Belarus

total:

2.79 cu km/yr (23%/47%/30%)

per capita:

286 cu m/yr (2000)

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

noun:

Belarusian(s)

adjective:

Belarusian

at birth:

1.062 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

0.94 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.47 male(s)/female

total population:

0.87 male(s)/female (2011 est.)

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

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 and will continue throughout 2011

• 6 provinces (voblastsi, singular - voblasts') and 1 municipality* (horad);
• Brest, Homyel' (Gomel), Horad Minsk* (Minsk City), Hrodna (Grodno), Mahilyow (Mogilev), Minsk, Vitsyebsk (Vitebsk)

note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers; Russian spelling provided for reference when different from Belarusian

• 15 March 1994;
• revised by national referendum 24 November 1996 giving the presidency greatly expanded powers;
• became effective 27 November 1996;
• revised again 17 October 2004 removing presidential term limits

chief of state:

President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994)

head of government:

Prime Minister Mikhail MYASNIKOVICH (since 28 December 2010); First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir SEMASHKO (since December 2003)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers; (For more information visit theWorld Leaders website)

elections:

• president elected by popular vote for a five-year term;
• first election took place on 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 on 9 September 2001;
• an October 2004 referendum ended presidential term limits and allowed the president to run in a third (19 March 2006) and fourth election (19 December 2010);
• prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president

election results:

• Aleksandr LUKASHENKO reelected president;
• percent of vote - Aleksandr LUKASHENKO 79.7%, Andrey SANNIKAU 2.6%, other candidates 17.7%;
• note - election marred by electoral fraud

• 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)

pro-government parties:

• Belarusian Agrarian Party or AP [Mikhail SHIMANSKY];
• Belarusian Patriotic Movement (Belarusian Patriotic Party) or BPR [Nikolay ULAKHOVICH, chairman];
• Communist Party of Belarus or KPB [Tatsyana HOLUBEVA];
• Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Sergey GAYDUKEVICH];
• Republican Party of Labor and Justice [Vasiliy ZADNEPRYANYY]

opposition parties:

• Belarusian Christian Democracy Party [Pavel SEVERINETS] (unregistered);
• Belarusian Party of Communists or PKB [Sergey KALYAKIN];
• Belarusian Party of Labor [Aleksandr BUKHVOSTOV] (unregistered);
• Belarusian Popular Front or BPF [Aleksey YANUKEVICH];
• Belarusian Social-Democratic Hramada [Stanislav SHUSHKEVICH];
• Belarusian Social Democratic Party Hramada ("Assembly") or BSDPH [Anatoliy LEVKOVICH];
• Belarusian Social Democratic Party People's Assembly ("Narodnaya Hramada") [Nikolay STATKEVICH] (unregistered);
• Belarusian Women's Party Nadzeya ("Hope") [Yelena YESKOVA, chairperson];
• Christian Conservative Party or BPF [Zyanon PAZNIAK];
• European Belarus Campaign [Andrey SANNIKOV];
• Party of Freedom and Progress [Vladimir NOVOSYAD] (unregistered);
• "Tell the Truth" Campaign [Vladimir NEKLYAYEV];
• United Civic Party or UCP [Anatoliy LEBEDKO]

• Assembly of Pro-Democratic NGOs (unregistered) [Sergey MATSKEVICH];
• Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions [Aleksandr YAROSHUK];
• Belarusian Association of Journalists [Zhana LITVINA];
• Belarusian Helsinki Committee [Aleh HULAK];
• Belarusian Independence Bloc (unregistered) and For Freedom movement [Aleksandr MILINKEVICH];
• Belarusian Organization of Working Women [Irina ZHIKHAR];
• BPF-Youth [Andrus KRECHKA];
• Charter 97 (unregistered) [Andrey SANNIKOV];
• Perspektiva small business association [Anatol SHUMCHENKO];
• Nasha Vyasna (unregistered) ("Our Spring") human rights center;
• "Tell the Truth" Movement [Vladimir NEKLYAYEV];
• Women's Independent Democratic Movement [Ludmila PETINA];
• Young Belarus (Malady Belarus) [Zmitser KASPYAROVICH];
• Youth Front (Malady Front) [Zmitser DASHKEVICH]

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Oleg KRAVCHENKO

chancery:

1619 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009

telephone:

[1] (202) 986-1604

FAX:

[1] (202) 986-1805

consulate(s) general:

New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Michael SCANLAN

embassy:

46 Starovilenskaya Street, Minsk 220002

mailing address:

PSC 78, Box B Minsk, APO 09723

telephone:

[375] (17) 210-12-83, 217-7347 through 7348

FAX:

[375] (17) 334-7853

• 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 Belarusian national ornamentation in red;
• the red band color recalls past struggles from oppression, the green band represents hope and the many forests of the country

agriculture:

14%

industry:

34.7%

services:

51.3% (2003 est.)

lowest 10%:

3.8%

highest 10%:

21.9% (2008)

general assessment:

• Belarus lags behind its neighbors in upgrading telecommunications infrastructure;
• modernization of the network progressing with roughly two-thirds of switching equipment now digital

domestic:

• state-owned Beltelcom is the sole provider of fixed-line local and long distance service;
• fixed-line teledensity is improving although rural areas continue to be underserved;
• multiple GSM mobile-cellular networks are experiencing rapid growth;
• mobile-cellular teledensity now exceeds 100 telephones per 100 persons

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 (2008)

• 4 state-controlled national TV channels;
• Polish and Russian TV broadcasts are available in some areas;
• state-run Belarusian Radio operates 3 national networks and an external service;
• Russian and Polish radio broadcasts are available (2007)

total:

5,537 km

country comparison to the world: 32

broad gauge:

5,512 km 1.520-m gauge (874 km electrified)

standard gauge:

25 km 1.435-m gauge (2010)

total:

94,797 km

country comparison to the world: 47

paved:

84,028 km

unpaved:

10,769 km (2005)

males age 16-49:

2,401,785

females age 16-49:

2,429,653 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

1,693,626

females age 16-49:

2,012,401 (2010 est.)

male:

51,855

female:

48,760 (2010 est.)

• boundary demarcated with Latvia and Lithuania;
• Poland seeks enhanced demarcation and security along this Schengen hard border with financial assistance from the EU

current situation:

• Belarus is a source, destination, and transit country for women, men, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor;
• women and children are subjected to sex trafficking in Russia, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Spain, Greece, Belgium, Turkey, Israel, Lebanon, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and within Belarus;
• Belarusian men, women, and children are found in forced begging, as well as in forced labor in the construction industry and other sectors in Russia and Belarus

tier rating:

• Tier 2 Watch List - the government did not demonstrate evidence of increasing anti-trafficking efforts;
• instead, it weakened victim protection efforts and prosecuted and convicted fewer trafficking offenders than in previous years;
• however, the government did conduct anti-trafficking prevention campaigns jointly with NGOs, identifying a number of victims of trafficking, and providing limited in-kind assistance to anti-trafficking NGOs (2011)

• 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;
• anti-money-laundering legislation does not meet international standards and was weakened further when know-your-customer requirements were curtailed in 2008;
• few investigations or prosecutions of money-laundering activities (2008)