Belarus

agricultural land:

43.7%;

• arable land 27.2%;
• permanent crops 0.6%;
• permanent pasture 15.9%

forest:

42.7%

other:

13.6% (2011 est.)

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:

1.06 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

0.97 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.79 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.46 male(s)/female

total population:

0.87 male(s)/female (2016 est.)

name:

Minsk

geographic coordinates:

53 54 N, 27 34 E

time difference:

UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

• 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

history:

several previous; latest drafted between late 1991 and early 1994, signed 15 March 1994

amendments:

• proposed by the president of the republic through petition to the National Assembly or by petition of least 150,000 eligible voters;
• approval required by at least two-thirds majority vote in both chambers or by simple majority of votes cast in a referendum (2016)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of Belarus

dual citizenship recognized:

no

residency requirement for naturalization:

7 years

chief of state:

president Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994)

head of government:

prime minister Andrey KOBYAKOV (since 27 December 2014); first deputy prime minister Vasily MATYUSHEVSKIY (since 27 December 2014)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers appointed by the president

elections/appointments:

• president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (no term limits);
• 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 and win in a third (19 March 2006), fourth (19 December 2010), and fifth election (11 October 2015);
• next election in 2020;
• prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president and approved by the National Assembly

election results:

• Aleksandr LUKASHENKO reelected president;
• percent of vote - Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (independent) 83.5%, Tatsiana KARATKEVICH (Tell the Truth) 4.4%, Sergey GAYDUKEVICH (LDP) 3.3%, other 8.8%;
• note - election marred by electoral fraud

description:

bicameral National Assembly or Natsionalnoye Sobraniye consists of the Council of the Republic or Sovet Respubliki (64 seats; 56 members indirectly elected by regional and Minsk city councils and 8 members appointed by the president; members serve 4-year terms) and the House of Representatives or Palata Predstaviteley (110 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by absolute majority vote in 2 rounds if needed; members serve 4-year terms); note - the US does not recognize the legitimacy of the National Assembly

elections:

• House of Representatives - last held on 11 September 2016 (next to be held in 2020);
• OSCE observers determined that the election was neither free nor impartial and that vote counting was problematic in a number of polling stations;
• pro-LUKASHENKO candidates won virtually every seat, with only the UCP member and one independent forming alternative representation in the House;
• international observers determined that the previous elections, on 28 September 2008 and 23 September 2012, also fell short of democratic standards, with pro-LUKASHENKO candidates winning every seat

election results:

• Council of the Republic - percent of vote by party - NA;
• seats by party - NA;
• House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA;
• seats by party - KPB 8, Belarusian Patriotic Party 3, Republican Party of Labor and Justice 3, LDP 1, UCP 1, independent 94

highest court(s):

• Supreme Court (consists of the chairman and deputy chairman and organized into several specialized panels, including economic and military; number of judges set by the president of the republic and the court chairman);
• Constitutional Court (consists of 12 judges including a chairman and deputy chairman)

judge selection and term of office:

• Supreme Court judges appointed by the president with the consent of the Council of the Republic;
• judges initially appointed for 5 years and evaluated for life appointment;
• Constitutional Court judges - 6 appointed by the president and 6 elected by the Council of the Republic;
• the presiding judge directly elected by the president and approved by the Council of the Republic;
• judges can serve for 11 years with an age limit of 70

subordinate courts:

• provincial (including Minsk city) courts;
• first instance (district) courts;
• economic courts;
• military courts

• Belarusian Agrarian Party or AP [Mikhail SHIMANSKIY]
• Belarusian Patriotic Party [Nikolai ULAKHOVICH]
• Belarusian Socialist Sporting Party [Vladimir ALEKSANDROVICH]
• Communist Party of Belarus or KPB [Georgi ATAMANOV]
• Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Sergey GAYDUKEVICH]
• Republican Party [Vladimir BELOZOR]
• Republican Party of Labor and Justice [Vasiliy ZADNEPRYANIY]
• Belarusian Christian Democracy Party [Pavel SEVERINETS] (unregistered)
• Belarusian Party of the Green [Anastasiya DOROFEYEVA]
• Belarusian Party of the Left "Just World" [Sergey KALYAKIN]
• Belarusian Popular Front or BPF [Aleksey YANUKEVICH]
• Belarusian Social-Democratic Assembly [Stanislav SHUSHKEVICH]
• Belarusian Social Democratic Party ("Assembly") or BSDPH [Irina VESHTARD]
• Belarusian Social Democratic Party (People's Assembly) [Nikolay STATKEVICH] (unregistered)
• Christian Conservative Party or BPF [Zyanon PAZNYAK]
• United Civic Party or UCP [Anatoliy LEBEDKO]

