ved: 36,544 km
unpaved: 15,587 km (1996 est.)

Waterways: NA km; note-Belarus has extensive and widely used canal and
river systems

Pipelines: crude oil 1,470 km; refined products 1,100 km; natural gas
1,980 km (1992)

Ports and harbors: Mazyr

Merchant marine:
note: claims 5% of former Soviet fleet (1995 est.)

Airports: 118 (1996 est.)

Airports-with paved runways:
total: 36
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 18
1,524 to 2,437 m: 5
under 914 m: 11 (1996 est.)

Airports-with unpaved runways:
total: 82
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 6
1,524 to 2,437 m: 4
914 to 1,523 m: 9
under 914 m: 62 (1996 est.)

@Belarus:Military

Military branches: Army, Air Force, Air Defense Force, Interior
Ministry Troops, Border Guards

Military manpower-military age: 18 years of age

Military manpower-availability:
males age 15-49: 2,681,014 (1998 est.)

Military manpower-fit for military service:
males: 2,099,860 (1998 est.)

Military manpower-reaching military age annually:
males: 78,780 (1998 est.)

Military expenditures-dollar figure: 4.5 trillion rubles (1997 est.);
note-conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the
current exchange rate could produce misleading results

Military expenditures-percent of GDP: 1.3% (1997 est.)

@Belarus:Transnational Issues

Disputes-international: demarcation has begun on border with Lithuania

Illicit drugs: limited cultivation of opium poppy and cannabis, mostly
for the domestic market; transshipment point for illicit drugs to
Russia and Western Europe

______________________________________________________________________

BELGIUM

@Belgium:Geography

Location: Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between France and
the Netherlands

Geographic coordinates: 50 50 N, 4 00 E

Map references: Europe

Area:
total: 30,510 sq km
land: 30,230 sq km
water: 280 sq km

Area-comparative: about the size of Maryland

Land boundaries:
total: 1,385 km
border countries: France 620 km, Germany 167 km, Luxembourg 148 km,
Netherlands 450 km

Coastline: 64 km

Maritime claims:
continental shelf: median line with neighbors
exclusive fishing zone: median line with neighbors (extends about 68
km from coast)
territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: temperate; mild winters, cool summers; rainy, humid, cloudy

Terrain: flat coastal plains in northwest, central rolling hills,
rugged mountains of Ardennes Forest in southeast

Elevation extremes:
lowest po