BELARUS A Presentation by the Model United Nations Club

Where is Belarus?

Who borders Belarus?

A Feel of Belarus!   Parade of Weapons  eature=related eature=related  Dance

Statistics of Belarus  Population - 9,648,533 (July 2009 est.)  Population Growth Rate % (2009 est.)  Urban population: 73% of total population (2008)  Ethnicities - Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish 3.9%, Ukrainian 2.4%, other 1.1% (1999 census)  Religion - Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.)  Education – 99.6 Literate  Educational investment - 6.1% of GDP (2006)

Statistics Cont.  Belarus Border length  Russia 959 km  Latvia 141 km  Lithuania 502 km  Ukraine 891 km  Poland 407 km

The Reality…

History Essentials  Important to note that before these dates Belarus was pushed around by Russia and others of the area  1945: On April 25, delegates from Belarus and Ukraine are invited to the San Francisco Conference  1986: On April 26 - The Chernobyl explosion  Seventy percent of the fallout covers southeastern Belarus with radioactive dust  1991: On August 25, Belarus declares independence  On December 8, Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine form the Commonwealth of Independent States. The Soviet Union comes to a virtual end

Government Type/Setup  Properly known as Republic of Belarus (Respublika Byelarus‘)  Government type – Republic  6 Provinces and 1 Municipality  Provinces known as “voblasts‘”  Municipality known as “horad”  Legal system  Based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Our Glorious Leader in action!  eature=related eature=related   Anthem/Inauguration of Lukashenko (Part 1 and 2)

More detailed map of Belarus

Government Breakdown  Executive Branch  Chief of State - Aleksandr Lukashenko  Head of Government - Prime Minister Sergey Sidorskiy  Cabinet - Council of Ministers  Legislative Branch  Bicameral (consists of two chambers or houses) National Assembly Consists of the Council of the Republic Chamber of Representatives  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)

Important Facts  Independence gained on 25 August 1991  Belarus and Russia signed a treaty on a two-state union on 8 December 1999 envisioning greater political and economic integration  Aleksandr Lukashenko elected in 1994 maintains power through “authoritarian means”  Government restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, peaceful assembly, and religion remain in place  Gave all nuclear weapons back to Russia  However has kept all infrastructure to mass produce and all of the capabilities for launch

I leave you with this…