fieldsDisputes - international
- Boundary demarcated with Latvia and Lithuania in 2006;
- 1997 boundary delimitation treaty with Ukraine remains unratified over unresolved financial claims, preventing demarcation and diminishing border security
Illicit 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;
- a small and lightly regulated financial center;
- new anti-money-laundering legislation does not meet international standards;
- few investigations or prosecutions of money-laundering activities
Cite this entry
Central Intelligence Agency. “Belarus.” The World Factbook 2008. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/belarus/2008.