BELARUS
BASIC INFO:
Population 2017 9,549,747
GDP per capita 2017 (PPI, US$)... 18,900
GDP 2017 (PPI, US$ billions) 178.9
Unemployment 2017 1%
Total Area 207,600 sq km
Urban Population 78.6%
Life expectancy at birth (years) 73
Mortality rate, (per 1,000 live births) 3.6
Illiteracy (% of population age 15+) .3%
History
Belarus has been inhabited since prehistoric times, and the first recorded settlements date back to the 6th century AD. The princes of Kiev ruled Belarus until the invasion of the Mongols in 1240, when most of its towns were destroyed. The region came under the control of powerful Lithuanians and, in 1386, under the Lithuanian-Polish Jagiellonian Dynasty. For centuries, the Poles and the Muscovites struggled bitterly over Belarus. In 1772, Catherine the Great gained control over part of the country, and, by 1795, Russia ruled all of Belarus. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the country again became a European battleground. Napoleon passed through Belarus--and fought there--in 1812, and the Germans fought the Soviets on Belarusian territory in World War I. Although a Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in January 1919, fighting with Poland continued until 1921. Belarus suffered heavy losses in World War II, when some 2.2 million inhabitants perished. The postwar period saw a significant rebirth-- especially in the economic sphere. On August 25, 1991, Belarus declared its independence from the Soviet Union.
Government
Government type:
presidential republic in name, although in fact a dictatorship
Capital:
name: Minsk
Administrative divisions:
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
Independence:
25 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 3 July (1944); note - 3 July 1944 was the date Minsk was liberated from German troops, 25 August 1991 was the date of independence from the Soviet Union
Constitution:
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)
Legal system:
civil law system; note - nearly all major codes (civil, civil procedure, criminal, criminal procedure, family, and labor) were revised and came into force in 1999 and 2000
International law organization participation:
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt
Citizenship:
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
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994)
head of government: Prime Minister Syarhey RUMAS (since 18 August 2018); First Deputy Prime Minister Alyaksandr TURCHYN (since 18 August 2018); Deputy Prime Ministers Ihar LYASHENKA, Uladzimir KUKHARAW, Ihar PETRYSHENKA (since 18 August 2018), Mikhail RUSY (since 2012)
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%, Tatstyana KARATKEVICH (Tell the Truth) 4.4%, Sergey GAYDUKEVICH (LDP) 3.3%, other 8.8%; note - election marred by electoral fraud
Legislative branch:
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
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
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
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
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
Judicial branch:
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: oblast courts; Minsk City Court; town courts; Minsk city and oblast economic courts
Political parties and leaders:
pro-government parties:
Belarusian Agrarian Party or AP [Mikhail SHIMANSKIY]
Belarusian Patriotic Party [Nikolai ULAKHOVICH]
Belarusian Social Sport Party [Vladimir ALEKSANDROVICH]
Communist Party of Belarus or KPB [Aleksei SOKOL]
Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Sergey GAYDUKEVICH]
Republican Party [Vladimir BELOZOR]
Republican Party of Labor and Justice [Vasiliy ZADNEPRYANIY]
opposition parties:
Belarusian Christian Democracy Party [Paval SEVIARYNETS] (unregistered)
Belarusian Party of the Green [Anastasiya DOROFEYEVA]
Belarusian Party of the Left "Just World" [Sergey KALYAKIN]
Belarusian Popular Front or BPF [Ryhor KASTUSEU]
Belarusian Social-Democratic Assembly [Stanislav SHUSHKEVICH]
Belarusian Social Democratic Party ("Assembly") or BSDPH [Ihar BARYSAU]
Belarusian Social Democratic Party (People's Assembly) [Mikalay STATKEVICH] (unregistered)
Christian Conservative Party or BPF [Zyanon PAZNYAK]
United Civic Party or UCP [Anatoliy LEBEDKO]
People
The majority (77.9%) of the people of Belarus are of Byelorussian ethnic background. 13.2% are Russian, 4.1% are Polish and 2.9% are Ukrainian and 1.9% belong to other ethnic backgrounds. Byelorusian is the official language of the country.
BARBADOS National Air Transport System
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)
Civil aircraft registration country code prefix:
EW (2016)
Airports:
65 (2013)
country comparison to the world: 75
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 33
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 20
1,524 to 2,437 m: 4
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 7 (2017)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 32
over 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 2
under 914 m: 28 (2013)
Heliports:
1 (2013)
Pipelines:
gas 5,386 km; oil 1,589 km; refined products 1,730 km (2013)
Railways:
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: 35
Roadways:
total: 86,392 km
paved: 74,651 km
unpaved: 11,741 km (2010)
country comparison to the world: 56
Waterways:
2,500 km (major rivers are the west-flowing Western Dvina and Neman Rivers and the south-flowing Dnepr River and its tributaries, the Berezina, Sozh, and Pripyat Rivers) (2011)
country comparison to the world: 35
Merchant marine:
total: 4
by type: other 4 (2017)
country comparison to the world: 164
Ports and terminals:
river port(s): Mazyr (Prypyats')
Tourism
Tourism to Belarus has been very small. In 2013 only 137,000 tourist visited the country, many times smaller than any of its neighbors. In 2017 it is estimated that tourism contributed only 2.9% of the countries GDP. In the middle of 2017 the country eliminated the need for a visa for those arriving by plane. It is expected to have a major positive impact on tourism.
Post a Comment