million (1997 est.)
Industries: tractors, metal-cutting machine tools, off-highway dump trucks up to 110-metric-ton load capacity, wheel-type earth movers for construction and mining, eight-wheel-drive, high-flotation trucks with cargo capacity of 25 metric tons for use in tundra and roadless areas, equipment for animal husbandry and livestock feeding, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, linen fabric, wool fabric, radios, refrigerators, other consumer goods
Industrial production growth rate: 11% (1998 est.)
Electricity—production: 26.1 billion kWh (1998)
Electricity—production by source: fossil fuel: 99.92% hydro: 0.08% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1997)
Electricity—consumption: 33.7 billion kWh (1997)
Electricity—exports: 2.7 billion kWh (1997)
Electricity—imports: 10.3 billion kWh (1997)
Agriculture—products: grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk
Exports: $7 billion (f.o.b., 1998)
Exports—commodities: machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs
Exports—partners: Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Germany
Imports: $8.5 billion (c.i.f., 1998)
Imports—commodities: fuel, natural gas, industrial raw materials, textiles, sugar, foodstuffs
Imports—partners: Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Germany
Debt—external: $1.03 billion (1998 est.)
Economic aid—recipient: $194.3 million (1995)
Currency: Belarusian rubel (BR)
Exchange rates: Belarusian rubels per US$1—139,000 (25 January 1999 official Belarusian exchange rate), 46,080 (2nd qtr 1998), 25,964 (1997), 15,500 (yearend 1996), 11,500 (yearend 1995), 10,600 (yearend 1994)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Telephones: 2.55 million (October 1998)
Telephone system: the Ministry of Telecommunications controls all
telecommunications through its carrier (a joint stock company)
Beltelcom which is a monopoly
domestic: local—Minsk has a digital metropolitan network and a
cellular NMT-450 network; waiting lists for telephones are long;
local service outside Minsk is neglected and poor; intercity—Belarus
has a partly developed fiber-optic backbone system presently serving
at least 13 major cities (1998); Belarus's fiber optics form
synchronous digital hierarchy rings through other countries'
systems; an inadequate analog system remains operational
international: Belarus is a member of the Trans-European Line (TEL),
Trans-Asia-Europe Fiber-Optic Line (TAE) and has access to the
Trans-Siberia Line (TSL); three fiber-optic segments provide
connectivity to Latvia, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine; worldwide
service is available to Belarus due to this infrastructure;
additional analog lines to Russia; Intelsat, Eutelsat and
Intersputnik earth stations
Radio broadcast stations: AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11
Radios: 3.17 million (1991 est.)
Television broadcast stations: 17 (1997); note—Belarus has a state-run television broadcasting network; independent local television stations exist
Televisions: 9,686,854 (1996)
Transportation
Railways: total: 5,563 km broad gauge: 5,563 km 1.520-m gauge (894 km electrified)
Highways: total: 53,407 km paved: 52,446 km unpaved: 961 km (1997 est.)
Waterways: NA km; note—Belarus has extensive and widely used
canal and river systems
Pipelines: crude oil 1,470 km; refined products 1,100 km; natural
gas 1,980 km (1992)
Ports and harbors: Mazyr
Airports: 118 (1996 est.)
Airports—with paved runways: total: 36 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 18 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 under 914 m: 11 (1996 est.)
Airports—with unpaved runways: total: 82 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 6 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 9 under 914 m: 62 (1996 est.)
Military
Military branches: Army, Air Force, Air Defense Force, Interior
Ministry Troops, Border Guards
Military manpower—military age: 18 years of age
Military manpower—availability:
males age 15–49: 2,700,034 (1999 est.)
Military manpower—fit for military service:
males age 15–49: 2,115,121 (1999 est.)
Military manpower—reaching military age annually:
males: 79,905 (1999 est.)
Military expenditures—dollar figure: $100 million (1998)
Military expenditures—percent of GDP: 2% (1998)
Transnational Issues
Disputes—international: none
Illicit drugs: 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
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@Belgium———
Introduction
Background: Belgium became independent from the Netherlands in 1830 and was occupied by Germany during World Wars I and II. In the half century following, it has prospered as a small, modern, technologically advanced European state and member of the European Union. Its unique political circumstance is the long-standing differences between the wealthier Dutch-speaking Flemings of the north and the poorer French-speaking Walloons of the south, differences that are becoming increasingly acute.
Geography
Location: Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between France and the Netherlands
Geographic coordinates: 50 50 N, 4 00 E
Map references: Europe
Area:
total: 30,510 sq km
land: 30,230 sq km
water: 280 sq km
Area—comparative: about the size of Maryland
Land boundaries:
total: 1,385 km
border countries: France 620 km, Germany 167 km, Luxembourg 148 km,
Netherlands 450 km
Coastline: 64 km
Maritime claims:
continental shelf: median line with neighbors
exclusive fishing zone: median line with neighbors (extends about 68
km from coast)
territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: temperate; mild winters, cool summers; rainy, humid,