Belarus
General information. The republic’s total area is 207,600 square kilometers. It borders on Russia (1056 km border), Ukraine (975km), Poland (398.6km), Lithuania (599.2km), and Latvia (177.5km).
Administrative division. Belarus consists of six regions and 118 districts. There are 110 cities and towns, 101 urban settlements, and 24,022 villages.
Capital – Minsk (population: 1,814,000). Regional centres include Gomel (492,000), Mogilyov (369,000), Vitebsk (351,000), Grodno (317,000), and Brest (300,000).
Population. The republic has a population of 9.5 million people. The number has been falling lately.
Demographics: 83% Belarusians, 8.3% Russians, 3.1% Polish, 1.7% Ukrainians.
State languages Belarusian and Russian.
Religion: 80% of believers are Orthodox Christians. The head of the Belarus Orthodox Church is Metropolitan Filaret of Minsk and Slutsk, Patriarchal Exarch for All Belarus. The Roman Catholic Church accounts for 15% of believers. Others are Uniates, Judaists and Islamists.
Geography. Most of the country’s area is lowland. Major rivers include the Dnieper, Zapadnaya Dvina, Pripyat and Neman. There are 11,000 lakes. The environmental situation is not very favourable as 20% of the area was polluted by radioactive elements after the Chernobyl disaster (April 1986).
Natural resources. The republic has scarce natural resources. The only mineral deposit of importance is potash salt (Belarus ranks third in global potash salt production). There are minor deposits of oil, slate coal, black and brown coal, iron ore, and nonferrous metal ores. There are over sixty mineral water springs.
State system. Under a Constitution, Belarus is a unitary democratic socially-oriented state based on the rule of law.
National holiday – Independence Day (Republic Day). As of 1997, the holiday is celebrated on July 3 to mark the country’s liberation from the Nazi Germany.
The President of the Republic of Belarus is the Head of State. The term of office is five years. On December 19, 2010, Alexander Lukashenko was elected president for a fourth term.
Parliament. The parliament of Belarus is known as the National Assembly. It acts as a representative and legislative body and consists of two chambers: the House of Representatives and the Council of the Republic. Deputies serve four-year terms.
The House of Representatives (the lower house) consists of 110 deputies. The Council of the Republic (the upper house) is a regional representative body with 64 members (eight from each region and the capital, eight appointed by the president). The last election to the lower and upper houses was in October 2008.
Executive power is exercised by the government – the Council of Ministers headed by the prime minister (Mikhail Myasnikovich, since December 2010).
Judicial power is based on the principles of territorial delineation and specialisation. The Constitutional Court oversees whether laws and other legal acts correspond to the constitution. Six judges are appointed by the president, and six more are selected by the Council of the Republic. Their term of authority is 11 years.
Economy. The economy of Belarus is relatively stable. A socially-oriented market economy has been established with a decisive role played by the federal government.
Over recent years, the republic has enjoyed positive GDP growth amounting to 7.6% in 2010 (0.2% in 2009, 10% in 2008, and 8.1% in 2007). Industrial production accounts for over 25% of the GDP, agricultural production 7.8%, construction 10.7%, transport and communications 8.9%, and trade and public catering 10.7%.
In 2010, industrial output grew by 11.3%, agricultural production by 2%, investment in fixed capital by 16.6%, and inflation by 9.9%.
According to a rating by the United Nations Development Programme, Belarus ranks 53rd worldwide in terms of human development.
Foreign Trade. Belarus trades with 166 countries. Its foreign trade reached $60 billion in 2010, with a negative trade balance of $9.6 billion.
Mass media. Over 1314 printed periodicals have been registered (about 800 newspapers, 400 magazines, 40 bulletins, etc.) Among the major state publications are Sovetskaya Belorussiya – Belarus' Segodnya with a circulation of 506,000, Narodnaya Gazeta, Respublika and Belorusskaya Niva. Nongovernmental publications include Narodnaya Volya, Noviny, Belorusskaya Gazeta, Svobodnye Novosti, and more. The leading Russian newspapers such as Komsomolskaya Pravda and Argumenty i Fakty are freely distributed in Belarus.
There are four state television channels. Russian channels include Channel One, Russia 1, NTV, TV Center which are broadcast without news reports.
The Belarusian Telegraph Agency (BelTA) is the official state news agency. Another major news agency is BelaPAN Independent Information Company. Offices of Interfax, ITAR-TASS, RIA Novosti, and some other foreign news agencies operate in Belarus.
Education, culture. The Republic of Belarus has a National Academy of Science, 43 state and 14 private higher education institutions, 242 vocational and technical colleges, and 153 specialised secondary education institutions. There are 27 theatres, seven philharmonic halls, and 135 museums.
Belarus pursues a multi-vector, independent, neutral, and nuclear-free foreign policy.
The republic has established diplomatic relations with 169 countries. It has 62 diplomatic missions in 47 countries, and 43 foreign embassies in Minsk. A total of 76 foreign ambassadors residing in Moscow and some other capitals are also accredited in Minsk. Moreover, 13 international organisations have their missions in Minsk, and there are also seven foreign consulates in the republic’s regions.
