rates: Belarusian rubels per US$1 - 11,500 (yearend 1995), 10,600 (yearend 1994)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Transportation———————
Railways: total: 5,488 km broad gauge: 5,488 km 1.520-m gauge (873 km electrified) (1993)
Highways:
total: 92,200 km
paved: 61,000 km (including graveled)
unpaved: 31,200 km (1994 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: Mazyr
Merchant marine:
note: claims 5% of former Soviet fleet (1995 est.)
Airports:
total: 118
with paved runways over 3 047 m: 2
with paved runways 2 438 to 3 047 m: 18
with paved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m: 5
with paved runways under 914 m: 11
with unpaved runways over 3 047 m: 1
with unpaved runways 2 438 to 3 047 m: 6
with unpaved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m: 4
with unpaved runways 914 to 1 523 m: 9
with unpaved runways under 914 m: 62 (1994 est.)
Communications———————
Telephones: 1.849 million (1991 est.)
Telephone system: telephone service inadequate for the purposes of
either business or the population; about 70% of the telephones are
in homes; over 750,000 applications from households for telephones
remain unsatisfied (1992 est.); new investment centers on
international connections and business needs
domestic: the new NMT-450 analog cellular system is now operating in
Minsk
international: international traffic is carried by the Moscow
international gateway switch and also by satellite; satellite earth
stations - 1 Intelsat (through Canada) and 1 Eutelsat (through the
UK)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 35, FM 18, shortwave 0
Radios: 3.17 million (1991 est.) (5,615,000 with multiple speaker systems for program diffusion)
Television broadcast stations: 2 (one national and one private; the license of the private station was suspended during the parliamentary elections of 1994)
Televisions: 3.5 million (1992 est.)
Defense———
Branches: Army, Air Force, Air Defense Force, Republic Security
Forces (internal and border troops)
Manpower availability: males age 15–49: 2,635,570 males fit for military service: 2,067,676 males reach military age (18) annually: 76,006 (1996 est.)
Defense expenditures: 892 billion rubels, 1% of GDP (1995); note - conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading results
======================================================================
@Belgium———
Map—
Location: 50 50 N, 4 00 E—Western Europe, bordering the North
Sea, between France and the Netherlands
Flag——
Description: three equal vertical bands of black (hoist side),
yellow, and red; the design was based on the flag of France
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 area: 30,510 sq km
land area: 30,230 sq km
comparative area: slightly larger than 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
International disputes: none
Climate: temperate; mild winters, cool summers; rainy, humid, cloudy
Terrain: flat coastal plains in northwest, central rolling hills, rugged mountains of Ardennes Forest in southeast lowest point: North Sea 0 m highest point: Signal de Botrange 694 m
Natural resources: coal, natural gas
Land use:
arable land: 24%
permanent crops: 1%
meadows and pastures: 20%
forest and woodland: 21%
other: 34%
Irrigated land: 10 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues: Meuse River, a major source of drinking water,
polluted from steel production wastes; other rivers polluted by
animal wastes and fertilizers; industrial air pollution contributes
to acid rain in neighboring countries
natural hazards: flooding is a threat in areas of reclaimed coastal
land, protected from the sea by concrete dikes
international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Air
Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic Treaty, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Marine
Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified -
Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air
Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental
Protocol, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of the Sea
Geographic note: crossroads of Western Europe; majority of West
European capitals within 1,000 km of Brussels which is the seat of
the EU
People———
Population: 10,170,241 (July 1996 est.)
Age structure:
0–14 years: 18% (male 930,919; female 886,632)
15–64 years: 66% (male 3,380,105; female 3,326,853)
65 years and over: 16% (male 663,760; female 981,972) (July 1996