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Communications

Airports [time series]

total: 124 useable: 55 with permanent-surface runways: 31 with runways over 3,659 m: 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 28 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 20

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

98,200 km total; 66,100 km hard surfaced, 32,100 km earth (1990)

Waterways (Inland waterways) [time series]

NA km

Merchant marine [time series]

claims 5% of former Soviet fleet

Pipelines [time series]

crude oil 1,470 km, refined products 1,100 km, natural gas 1,980 km (1992)

Ports [time series]

none; landlocked

Railways (Railroads) [time series]

5,570 km; does not include industrial lines (1990)

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

construction of NMT-450 analog cellular network proceeding in Minsk, in addition to installation of some 300 km of fiber optic cable in the city network; telephone network has 1.7 million lines, 15% of which are switched automatically; Minsk has 450,000 lines; telephone density is approximately 17 per 100 persons; as of 1 December 1991, 721,000 applications from households for telephones were still unsatisfied; international connections to other former Soviet republics are by landline or microwave and to other countries by leased connection through the Moscow international gateway switch; Belarus has not constructed ground stations for international telecommunications via satellite to date

Defense Forces

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

Army, Air Forces, Air Defense Forces, Security Forces (internal and border troops)

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

56.5 billion rubles, NA% of GDP (1993 est.); note - conversion of the military budget into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading results

Manpower availability [time series]

males age 15-49 2,491,039; fit for military service 1,964,577; reach military age (18) annually 71,875 (1993 est.)

Economy

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

accounts for almost 25% of GDP and 5.7% of total agricultural output of former Soviet Union; employs 20% of the labor force; in 1988 produced the following (in percent of total Soviet production): grain (3.6%), potatoes (12.2%), vegetables (3.0%), meat (6.0%), milk (7.0%); net exporter of meat, milk, eggs, flour, potatoes

Budget [time series]

revenues $NA; expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

1 rubel (abbreviation NA) = 10 Russian rubles note: the rubel circulates with the Russian ruble; certain purchase are made only with rubels; government has established a different, and varying, exchange rate for trade between Belarus and Russia

Economic aid [time series]

Electricity [time series]

8,025,000 kW capacity; 37,600 million kWh produced, 3,626 kWh per capita (1992)

Exchange rates [time series]

Exports [time series]

$1.1 billion to outside of the successor states of the former USSR (f.o.b., 1992) commodities: machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs partners: NA

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$2.6 billion (end of 1991)

Fiscal year [time series]

calendar year

Illicit drugs [time series]

illicit producer of opium and cannabis; mostly for the domestic market; transshipment point for illicit drugs to Western Europe

Imports [time series]

$751 million from outside the successor states of the former USSR (c.i.f., 1992) commodities: machinery, chemicals, textiles partners: NA

Industrial production growth rate (Industrial production) [time series]

growth rate -9.6%; accounts for about 50% of GDP (1992)

Industries [time series]

employ about 27% of labor force and produce a wide variety of products essential to the other states; products include (in percent share of total output of former Soviet Union): tractors (12%); metal-cutting machine tools (11%); off-highway dump trucks up to 110-metric-ton load capacity (100%); wheel-type earthmovers for construction and mining (100%); eight- wheel-drive, high-flotation trucks with cargo capacity of 25 metric tons for use in tundra and roadless areas (100%); equipment for animal husbandry and livestock feeding (25%); motorcycles (21.3%); television sets (11%); chemical fibers (28%); fertilizer (18%); linen fabric (11%); wool fabric (7%); radios; refrigerators; and other consumer goods

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

30% per month (first quarter 1993)

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (National product) [time series]

GDP $NA

Real GDP per capita (National product per capita) [time series]

$NA

Real GDP growth rate (National product real growth rate) [time series]

-13% (1992 est.)

Economic overview (Overview) [time series]

In many ways Belarus resembles the three Baltic states, for example, in its industrial competence, its higher-than-average standard of living, and its critical dependence on the other former Soviet states for fuels and raw materials. Belarus ranks fourth in gross output among the former Soviet republics, having produced 4% of the total GDP and employing 4% of the labor force in the old USSR. Once a mainly agricultural area, it now supplies important producer and consumer goods - sometimes as the sole producer - to the other states. Belarus had a significant share of the machine-building capacity of the former USSR. It is especially noted for production of tractors, large trucks, machine tools, and automation equipment. The soil in Belarus is not as fertile as the black earth of Ukraine, but by emphasizing favorable crops and livestock (especially pigs and chickens), Belarus has become a net exporter to the other former republics of meat, milk, eggs, flour, and potatoes. Belarus produces only small amounts of oil and gas and receives most of its fuel from Russia through the Druzhba oil pipeline and the Northern Lights gas pipeline. These pipelines transit Belarus en route to Eastern Europe. Belarus produces petrochemicals, plastics, synthetic fibers (nearly 30% of former Soviet output), and fertilizer (20% of former Soviet output). Raw material resources are limited to potash and peat deposits. The peat (more than one-third of the total for the former Soviet Union) is used in domestic heating, as boiler fuel for electric power stations, and in the production of chemicals. The potash supports fertilizer production. In 1992 GDP fell an estimated 13%, largely because the country is highly dependent on the ailing Russian economy for raw materials and parts.

