Belarus Facts

by countryaah · Published June 3, 2019 · Updated April 25, 2020

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).

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.