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List All Cities in Belarus Listing cities Belarus database :
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Background
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After seven decades as a constituent republic of the USSR, Belarus attained its independence in 1991. It has retained closer political and economic ties to Russia than any of the other former Soviet republics. Belarus and Russia signed a treaty on a two-state union on 8 December 1999 envisioning greater political and economic integration. Although Belarus agreed to a framework to carry out the accord, serious implementation has yet to take place. Since his election in July 1994 as the country's first president, Aleksandr LUKASHENKO has steadily consolidated his power through authoritarian means. Government restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, peaceful assembly, and religion remain in place.
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Population
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9,612,632 (July 2010 est.)
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Government type
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6 provinces (voblastsi, singular - voblasts') and 1 municipality* (horad); Brest, Homyel' (Gomel), Horad Minsk* (Minsk City), Hrodna (Grodno), Mahilyow (Mogilev), Minsk, Vitsyebsk (Vitebsk)
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Administrative divisions
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republic in name, although in fact a dictatorship
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Independence
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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
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International organization participation
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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; the red band color recalls past struggles from oppression, the green band represents hope and the many forests of the country
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Economy - overview
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Market value of publicly traded shares
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metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, televisions, synthetic fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators
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Agriculture - products
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-2.8% (2009 est.)
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Industries
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29.92 billion kWh (2007 est.)
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Industrial production growth rate
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30.54 billion kWh (2007 est.)
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Electricity - production
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5.062 billion kWh (2007 est.)
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Oil - production
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303,900 bbl/day (2007 est.)
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Internet country code
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3.107 million (2008)
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