Unemployment rate [time series]

0.5% of officially registered unemployed; large numbers of underemployed workers

Geography

Area [time series]

total area: 207,600 km2 land area: 207,600 km2 comparative area: slightly smaller than Kansas

Climate [time series]

mild and moist; transitional between continental and maritime

Coastline [time series]

0 km (landlocked)

Environment - current issues (Environment) [time series]

southern part of Belarus highly contaminated with fallout from 1986 nuclear reactor accident at Chornobyl'

Disputes - international (International disputes) [time series]

none

Irrigated land [time series]

1,490 km2 (1990)

Land boundaries [time series]

total 3,098 km, Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 605 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km

Land use [time series]

arable land: 29% permanent crops: 0% meadows and pastures: 15% forest and woodland: 0% other: 56%

Location [time series]

Eastern Europe, between Poland and Russia

Map references [time series]

Asia, Commonwealth of Independent States - European States, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims [time series]

none; landlocked

Natural resources [time series]

forest land, peat deposits

Note [time series]

landlocked

Terrain [time series]

generally flat and contains much marshland

Government

Administrative divisions [time series]

6 oblasts (voblastsi, singular - voblasts') and one municipality* (harady,, singular - horad); note: each voblasts' has the same name as its administrative center

Capital [time series]

Minsk

Constitution [time series]

adopted NA April 1978

Digraph [time series]

Diplomatic representation in the US (Diplomatic representation in US) [time series]

chief of mission: Ambassador Designate Sergey Nikolayevich MARTYNOV chancery: 1511 K Street NW, Suite 619, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: (202) 638-2954

Executive branch (Elections) [time series]

Supreme Soviet: last held 4 April 1990 (next to be held NA); results - Communists 87%; seats - (360 total) number of seats by party NA; note - 50 seats are for public bodies; the Communist Party obtained an overwhelming majority

Executive branch [time series]

chairman of the Supreme Soviet, chairman of the Council of Ministers; note - Belarus has approved a directly elected presidency but so far no elections have been scheduled

Flag [time series]

three horizontal bands of white (top), red, and white

Independence [time series]

25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)

Judicial branch [time series]

Supreme Court

Executive branch (Leaders) [time series]

Chief of State: Chairman of the Supreme Soviet Stanislav S. SHUSHKEVICH (since 18 September 1991) Head of Government: Prime Minister Vyacheslav F. KEBICH (since NA April 1990), First Deputy Prime Minister Mikhail MYASNIKOVICH (since NA 1991)

Legal system [time series]

based on civil law system

Legislative branch [time series]

unicameral Supreme Soviet

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

CBSS (observer), CIS, CSCE, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ILO, IMF, INMARSAT, IOC, ITU, NACC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

Country name (Names) [time series]

conventional long form: Republic of Belarus conventional short form: Belarus local long form: Respublika Belarus local short form: none former: Belorussian (Byelorussian) Soviet Socialist Republic

National holiday [time series]

24 August (1991)

Political parties (Political parties and leaders) [time series]

Belarusian Popular Front (BPF), Zenon PAZNYAK, chairman; United Democratic Party of Belarus (UDPB), Aleksandr DOBROVOLSKIY, chairman; Social Democratic Party of Belarus (SDBP), Mikhail TKACHEV, chairman; Belarus Workers Union, Mikhail SOBOL, Chairman; Belarus Peasants Party; Party of People's Unity, Gennadiy KARPENKO; Communist Party of Belarus

Suffrage [time series]

18 years of age; universal

Government type (Type) [time series]

republic

Diplomatic representation from the US (US diplomatic representation) [time series]

chief of mission: Ambassador David H. SWARTZ embassy: Starovilenskaya #46, Minsk mailing address: APO AE 09862 telephone: 7-0172-34-65-37

People

Birth rate [time series]

13.28 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Death rate [time series]

11.1 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

Belarusian 77.9%, Russian 13.2%, Polish 4.1%, Ukrainian 2.9%, other 1.9%

Infant mortality rate [time series]

19.2 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)

Labor force [time series]

5.418 million by occupation: industry and construction 42%, agriculture and forestry 20%, other 38% (1990)

Languages [time series]

Byelorussian, Russian, other

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

total population: 70.73 years male: 66.04 years female: 75.66 years (1993 est.)

Literacy [time series]

age 9-49 can read and write (1970) total population: 100% male: 100% female: 100%

Nationality [time series]

noun: Belarusian(s) adjective: Belarusian

Net migration rate [time series]

1.26 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Population [time series]

10,370,269 (July 1993 est.)

Population growth rate [time series]

0.34% (1993 est.)

Religions [time series]

Eastern Orthodox NA%, other NA%

Total fertility rate [time series]

1.89 children born/woman (1993 est.)