After seven decades as a constituent republic of the USSR, Belarus attained its independence in 1991. It has retained closer political and economic ties to Russia than any of the other former Soviet republics. Belarus and Russia signed a treaty on a two-state union on 8 December 1999 envisioning greater political and economic integration. Although Belarus agreed to a framework to carry out the accord, serious implementation has yet to take place. Since his election in July 1994 as the country's first president, Aleksandr LUKASHENKO has steadily consolidated his power through authoritarian means. Government restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, peaceful assembly, and religion remain in place.

Eastern Europe, east of Poland

53 00 N, 28 00 E

Europe

slightly smaller than Kansas

0 km (landlocked)

none (landlocked)

cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime

generally flat and contains much marshland

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

1,310 sq km (2003)

58 cu km (1997)

NA

soil pollution from pesticide use; southern part of the country contaminated with fallout from 1986 nuclear reactor accident at Chornobyl' in northern Ukraine

landlocked; glacial scouring accounts for the flatness of Belarusian terrain and for its 11,000 lakes

Belarusian 83.7%, Russian 8.3%, Polish 3.1%, Ukrainian 1.7%, other 3.2% (2009 census)

Belarusian (official) 23.4%, Russian (official) 70.2%, other 6.4% (includes small Polish- and Ukrainian-speaking minorities) (1999 census)

Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.)

9,643,566 (July 2012 est.)

-0.362% (2012 est.)

9.73 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)

13.73 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)

0.38 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)

MINSK (capital) 1.837 million (2009)

190 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)

1.45 children born/woman (2012 est.)

5.8% of GDP (2009)

4.869 physicians/1,000 population (2007)

11.23 beds/1,000 population (2007)

0.3% (2009 est.)

17,000 (2009 est.)

fewer than 1,000 (2009 est.)

1.3% (2005)

4.5% of GDP (2009)

republic in name, although in fact a dictatorship

6 provinces (voblastsi, singular - voblasts') and 1 municipality* (horad); Brest, Homyel' (Gomel), Horad Minsk* (Minsk City), Hrodna (Grodno), Mahilyow (Mogilev), Minsk, Vitsyebsk (Vitebsk)

25 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union)

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

15 March 1994; revised by national referendum 24 November 1996 giving the presidency greatly expanded powers; became effective 27 November 1996; revised again 17 October 2004 removing presidential term limits

civil law system; note - nearly all major codes (civil, civil procedure, criminal, criminal procedure, family and labor) have been revised and came into force in 1999 or 2000

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt

18 years of age; universal

bicameral national assembly or natsionalnoye sobraniye consists of the Council of the Republic or Sovet Respubliki (64 seats; 56 members elected by regional and Minsk city councils and 8 members appointed by the president, to serve four-year terms) and the Chamber of Representatives or Palata Predstaviteley (110 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms); note - the United States does not recognize the legitimacy of the national assembly

Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president); Constitutional Court (half of the judges appointed by the president and half appointed by the Chamber of Representatives)

Assembly of Pro-Democratic NGOs (unregistered) [Sergey MATSKEVICH]; Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions [Aleksandr YAROSHUK]; Belarusian Association of Journalists [Zhana LITVINA]; Belarusian Helsinki Committee [Aleh HULAK]; Belarusian Independence Bloc (unregistered) and For Freedom movement [Aleksandr MILINKEVICH]; Belarusian Organization of Working Women [Irina ZHIKHAR]; BPF-Youth [Andrus KRECHKA]; Charter 97 (unregistered) [Andrey SANNIKOV]; Perspektiva small business association [Anatol SHUMCHENKO]; Nasha Vyasna (unregistered) ("Our Spring") human rights center [Ales BYALYATSKI]; "Tell the Truth" Movement [Vladimir NEKLYAYEV]; Women's Independent Democratic Movement [Ludmila PETINA]; Young Belarus (Malady Belarus) [Zmitser KASPYAROVICH]; Youth Front (Malady Front) [Zmitser DASHKEVICH]

BSEC (observer), CBSS (observer), CEI, CIS, CSTO, EAEC, EAPC, EBRD, FAO, GCTU, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, NSG, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, SCO (dialogue member), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer), ZC

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

mounted knight known as Pahonia (the Chaser)

