Country name
conventional long form: Republic of Belarus
conventional short form: Belarus
local long form: Respublika Byelarus'
local short form: none
former: Belorussian (Byelorussian) Soviet Socialist Republic

Data code BO

Government type republic

National capital Minsk

Administrative divisions 6 voblastsi (singular - voblasts') and one municipality* (harady, singular - horad); Brestskaya (Brest), Homyel'skaya (Homyel'), Horad Minsk*, Hrodzyenskaya (Hrodna), Mahilyowskaya (Mahilyow), Minskaya, Vitsyebskaya (Vitsyebsk)
note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)

Independence 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union); the Belarusian Supreme Soviet issued a proclamation of independence; on 17 July 1990 Belarus issued a declaration of sovereignty

National holiday Independence Day, 3 July (1990); note - date set by referendum of November 1996

Constitution referendum of 24 November 1996; became effective on 17 November 1996

Legal system based on civil law system

Suffrage 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
chief of state: President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994)
head of government: Prime Minister Sergey LING (acting since 18 November 1996, confirmed 19 February 1997); First Deputy Prime Minister Petr PRAKAPOVICH (since 23 December 1996); Deputy Prime Ministers Vladimir GARKUN (since 21 July 1994), Valeriy KOKAREV (since 23 August 1994), Vasiliy DOLGOLEV (since 30 October 1995), Vladimir ZAMETALIN (since 15 July 1997)
cabinet: Council of Ministers
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 24 June and 10 July 1994 (next to be held NA 2001 because of the additional two years provided by the November 1996 referendum); prime minister appointed by the president
election results: Aleksandr LUKASHENKO elected president; percent of vote - Aleksandr LUKASHENKO 85%, Vyacheslav KEBICH 15%
note: first presidential elections took place in June-July 1994

Legislative branch bicameral Parliament or Natsionalnoye Sobranie established by the 27 November Constitution consists of the Council of the Republic or Soviet Republiki (64 seats; 8 appointed by the president and 56 indirectly elected by deputies of local councils for four-year terms) and the Chamber of Representatives or Palata Pretsaviteley (110 seats; note - present members came from the defunct Supreme Soviet)
elections: last held May and November-December 1995 (two rounds, each with a run-off; next to be held NA 2000)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - KPB 42, Agrarian 33, CAB 9, Party of People's Concord 8, UPNAZ 2, SDPB 2, BPR 1, Green Party 1, Republican Party of Labor and Justice 1, BSP 1, BNF 1, Social and Sports Party 1, Ecological Party 1, independents 95, vacant 62; note - the last election took place to fill seats in the former Supreme Soviet (260 seats); after the November 1996 referendum, seats for the Chamber of Representatives were filled by former Supreme Soviet members as follows: PKB 24, Agrarian 14, Party of Peoples Concord 5, LDPB 1, UPNAZ 1, Green World Party 1, Belarusian Social Sports Party 1, Ecological Party 1, Republican Party of Labor and Justice 1, independents 61; 58 of the 64 seats in the Council of the Republic have been appointed/elected

Judicial branch Supreme Court, judges are appointed by the president; Constitutional Court, half of the judges appointed by the president and half appointed by the Chamber of Representatives

Political parties and leaders Belarusian Communist Party or KPB [Viktor CHIKIN]; Agrarian Party [Aleksandr PAVLOV, chairman]; Civic Accord Bloc (United Civic Party) or CAB [Stanislav BOGDANKEVICH, chairman]; Party of People's Concord [Leonid SECHKO, chairman]; Party of All-Belarusian Unity and Concord or UPNAZ [Dmitriy BULAKOV, chairman]; Belarusian Social-Democrat Hramada or SDBP [Nikolay STATKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Patriotic Movement (Belarusian Patriotic Party) or BPR [Anatoliy BARANKEVICH]; Green Party of Belarus or BPZ [Nikolay KARTASH, chairman]; Republican Party of Labor and Justice or RPPS [Anatol NETYLKIN, chairman]; Belarusian Popular Front or BNF [Levon BARSHEVSKIY, chairman]; Belarusian Social Sports Party or BSSP [Aleksandr ALEKSANDROVICH, chairman]; Ecological Party or BEP [Liudmila YELIZAROVA, chairman]; United Democratic Party of Belarus or ADPB [Aleksandr DOBROVOLSKIY]; Slavic Assembly or SAB [Andrey TSEGALKA]; Liberal-Democratic Party or LDPB [Sergei GAYDUKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Christian-Democratic Unity or BKDZ [Petr SILKO]; Polish Democratic Union or PDZ [Eduard AKHREM]; Party of Beer Lovers [Yuriy GONCHAR]; Party of Communists Belarusian or KPB [Sergei KALYAKIN and Vasiliy NOVIKOV, chairmen]; Belarusian Labor Party or BPP [Aleksandr BUKHVOSTOV]

International organization participation BIS, CCC, CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Inmarsat, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (applicant)

Diplomatic representation in the US
chief of mission: Ambassador Valeriy V. TSEPKALO
chancery: 1619 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009
telephone: [1] (202) 986-1604
FAX: [1] (202) 986-1805
consulate(s) general: New York

Diplomatic representation from the US
chief of mission: Ambassador Daniel SPECKHARD
embassy: Starovilenskaya #46-220002, Minsk
mailing address: use embassy street address
telephone: [375] (172) 31-50-00
FAX: [375] (172) 34-78-53

Flag description red horizontal band (top) and green horizontal band one-half the width of the red band; a white vertical stripe of white on the hoist side bears in red the Belarusian national ornament

NOTE: The information regarding Belarus on this page is re-published from the 1998 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Belarus Government 1998 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Belarus Government 1998 should be addressed to the CIA.