The 1992 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency

Defense expenditures:

       exchange rate conversion - $10 million, 0.7% of GDP (1989)

      :Bassas da India Geography

      Total area:

       NA

       Land area:

       undetermined

       Comparative area:

       undetermined

       Land boundaries:

       none

       Coastline:

       35.2 km

       Maritime claims:

       Contiguous zone:

       12 nm

       Continental shelf:

       200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation

       Exclusive economic zone:

       200 nm

       Territorial sea:

       12 nm

       Disputes:

       claimed by Madagascar

       Climate:

       tropical

       Terrain:

       a volcanic rock 2.4 m high

       Natural resources:

       none

       Land use:

       arable land 0%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures 0%; forest and

       woodland 0%; other (rock) 100%

       Environment:

       surrounded by reefs; subject to periodic cyclones

       Note:

       navigational hazard since it is usually under water during high tide;

       located in southern Mozambique Channel about halfway between Africa and

       Madagascar

      :Bassas da India People

      Population: uninhabited

      :Bassas da India Government

      Long-form name:

       none

       Type:

       French possession administered by Commissioner of the Republic Jacques

       DEWATRE (since July 1991), resident in Reunion

       Capital:

       none; administered by France from Reunion

      :Bassas da India Economy

      Overview: no economic activity

      :Bassas da India Communications

      Ports: none; offshore anchorage only

      :Bassas da India Defense Forces

      Note: defense is the responsibility of France

      :Belarus Geography

      Total area:

       207,600 km2

       Land area:

       207,600 km2

       Comparative area:

       slightly smaller than Kansas

       Land boundaries:

       3,098 km total; Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 605 km, Russia 959

       km, Ukraine 891 km

       Coastline:

       none - landlocked

       Maritime claims:

       none - landlocked

       Disputes:

       none

       Climate:

       mild and moist; transitional between continental and maritime

       Terrain:

       generally flat and contains much marshland

       Natural resources:

       forest land and peat deposits

       Land use:

       arable land NA%; permanent crops NA%; meadows and pastures NA%; forest and

       woodland NA%; other NA%; includes irrigated NA%

       Environment:

       southern part of Belarus

       highly contaminated with fallout from 1986 nuclear reactor accident at

       Chernobyl'

       Note:

       landlocked

      :Belarus People

      Population:

       10,373,881 (July 1992), growth rate 0.5% (1992)

       Birth rate:

       15 births/1,000 population (1992)

       Death rate:

       11 deaths/1,000 population (1992)

       Net migration rate:

       1 migrant/1,000 population (1992)

       Infant mortality rate:

       20 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)

       Life expectancy at birth:

       66 years male, 76 years female (1992)

       Total fertility rate:

       2.1 children born/woman (1992)

       Nationality:

       noun - Belarusian(s); adjective - Belarusian

       Ethnic divisions:

       Byelorussian 77.9%, Russian 13.2%, Poles 4.1%, Ukrainian 2.9%, Jews 1.1%,

       other 0.8%

       Religions:

       Russian Orthodox NA%, unknown NA%, none NA%, other NA%

       Languages:

       Byelorussian NA%, Russian NA%, other NA%

       Literacy:

       NA% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write

       Labor force:

       5,418,000; industry and construction 42%, agriculture and forestry 20%,

       other 38% (1990)

       Organized labor:

       NA

      :Belarus Government

      Long-form name:

       Republic of Belarus

       Type:

       republic

       Capital:

       Mensk

       Administrative divisions:

       6 oblasts (oblastey, singular - oblast'); Brest, Gomel', Grodno, Minsk,

       Mogilev, Vitebsk; note - all oblasts have the same name as their

       administrative center

       Independence:

       1 January 1919 Belorussian Republic; 30 December 1922 joined with the USSR;

       25 August 1991 redeclared independence

       Constitution:

       adopted April 1978

       Legal system:

       based on civil law system

       National holiday:

       24 August (1991)

       Executive branch:

       NA

       Legislative branch:

       unicameral with 360 seats

       Judicial branch:

       NA

       Leaders:

       Chief of State:

       Chairman of the Supreme Soviet Stanislav S. SHUSHKEVICH (since NA 1991)

       Head of Government: