Imports - commodities:
mineral products, machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs,
metals
Imports - partners:
Russia 68.2%, Germany 6.6%, Ukraine 3.3% (2004)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$770.2 million (2004 est.)
Debt - external:
$600 million (2004 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
$194.3 million (1995)
Currency (code):
Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR)
Currency code:
BYB/BYR
Exchange rates:
Belarusian rubles per US dollar - 2,160.26 (2004), 2,051.27 (2003),
1,790.92 (2002), 1,390 (2001), 876.75 (2000)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Communications Belarus
Telephones - main lines in use:
3,071,300 (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
1.118 million (2003)
Telephone system:
general assessment: 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' fiber optics form
synchronous digital hierarchy rings through other countries'
systems; an inadequate analog system remains operational
international: country code - 375; Belarus is a member of the
Trans-European Line (TEL), Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) fiber-optic line,
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 through this
infrastructure; additional analog lines to Russia; Intelsat,
Eutelsat, and Intersputnik earth stations
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998)
Radios:
3.02 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995)
Televisions:
2.52 million (1997)
Internet country code:
.by
Internet hosts:
5,308 (2004)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
23 (2002)
Internet users:
1,391,900 (2003)
Transportation Belarus
Railways:
total: 5,512 km
broad gauge: 5,497 km 1.520-m gauge (874 km electrified)
standard gauge: 15 km 1.435-m (2004)
Highways:
total: 79,990 km
paved: 69,351 km
unpaved: 10,639 km (2002)
Waterways:
2,500 km (use limited by location on perimeter of country and by
shallowness) (2003)
Pipelines:
gas 5,223 km; oil 2,443 km; refined products 1,686 km (2004)
Ports and harbors:
Mazyr
Airports:
133 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 50
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 22
1,524 to 2,437 m: 4
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 21 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 83
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 5
914 to 1,523 m: 11
under 914 m: 64 (2004 est.)
Heliports:
1 (2004 est.)
Military Belarus
Military branches:
Army, Air and Air Defense Force
Military service age and obligation: 18–27 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation - 18 months (May 2004)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 18–49: 2,520,644 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 18–49: 1,657,984 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males: 85,202 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$176.1 million (FY02)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1.4% (FY02)
Transnational Issues Belarus
Disputes - international:
1997 boundary treaty with Ukraine remains unratified over
unresolved financial claims, preventing demarcation and diminishing
border security; boundary with Latvia remains undemarcated but a
third of the border with Lithuania was demarcated in 2004
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; a small and lightly
regulated financial center; new anti-money-laundering legislation
does not meet international standards; few investigations or
prosecutions of money-laundering activities
This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005
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@Belgium
Introduction Belgium
Background:
Belgium became independent from the Netherlands in 1830 and was
occupied by Germany