Country Facts - Belarus

The People

Nationality

Belarusian(s)

Ethnic Composition

Belorussian	81.2%
Russian	11.4%
Polish, Ukrainian, Other	7.4%

Religious Composition

Eastern Orthodox	80%
Other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim)	20%

Languages Spoken

Belarusian (official), Russian, other

Education and Literacy

Literacy among the adult population of Belarus is 98 percent. Among males it is 99 percent, among females 97 percent.

Labor Force

Total: 4.8 million (2000)
By occupation:

Services	41%
Industry	40%
Agriculture	19%

(1997)

Geography

Land Mass Total

80,154 sq mi (207,600 sq km)

Land

80,154 sq mi (207,600 sq km)

Water

0 mi/km

Land Boundaries

Total: 1,925 mi (3,098 km)

Border countries: Latvia 87 mi (141 km), Lithuania 311 mi (502 km), Poland 375 mi (605 km), Russia 595 mi (959 km), Ukraine 553 mi (891 km)

Coastline

None, landlocked

Maritime claim

None

Climate/Weather

Cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime climates.

Terrain

Generally flat and contains much marshland.

Elevation extremes

Lowest: Nyoman River 295 ft (90 m)
Highest: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 1,135 ft (346 m)

Natural Resources

Forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay

Land use

Arable land	30%
Permanent crops	1%
Other	69%

(1998)

Environment - current issues

Soil pollution from pesticide use; southern part of the country contaminated with fallout from 1986 nuclear reactor accident at Chernobyl in northern Ukraine.

Geography Note

Landlocked; glacial scouring accounts for the flatness of Belarusian terrain and for its 11,000 lakes; the country is geologically well endowed with extensive deposits of granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, and clay

Demographics

Population

10,335,382 (July 2002)

Age structure

0-14 years:	17.3%	Male: 914,579	Female: 876,346
15-64 years:	68.6%	Male: 3,443,859	Female: 3,643,628
65 years and over:	14.1%	Male: 482,624	Female: 974,346

(2002)

Growth Rate

-0.14% (2002)

Life Expectancy

68.28 years (2002)
female: 74.56 years
male: 62.3 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$8,200 (2001)

Infant Mortality

14.12 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15 years:	1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	0.95 male(s)/female
65 years and over:	0.05 male(s)/female
Total population:	0.88 male(s)/female

(2002)

Net migration rate

2.78 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

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 enterprise. In addition to the burdens imposed by high inflation and persistent trade deficits, businesses have been subject to pressure on the part of 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. Close relations with Russia, possibly leading to reunion, color the pattern of economic developments. For the time being, Belarus remains self-isolated from the West and its open-market economies, while trying to encourage investment from former communist economies. In October 2002, Lukashenko even approached the Vietnamese with requests for commercial investment. Belarus continues to "share" its budget with Russia but has repeatedly failed to deposit its contribution. Added to these woes, the Belarusian government still has US$60 million in wage arrears to state employees. Even a volte-face in Belarus' economic plan would take decades to bring the nation to the break-even point.

Unemployment

2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers

Inflation Rate

46.1% (2001)

Industries

Metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earth movers, motorcycles, TV sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators.

Exports

US$7.5 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports

US$8.1 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$84.8 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

Russia 51%, Ukraine 8%, Poland 4%, Germany 3% (2000)

Top Import Partners

Russia 65%, Germany 7%, Poland 3% (2000)

Top Exports

Machinery and equipment, mineral products, chemicals, textiles, foodstuffs, metals

Top Imports

Mineral products, machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, metals

Debt - external

US$770 million (2001)

Economic aid

US$194.3 million (1995)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	9a.m. to 5p.m.	Closed
Retail	10a.m. to 7p.m.	Saturday 10a.m. to 7p.m.
Banks	9a.m. to 4p.m.	Closed
Government	9a.m. to 5p.m.	Closed

Note: Many retail-level products are in short supply and many stores are open based on inventory levels rather than a regular schedule....

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2002	2003	2004
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Christmas (Orthodox)¹	January 7	January 7	January 7
International Women's Day	March 8	March 8	March 8
Constitution Day	March 15	March 15	March 15
Easter (Catholic)²	April 20	April 11	March 27
Labor Day	May 1	May1	May 1
Easter (Orthodox)²	April 27	April 11	May 1
Victory Day, Mother's Day, Veteran's Day	May 9	May 9	May 9
The Holy Trinity (Radunitsa)³	June 15	May 30	June 20
Independence Day	July 3	July 3	July 3
Remembrance Day (Dzyady)	November 2	November 2	November 2
October Revolution Remembrance Day	November 7	November 7	November 7
Christmas Day¹	December 25	December 25	December 25

¹	Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.
²	Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday. In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.
³	The Christian feast of Pentecost, Whit Sunday or Whit Monday takes place 50 days after Easter, in observation of the day God came to the disciples through the Holy Ghost. The Orthodox church in Belarus calls this day the Feast of the Holy Trinity.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press