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Belarus Facts

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Belarus, State of Eastern Europe; 207,600 km², 9.5 million residents (2019).Belarus borders the Russian Federation in the north and east, in the south to Ukraine, in western Poland and in the northwest to Lithuania and Latvia. Administratively, Belarus is divided into six regions and the capital Minsk (2 million residents, 2018).

Belarus Country Flag

Country facts

  • Republic of Belarus / Republic of Belarus
  • Country abbreviation: BY
  • Area: 207 600 km²
  • Population (2019): 9.5 million residents
  • Capital: Minsk
  • Main language: Belarusian
  • State: Republic
  • Head of State: Aljaksandr Lukashenka (President)
  • Head of Government: Sharjah Rumas
  • Per capita GDP (2018): US $ 6 290
  • GNI per capita (2018): US $ 5,670
  • Currency unit: 1 ruble = 100 kopecks
  • Currency code: BYR
  • Country number (telephony): 375
  • Internet domain name: village
  • Time difference compared to Sweden: +1
  • National Day: July 3 (Independence Day, 1944)

Nature

  • Land use: forest (34%), agricultural land (30%), other (36%)
  • Highest mountain: Dziarzhynskaja (346 m asl)
  • Longest river: Dnieper (2 280 km)

Population

  • Population density (2019): 46 residents per km²
  • Natural population growth (2019): −0.3%; birth rate 10 ‰, death rate 13 ‰
  • Age structure (2019): 0-14 years (17%), 15-64 (68%), 65- (15%)
  • Life expectancy (2019): men 69 years, women 79 years
  • Infant mortality (2019): 3 per 1,000 live births
  • Population forecast 2050: 9 million residents
  • HDI (2017): 0.808 (place 53 of 189)
  • Urbanization rate (2019): 78%
  • Most populous cities (2018): Minsk (2 million residents), Homel (535,700), Mahiljoŭ (381,400)

Business

  • Industry’s contribution to GDP (2017): agriculture (8%), industry (41%), service (51%)
  • Exports (2017): US $ 28 650 million
  • Main export products: machinery, vehicles, chemicals
  • Main exporting countries: Russian Federation, Ukraine, UK
  • Imports (2017): US $ 31,580 million
  • Main import products: oil, gas, metals
  • Main importing countries: Russian Federation, China, Germany
  • Railway network (2014): 5,500 km

Belarus is part of the Eastern European lowlands and is largely flat. The vast central plain is well drained and has fertile soil. Further to the south-west and south, the Prypjat Strait spreads, a woody lowland that extends into Ukraine and Poland. Belarus, like the entire Eastern European lowlands, has a cold temperate humid climate.

The constitution gives the president, who is elected for five years, great powers. The legislative power is formally exercised by Parliament, but in practice the president decides. The country became independent in 1991, when the Soviet Union disbanded.

Belarussian business was one of the cornerstones of the Soviet economy, and many considered that the country had the best conditions to cope with the transition to a market economy. However, few of the former Soviet republics have been so reluctant to cut ties with the Russian Federation. Thanks to favorable oil and gas agreements with the Russian Federation, the country has received good export earnings from re-exporting fuel to Western Europe. In recent years, however, the Belarus economy has been hit hard by the price increase of oil and gas from the Russian Federation as well as the effects of the 2008 international financial crisis.

Belarus Map

Belarus Map

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