The 2005 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency

$13.57 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

      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

      ======================================================================

      @Belgium

      Introduction Belgium

      Background:

       Belgium became independent from the Netherlands in 1830 and was

       occupied by Germany