Belarus 
Facts
Population:
10,350,194 (July 2001 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years:
17.93% (male 947,820; female 908,210)
15-64 years:
68.21% (male 3,428,920; female 3,631,290)
65 years and over:
13.86% (male 473,992; female 959,962) (2001 est.)
Population growth rate:
-0.15% (2001 est.)
Birth rate:
9.57 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Death rate:
13.97 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Net migration rate:
2.89 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years:
1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years:
0.94 male(s)/female
65 years and over:
0.49 male(s)/female
total population:
0.88 male(s)/female (2001 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
14.38 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
68.14 years
male:
62.06 years
female:
74.52 years (2001 est.)
Total fertility rate:
1.28 children born/woman (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.28% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
14,000 (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
400 (1999 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Belarusian(s)
adjective:
Belarusian
Ethnic groups:
Byelorussian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4%
Religions:
Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.)
Languages:
Byelorussian, Russian, other
Literacy:
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population:
98%
male:
99%
female:
97% (1989 est.)
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $78.8 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
4% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $7,500 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture:
13%
industry:
46%
services:
41% (1999 est.)
Population below poverty line:
22% (1995 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%:
4.9%
highest 10%:
19.4% (1993)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
200% (2000 est.)
Labor force:
4.8 million (2000)
Labor force - by occupation:
industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA%
Unemployment rate:
2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers
Budget:
revenues:
$4 billion
expenditures:
$4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.)
Industries:
metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earth movers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators
Industrial production growth rate:
5% (2000 est.)
Electricity - production:
24.911 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel:
99.9%
hydro:
0.1%
nuclear:
0%
other:
0% (1999)
Electricity - consumption:
27.647 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports:
2.62 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports:
7.1 billion kWh (1999)
Agriculture - products:
grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk
Exports:
$7.4 billion (f.o.b., 2000)
Exports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, textiles, foodstuffs
Exports - partners:
Russia 66%, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Lithuania (1998)
Imports:
$8.3 billion (f.o.b., 2000)
Imports - commodities:
mineral products, machinery and equipment, metals, chemicals, foodstuffs
Imports - partners:
Russia 54%, Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Lithuania (1998)
Debt - external:
$1 billion (2000 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
$194.3 million (1995)
Currency:
Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR)
Currency code:
BYB/BYR
Exchange rates:
Belarusian rubles per US dollar - 1,180 (yearend 2000), 730,000 (15 December 1999), 139,000 (25 January 1999), 46,080 (second quarter 1998), 25,964 (1997), 15,500 (yearend 1996); note - on 1 January 2000, the national currency was redenominated at one new ruble to 2,000 old rubles
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Statistics: CIA World Factbook.
Press
Minsk
http://www.belarusnews.de/news_en/index.shtml
Belorusskaïa Delovaya Gazeta
Minsk
Belarus in the News
President Alexander Lukashenko has built a powerful, repressive government around himself, based on the state monopoly of economic resources, on holding all executive power in his hand.
While Ukraine moves toward forming a representative government following parliamentary elections, Belarus finds itself more isolated than ever in the wake of a controversial presidential poll.
For two countries supposedly on the verge of forming a loose union, Belarus and Russia seem to have a good deal of ambivalence about their relationship.
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