Belarus

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Belarus

General Information
Geography
Government
Economy
Population
Health
Communications and media
Chronology


GENERAL INFORMATION

National name Respublika Belarus/Republic of Belarus Area 207,600 sq km/80,154 sq mi Capital Minsk (Belorussian Mensk) Language Belorussian (official), Russian, Polish Religion 80% Eastern Orthodox; Baptist, Roman Catholic Muslim, and Jewish minorities Time difference GMT +2 Major holidays 1, 7 January, 8 March, 1, 9 May, 3, 27 July, 2 November, 25 December; variable: Good Friday, Easter Monday


GEOGRAPHY

Major towns/cities Gomel, Vitsyebsk, Mahilyow, Bobruisk, Hrodna, Brest Physical features more than 25% forested; rivers Dvina, Dnieper and its tributaries, including the Pripet and Beresina; the Pripet Marshes in the east; mild and damp climate Airports one international airport and one largely domestic airport; total passengers carried: 234,000 (2003 est) Railways total length: 5,523 km/3,430 mi; total passenger journeys: 165 million (1999) Roads total road network: 93,055 km/57,822 mi, of which 100% paved (2003 est); passenger cars: 168.4 per 1,000 people (2003 est)


GOVERNMENT

Head of state Alexandr Lukashenko from 1994 Head of government Sjarhej Sidorski from 2003 Political system authoritarian nationalist Political executive unlimited presidency Administrative divisions six regions (oblasts) Political parties Belarus Communist Party (BCP, banned 1991–92); Belarus Patriotic Movement (BPM), populist; Belorussian Popular Front (BPF; Adradzhenne), moderate nationalist; Christian Democratic Union of Belarus, centrist; Socialist Party of Belarus, left of centre Death penalty retained and used for ordinary crimes Armed forces 72,900; plus paramilitary forces of 110,000 (2006 est) Conscription compulsory for 9–12 months Defence spend (% GDP) 1.2 (2005 est) Education spend (% GDP) 6 (2001 est) Health spend (% GDP) 4.9 (2004)


ECONOMY

Currency Belarus rouble, or zaichik GDP (US$) 29.6 billion (2005 est) Real GDP growth (% change on previous year) 7 (2006 est) GNI (US$) 27 billion (2005 est) GNI per capita (PPP) (US$) 7,890 (2005 est) Consumer price inflation 7.9% (2006 est) Unemployment 3% (2005 est) Labour force 10.7% agriculture, 37.6% industry, 51.7% services (2004) Foreign debt (US$) 3.7 billion (2004 est) Major trading partners Russia, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, the Netherlands, UK, Italy, USA Resources petroleum, natural gas, peat, salt, coal, lignite Industries machine building, metalworking, electronics, chemicals, construction materials, food processing, textiles Exports machinery, petroleum and gas, chemicals and rubber, iron and steel, light industrial goods, textiles. Principal market: Russia 59.3% (2005) Imports petroleum, natural gas, chemicals and rubber, machinery and equipment, processed foods, agricultural raw materials. Principal source: Russia 59.3% (2005) Arable land 26.8% (2006 est) Agricultural products potatoes, grain, sugar beet; livestock rearing (cattle and pigs) and dairy products. Livestock sector accounts for approximately 60% of agricultural output


POPULATION

Population 9,699,900 (2006 est) Population growth rate -0.8% (2005–10) Population density (per sq km) 47 (2006 est) Urban population (% of total) 72 (2005 est) Age distribution (% of total population) 0–14 15%, 15–59 66%, 60+ 19% (2005 est) Ethnic groups 78% of Belorussian (‘eastern Slav’) descent, 13% ethnic Russian, 4% Polish, 3% Ukranian, 1% Jewish Life expectancy 63 (men); 75 (women) (2005–10) Child mortality rate (under 5, per 1,000 live births) 11 (2004) Education (compulsory years) 9 Literacy rate 99% (men); 99% (women) (2004 est)


HEALTH

Physicians (per 10,000 people) 45.1 (2004 est) Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) 11.3 (2003 est) HIV infection (% of population aged 15–49) 0.3 (2005 est) Access to drinking-water source (% of total population) 100 (urban); 100 (rural) (2002)


COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

Landline telephones (per 100 people) 33.7 (2005 est) Mobile phone subscribers (per 100 people) 42 (2005 est) Radios (per 1,000 people) 199 (2001 est) TV sets (per 1,000 people) 386 (2004 est) Internet users (per 100 people) 34.8 (2005 est)


CHRONOLOGY

5th–8th centuries Settled by East Slavic tribes, ancestors of present-day Belorussians. 11th century Minsk was founded. 12th century Part of Kievan Russia, to the south, with independent Belarus state developing around Polotsk, on River Dvina. 14th century Incorporated within Slavonic Grand Duchy of Lithuania, to the west. 1569 Union with Poland. late 18th century Came under control of tsarist Russia as Belarussia (‘White Russia’), following three partitions of Poland in 1772, 1793, and 1795. 1812 Minsk destroyed by French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte during his campaign against Russia. 1839 Belorussian Catholic Church abolished. 1914–18 Belarus was site of fierce fighting between Germany and Russia during World War I. 1918–19 Briefly independent from Russia. 1919–20 Wars between Poland and Soviet Russia over control of Belarus. 1921 West Belarus ruled by Poland; East Belarus became Soviet republic. 1930s Agriculture collectivized despite peasant resistance; over 100,000 people, chiefly writers and intellectuals, shot in mass executions ordered by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. 1939 West Belarus occupied by Soviet troops. 1941–44 Nazi occupation resulted in deaths of 1.3 million people, including many Jews; Minsk destroyed. 1945 Belarus became founding member of United Nations (UN); much of West Belarus incorporated into Soviet republic. 1950s–60s Large-scale immigration of ethnic Russians and ‘Russification’. 1986 Fallout from nearby Chernobyl nuclear reactor in Ukraine rendered 20% of agricultural land unusable. 1989 Belorussian Popular Front established as national identity revived under glasnost initiative of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. 1990 Belorussian established as state language and republican sovereignty declared. 1991 Independence recognized by USA; Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) formed in Minsk. 1994 Autocratic and pro-Russian Alexander Lukashenko became president. 1996 Agreement on economic union signed with Russia. 1997 Pro-democracy demonstrations. 1998 Belarus rouble devalued. Food rationing imposed as economy deteriorated. 2001 Lukashenko returned to office in disputed elections. 2004 Opposition parties failed to win seats in parliamentary elections; USA imposed sanctions on Belarus. 2006 Landslide re-election of Lukashenko condemned as unfair by Western observers; opposition leaders detained during street demonstrations. 2006–07 Serious disputes with Russia over gas supply prices and oil export duties during December–January.


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