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Administrative divisions 6 provinces (voblastsi, singular - voblasts') and 1 municipality* (horad); Brest, Homyel', Horad Minsk*, Hrodna, Mahilyow, Minsk, Vitsyebsk note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers
Administrative divisions > A note voblasti have the administrative center name following in parentheses
Administrative divisions > Note administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers
Ambassadors from Finland > Current Finnish Ambassadors > Ambassador	Timo Lahelma
Ambassadors from Israel > Current Israeli Ambassadors > Embassy > Website	Minsk
Ambassadors from Israel > Current Israeli Ambassadors > Israeli Ambassador	Zev Ben Arie
ambassadors to the United States > Ambassador	Mikhail Khvostov
Capital city	Minsk
Capital city > Daylight saving time +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
Capital city > Geographic coordinates	53 54 N, 27 34 E
Capital city > Name	Minsk
Capital city > Time difference UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Constitution 15 March 1994; revised by national referendum of 24 November 1996 giving the presidency greatly expanded powers and became effective 27 November 1996; revised again 17 October 2004 removing presidential term limits
Copyright > Reference	Art. 22,
Corruption	2.6		[116th of 160]
countries' copyright length > Usual term of copyright protection	50 pma
date of transition to republican system of government > Republic since	March 15, 1917
Diplomatic representation from the US > Chief of mission Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Jonathan MOORE
Diplomatic representation from the US > Embassy 46 Starovilenskaya Street, Minsk 220002
Diplomatic representation from the US > FAX	[375] (17) 234-7853
Diplomatic representation from the US > Mailing address PSC 78, Box B Minsk, APO 09723
Diplomatic representation from the US > Telephone [375] (17) 210-12-83, 217-7347, 217-7348
Diplomatic representation in the US > Chancery 1619 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009
Diplomatic representation in the US > Chief of mission Ambassador Mikhail KHVOSTOV
Diplomatic representation in the US > Consulate(s) general	New York
Diplomatic representation in the US > FAX	[1] (202) 986-1805
Diplomatic representation in the US > Telephone	[1] (202) 986-1604
embassies and high commissions in Ottawa > Address	130 Albert St, Suite 600
embassies and high commissions in Ottawa > Neighbourhood Downtown
Executive branch > Cabinet	Council of Ministers
Executive branch > Chief of state President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994)
Executive branch > Election results Aleksandr LUKASHENKO reelected president; percent of vote - Aleksandr LUKASHENKO 82.6%, Aleksandr MILINKEVICH 6%, Aleksandr KOZULIN 2.3%; note - election marred by electoral fraud
Executive branch > Elections president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; first election took place 23 June and 10 July 1994; according to the 1994 constitution, the next election should have been held in 1999, however, Aleksandr LUKASHENKO extended his term to 2001 via a November 1996 referendum; subsequent election held 9 September 2001; an October 2004 referendum ended presidential term limits and allowed the president to run in a third election, which was held on 19 March 2006; prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president
Executive branch > Head of government Prime Minister Sergey SIDORSKIY (since 19 December 2003); First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir SEMASHKO (since December 2003)
Flag description red horizontal band (top) and green horizontal band one-half the width of the red band; a white vertical stripe on the hoist side bears Belarusian national ornamentation in red
Flag modification	7		[153rd of 197]
Foreign relations > Croatia > Date of Establishment	September 25, 1992
Foreign relations > Nepal > Date of Establishment	July 19, 1993
General government final consumption expenditure > annual % growth	0.43 %		[99th of 147]
General government final consumption expenditure > constant 2000 US$	2,545,797,000 constant 2000 US$		[56th of 145]
General government final consumption expenditure > constant 2000 US$ (per capita)	260.424 constant 2000 US$ per c		[59th of 146]
General government final consumption expenditure > constant LCU	1825600000000
General government final consumption expenditure > current LCU	12463000000000
General government final consumption expenditure > current US$	5,786,463,000 $		[54th of 169]
General government final consumption expenditure > current US$ (per $ GDP)	0.196 $ per $1 of GDP		[35th of 184]
General government final consumption expenditure > current US$ (per capita)	591.93 $ per capita		[55th of 184]
Government type republic in name, although in fact a dictatorship
Heads of Missions from the United Kingdom	Brian Maurice Bennett
Heads of Missions from the United Kingdom > Resident Heads of Missions > Type	Embassy
Independence 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)
Independence Day > Date	July 3
