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Country Name

Conventional long form: Republic of Belarus

Conventional short form: Belarus

Local long form: Respublika Byelarus' (Belarusian)/ Respublika Belarus' (Russian)

Local short form: Byelarus' (Belarusian)/ Belarus' (Russian)

Former: Belorussian (Byelorussian) Soviet Socialist Republic

Administrative Divisions

6 regions (voblastsi, singular - voblasts') and 1 municipality* (horad); Brest, Homyel' (Gomel'), Horad Minsk* (Minsk City), Hrodna (Grodno), Mahilyow (Mogilev), Minsk, Vitsyebsk (Vitebsk)

Independence

25 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union)

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

Constitution

History: several previous; latest drafted between late 1991 and early 1994, signed 15 March 1994

Amendments: proposed by the president of the republic through petition to the National Assembly or by petition of least 150,000 eligible voters; approval required by at least two-thirds majority vote in both chambers or by simple majority of votes cast in a referendum; amended 1996, 2004

Legal System

civil law system; note - nearly all major codes (civil, civil procedure, criminal, criminal procedure, family, and labor) were revised and came into force in 1999 and 2000

International Law Organization Participation

Has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt

Citizenship

Citizenship by birth: no

Citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Belarus

Dual citizenship recognized: no

Residency requirement for naturalization: 7 years

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Executive Branch

Chief of state: President Alyaksandr LUKASHENKA (since 20 July 1994)

Head of government: Prime Minister Roman GOLOVCHENKO (since 4 June 2020); First Deputy Prime Minister Mikalay SNAPKOW (since 4 June 2020); Deputy Prime Ministers Ihar PETRYSHENKA (since 18 August 2018), Anatol SIVAK (since 1 September 2020), Leanid ZAYATS (since 21 March 2022), Petr PARKHOMCHYK (since 16 August 2022)

Cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president

Elections appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (no term limits); first election held on 23 June and 10 July 1994; according to the 1994 constitution, the next election should have been held in 1999; however, Alyaksandr LUKASHENKA extended his term to 2001 via a November 1996 referendum; subsequent election held on 9 September 2001; an October 2004 referendum ended presidential term limits and allowed the President LUKASHENKA to run and win a third term (19 March 2006); a fourth term (19 December 2010); a fifth term (11 October 2015); a sixth term (9 August 2020); next election to be held in 2025; prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president and approved by the National Assembly

Election results: 2020

Legislative Branch

Description: bicameral National Assembly or Natsyyalny Skhod consists of

Elections: Council of the Republic - indirect election last held on 7 November 2019House of Representatives - last held on 17 November 2019 (next to be held on 25 February 2024); OSCE observers determined that the election was neither free nor impartial and that vote counting was problematic in a number of polling stations; pro-LUKASHENKA candidates won every seat; international observers determined that the previous elections - on 28 September 2008, 23 September 2012, and 11 September 2016 - also fell short of democratic standards, with pro-LUKASHENKA candidates winning every, or virtually every seat

Election results: Council of the Republic - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; composition - as of August 2023 - men 45, women 15, percent of women 25%House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - KPB 11, Republican Party of Labor and Justice 6, BPP 2, LDP 1, BAP 1, independent 89; composition as of August 2023 - men 66, women 44, percent of women 40%; note - total National Assembly percent of women 34.7%

Note: the US does not recognize the legitimacy of the National Assembly

Judicial Branch

Highest courts: Supreme Court (consists of the chairman and deputy chairman and organized into several specialized panels, including economic and military; number of judges set by the president of the republic and the court chairman); Constitutional Court (consists of 12 judges, including a chairman and deputy chairman)

Judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges appointed by the president with the consent of the Council of the Republic; judges initially appointed for 5 years and evaluated for life appointment; Constitutional Court judges - 6 appointed by the president and 6 elected by the Council of the Republic; the presiding judge directly elected by the president and approved by the Council of the Republic; judges can serve for 11 years with an age limit of 70

Subordinate courts: oblast courts; Minsk City Court; town courts; Minsk city and oblast economic courts

Political Parties and Leaders

Array

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; the red band color recalls past struggles from oppression, the green band represents hope and the many forests of the country

National Symbols

National Anthem

Lyrics music: Mikhas KLIMKOVICH and Uladzimir KARYZNA/Nester SAKALOUSKI

National Heritage