As part of the former Soviet Union, Belarus had a relatively well-developed industrial base; it retained this industrial base - which is now outdated, energy inefficient, and dependent on subsidized Russian energy and preferential access to Russian markets - following the breakup of the USSR. The country also has a broad agricultural base which is inefficient and dependent on government subsidies. After an initial burst of capitalist reform from 1991-94, including privatization of state enterprises, creation of institutions of private property, and development of entrepreneurship, Belarus' economic development greatly slowed. About 80% of all industry remains in state hands, and foreign investment has been hindered by a climate hostile to business. A few banks, which had been privatized after independence, were renationalized. State banks account for 75% of the banking sector. Economic output, which had declined for several years following the collapse of the Soviet Union, revived in the mid-2000s thanks to the boom in oil prices. Belarus has only small reserves of crude oil, though it imports most of its crude oil and natural gas from Russia at prices substantially below the world market. Belarus exported refined oil products at market prices produced from Russian crude oil purchased at a steep discount. In late 2006, Russia began a process of rolling back its subsidies on oil and gas to Belarus. Tensions over Russian energy reached a peak in 2010, when Russia stopped the export of all subsidized oil to Belarus save for domestic needs. In December 2010, Russia and Belarus reached a deal to restart the export of discounted oil to Belarus. In November 2011, Belarus and Russia reached an agreement to drastically reduce the price of natural gas in exchange for selling to Russia the remaining share of Beltransgaz, the Belarusian natural gas pipeline operator. Little new foreign investment has occurred in recent years. In 2011, a financial crisis began, triggered by government directed salary hikes unsupported by commensurate productivity increases. The crisis was compounded by an increased cost in Russian energy inputs and an overvalued Belarusian ruble, and eventually led to a near three-fold devaluation of the Belarusian ruble in 2011. The situation has stabilized short-term due to a $3 billion loan from the Russian-dominated Eurasian Economic Community Bail-out Fund, a $1 billion loan from the Russian state-owned bank Sberbank, and the $2.5 billion sale of Beltranzgas to Russian state-owned Gazprom.

$143.6 billion (2011 est.)

$136.3 billion (2010 est.)

$126.5 billion (2009 est.)

$55.48 billion (2011 est.)

5.3% (2011 est.)

7.7% (2010 est.)

0.2% (2009 est.)

$15,200 (2011 est.)

$14,400 (2010 est.)

$13,300 (2009 est.)

5 million (2009)

1% (2009 est.)

1.6% (2005)

27.1% (2003 est.)

27.2 (2008)

21.7 (1998)

39.7% of GDP (2011 est.)

41.9% of GDP (2011 est.)

1.7% of GDP (2011 est.)

45.3% of GDP

23.5% of GDP

52.4% (2011 est.)

7.8% (2010 est.)

10.5% (31 December 2010 est.)

13.5% (31 December 2009 est.)

13.58% (31 December 2011 est.)

9.217% (31 December 2010 est.)

$4.211 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$4.554 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$13.32 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$8.466 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$25.21 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$25.25 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$NA

grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk

metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, televisions, synthetic fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators

10.5% (2010 est.)

-$4.9 billion (2011 est.)

-$8.317 billion (2010 est.)

$39.62 billion (2011 est.)

$25.41 billion (2010 est.)

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

Russia 31%, Netherlands 12.6%, Ukraine 11.4%, Latvia 7.2%, Germany 4.7%, Brazil 4.3% (2011)

$42.18 billion (2011 est.)

$34.48 billion (2010 est.)

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

Russia 45.8%, Germany 6.5%, Ukraine 5.7%, China 4.5% (2011)

$6.209 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$3.431 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$33.73 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$23.5 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

Belarusian rubles (BYB/BYR) per US dollar -

4,974.6 (2011 est.)

2,978.5 (2010 est.)

2,789.49 (2009)

2,130 (2008)

2,145 (2007)

calendar year

28.55 billion kWh (2009 est.)

29.54 billion kWh (2009 est.)

3.933 billion kWh (2009 est.)

8.404 billion kWh (2009 est.)

8.032 million kW (2009 est.)

99.7% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0.2% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0.1% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

30,000 bbl/day (2011 est.)

34,320 bbl/day (2009 est.)

431,300 bbl/day (2009 est.)

198 million bbl (1 January 2012 est.)

427,800 bbl/day (2008 est.)

188,800 bbl/day (2011 est.)

302,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)

39,660 bbl/day (2008 est.)

220 million cu m (2010 est.)

21.82 billion cu m (2010 est.)

0 cu m (2010 est.)

21.6 billion cu m (2010 est.)

2.832 billion cu m (1 January 2012 est.)

68.24 million Mt (2010 est.)

4.208 million (2011)

10.695 million (2011)

4 state-controlled national TV channels; Polish and Russian TV broadcasts are available in some areas; state-run Belarusian Radio operates 3 national networks and an external service; Russian and Polish radio broadcasts are available (2007)

.by

302,560 (2010)

2.643 million (2009)

65 (2012)

1 (2012)

gas 5,250 km; oil 1,528 km; refined products 1,730 km (2010)

2,500 km (use limited by its location on the perimeter of the country and by its shallowness) (2011)

Mazyr

Belarus Armed Forces: Land Force, Air and Air Defense Force, Special Operations Force (2011)

18-27 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation - 12-18 months, depending on academic qualifications (2010)

1.4% of GDP (2005 est.)

boundary demarcated with Latvia and Lithuania; Poland seeks enhanced demarcation and security along this Schengen hard border with financial assistance from the EU

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 (2008)