International organization participation BSEC (observer), CEI, CIS, CSTO, EAEC, EAPC, EBRD, FAO, GCTU, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, NSG, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)
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)
Legal origin	Socialist
Legal system based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch bicameral National Assembly or Natsionalnoye Sobranie consists of the Council of the Republic or Soviet Respubliki (64 seats; 56 members elected by regional councils and eight members appointed by the president, to serve four-year terms) and the Chamber of Representatives or Palata Predstaviteley (110 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
Legislative branch > Election results Soviet Respubliki - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; Palata Predstaviteley - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA
Legislative branch > Elections Palata Predstaviteley - last held 28 September 2008 (next to be held fall of 2012); international observers widely denounced the elections as flawed and undemocratic based on massive government falsification; pro-LUKASHENKO candidates won all 110 seats
Management time dealing with officials > % of management time	3.6 %		[21st of 38]
National holiday Independence Day, 3 July (1944); note - 3 July 1944 was the date Minsk was liberated from German troops, 25 August 1991 was the date of independence from the Soviet Union
Policy uncertainty > % of managers surveyed ranking this as a major business constraint	23.29 %		[18th of 38]
political parties > Multi party	•
Political parties and leaders Pro-government parties: Agrarian Party or AP [leader NA]; Belarusian Communist Party or KPB [leader NA]; Belarusian Patriotic Movement (Belarusian Patriotic Party) or BPR [Anatoliy BARANKEVICH, chairman]; Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus [Sergei GAYDUKEVICH]; Social-Sports Party [leader NA]; Opposition parties: 10 Plus Coalition [Alyaksandr MILINKEVICH], includes: Belarusian Party of Communists or PKB [Syarhey KALYAKIN]; Belarusian Party of Labor (unregistered) [Aleksandr BUKHVOSTOV, Leonid LEMESHONAK]; Belarusian Popular Front or BPF [Vintsyuk VYACHORKA]; Belarusian Social-Democratic Party Narodnaya Hromada or BSDP NH [Alyaksandr KOZULIN, chairman]; Green Party [Alyaksandr SYKALA]; United Civic Party or UCP [Anatol LYABEDSKA]; Party of Freedom and Progress (unregistered) [Vladimir NOVOSYAD]; Women's Party "Nadezhda" [Valentina MATUSEVICH, chairperson]
Political pressure groups and leaders Assembly of Pro-Democratic NGOs [Sergey MATSKEVICH]; Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions [Aleksandr YAROSHUK]; Belarusian Helsinki Committee [Tatiana PROTKO]; Belarusian Organization of Working Women [Irina ZHIKHAR]; Charter 97 [Andrey SANNIKOV]; For Freedom (unregistered) [Aleksandr MILINKEVICH]; Lenin Communist Union of Youth (youth wing of the Belarusian Party of Communists or PKB); National Strike Committee of Entrepreneurs [Aleksandr VASILYEV, Valery LEVONEVSKY]; Partnership NGO [Nikolay ASTREYKA]; Perspektiva kiosk watchdog NGO [Anatol SHUMCHENKO]; Vyasna [Ales BYALATSKY]; Women's Independent Democratic Movement [Ludmila PETINA]; Youth Front (Malady Front) [Dmitriy DASHKEVICH, Sergey BAKHUN]; Zubr youth group [Vladimir KOBETS]
Post-Soviet states > Political problems > Government and Tax > Average	37.86		[15th of 15]
Prime minister	Sergey Sidorsky
Procedures to build a warehouse > number	18		[71st of 168]
Procedures to build a warehouse > number (per capita)	1.841 per 1 million people		[98th of 170]
Procedures to enforce a contract > number	28		[113rd of 170]
Procedures to enforce a contract > number (per capita)	2.864 per 1 million people		[98th of 171]
Procedures to register property > number	7		[64th of 167]
Procedures to register property > number (per capita)	716.069 per 1 billion people		[79th of 167]
Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament > %	29.1 %		[23rd of 174]
Start-up procedures to register a business > number	16		[8th of 171]
Start-up procedures to register a business > number (per capita)	1.637 per 1 million people		[73rd of 171]
Status	pseudo-democracy
Suffrage 18 years of age; universal
Time required to build a warehouse > days	354 days		[14th of 168]
Time required to enforce a contract > days	225 days		[156th of 171]
Time required to register property > days	231 days		[15th of 167]
Time required to start a business > days	69 days		[29th of 171]
Time to prepare and pay taxes > hours	1,188 hours		[4th of 169]
Time to resolve insolvency > years	5.8 years		[9th of 151]
Trademarks, nonresidents	1,027		[31st of 99]
Trademarks, nonresidents (per capita)	0.105 per 1 million people		[30th of 146]
Trademarks, residents	2,410		[29th of 98]
Trademarks, residents (per capita)	0.245 per 1 million people		[36th of 142]
Transnational Issues > Disputes > International Boundary demarcated with Latvia and Lithuania in 2006; 1997 boundary delimitation treaty with Ukraine remains unratified over unresolved financial claims, preventing demarcation and diminishing border security
UN membership date	24 Oct. 1945
United Nations mission http://www.un.int/belarus/ http://www.belarusembassy.org/

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