• Assembly of Pro-Democratic NGOs [Sergey MATSKEVICH] (unregistered)
• Belarusian Association of Journalists [Andrei BASTUNETS]
• Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions or BRDP [Aleksandr YAROSHUK]
• Belarusian Helsinki Committee or BHC [Aleh HULAK]
• For Freedom Movement [Yuri GUBAREVICH]
• Malady Front (Young Front) [Zmitser DASHKEVICH] (unregistered)
• Vyasna (Spring) human rights center [Ales BELYATSKIY] (unregistered)
• Perspektiva [Anatoliy SHUMCHENKO] (small business association)
• "Tell the Truth" Movement [Tatsiana KARATKEVICH] (unregistered)
• Women's Independent Democratic Movement [Ludmila PETINA]

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant; recalled by Belarus in 2008); Charge d'Affaires Pavel SHIDLOVSKIY (since 23 April 2014)

chancery:

1619 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009

telephone:

[1] (202) 986-1606

FAX:

[1] (202) 986-1805

consulate(s) general:

New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant; left in 2008 upon insistence of Belarusian Government); Charge d'Affaires Robert RILEY (since 22 August 2016)

embassy:

46 Starovilenskaya Street, Minsk 220002

mailing address:

Unit 7010 Box 100, DPO AE 09769

telephone:

[375] (17) 210-1283

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 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:

9.7%

industry:

23.4%

services:

66.8% (2015 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 over 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;
• the country has three major GSM mobile-cellular networks;
• mobile-cellular teledensity now approaches 120 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 (2017)

• 7 state-controlled national TV channels;
• Polish and Russian TV broadcasts are available in some areas;
• state-run Belarusian Radio operates 5 national networks and an external service;
• Russian and Polish radio broadcasts are available (2017)

number of registered air carriers:

2; inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 30

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

1,489,035

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

1.807 million mt-km (2015)

total:

5,528 km

broad gauge:

5,503 km 1.520-m gauge (874 km electrified)

standard gauge:

25 km 1.435-m gauge (2014)

country comparison to the world: 34

total:

86,392 km

paved:

74,651 km

unpaved:

11,741 km (2010)

country comparison to the world: 56

• 18-27 years of age for compulsory military or alternative service;
• conscript service obligation is 12-18 months, depending on academic qualifications, and 24-36 months for alternative service, depending on academic qualifications;
• 17 year olds are eligible to become cadets at military higher education institutes, where they are classified as military personnel (2016)

• boundary demarcated with Latvia and Lithuania;
• as a member state that forms part of the EU's external border, Poland has implemented strict Schengen border rules to restrict illegal immigration and trade along its border with Belarus

refugees (country of origin):

244,621 applicants for forms of legal stay other than asylum (Ukraine) (2017)

stateless persons:

6,182 (2016)

current situation:

• Belarus is a source, transit, and destination country for women, men, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor;
• more victims are exploited within Belarus than abroad;
• Belarusians exploited abroad are primarily trafficked to Germany, Poland, Russian, and Turkey but also other European countries, the Middle East, Japan, Kazakhstan, and Mexico;
• Moldovans, Russians, Ukrainians, and Vietnamese are exploited in Belarus;
• state-sponsored forced labor is a continuing problem;
• students are forced to do farm labor without pay and military conscripts are forced to perform unpaid non-military work;
• the government has retained a decree forbidding workers in state-owned wood processing factories from leaving their jobs without their employers’ permission

tier rating:

• Tier 3 – Belarus does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and was placed on Tier 3 after being on the Tier 2 Watch List for two consecutive years without making progress;
• government efforts to repeal state-sponsored forced labor policies and domestic trafficking were inadequate;
• no trafficking offenders were convicted in 2014, and the number of investigations progressively declined from 2005-14;
• efforts to protect trafficking victims remain insufficient, with no identification and referral mechanism in place;
• care facilities were not trafficking-specific and were poorly equipped, leading most victims to seek assistance from private shelters (2015)

• 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