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Belarus Country Guide

Explore Belarus in Europe

Belarus with the capital city Minsk is located in Europe (Eastern Europe, east of Poland). It covers some 207,600 square kilometres (slightly smaller than Kansas) with 9,685,000 citizens.

Interactive map of Belarus

The landscape offers generally flat and contains much marshland. The average density of population is approximately 47 per km². The notable climate conditions in Belarus can be described as cold winters, cool and moist summers with transitional between continental and maritime. Potential threats by nature are NA.

To reach someone in Belarus dial +375 prior to a number. There are 3,969,000 installed telephones. And there are 9,686,000 registered mobile phones. The cellular networks commonly support frequencies of 900/1800 MHz. Websites registered in this country end with the top level domain ".by". If you want to bring electric equipment on your trip (e.g. laptop power supply), note the local power outlet of 220V - 50Hz.

About the flag and history of Belarus

Belarus Flag Icon

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.


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.



Geography Quick-Facts

SummaryContinent: Europe
Neighbours: Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Russia, Latvia
Capital: Minsk
Size207,600 square kilometers (km² or sqkm) or 80,154 square miles (mi² or sqmi)
slightly smaller than Kansas
Population9,685,000
CurrencyName Ruble, Currency Code:BYR
Country Top Level Domain (cTLD).by
Telephone Country Prefix+375
Mobile Phone Connections9,686,000
Landline Phone Connections3,969,000

Country Position in World Rankings

Information about single country attributes and how these compare against the rest of the world. The information below is compiled with data from 2013. As such, it may differ a bit to the Information above in the text (which is from 2010).

Geography

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Area207,600 (sq km)86

People and Society

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Population9,625,888 90
Population growth rate-0.18 (%)210
Birth rate10.99 (births/1,000 population)174
Death rate13.68 (deaths/1,000 population)13
Net migration rate0.85 (migrant(s)/1,000 population)61
Maternal mortality rate190.00 (deaths/100,000 live births)57
Infant mortality rate3.67 (deaths/1,000 live births)206
Life expectancy at birth71.81 (years)140
Total fertility rate1.46 (children born/woman)193
Health expenditures5.60 (% of GDP)119
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate0.30 (%)89
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS17,000 82
HIV/AIDS - deaths1,000 68
Obesity - adult prevalence rate24.30 (%)65
Children under the age of 5 years underweight1.30 (%)126
Education expenditures5.30 (% of GDP)62

Economy

Value nameValueWorld Rank
GDP (purchasing power parity)149,200,000,000 63
GDP - real growth rate1.50 (%)147
GDP - per capita (PPP)15,900 85
Labor force5,000,000 77
Unemployment rate1.00 (%)6
Distribution of family income - Gini index27.20 125
Investment (gross fixed)35.80 (% of GDP)11
Taxes and other revenues33.90 (% of GDP)69
Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)-1.00 (% of GDP)62
Public debt30.00 (% of GDP)115
Inflation rate (consumer prices)70.00 (%)223
Central bank discount rate13.50 (%)14
Commercial bank prime lending rate13.58 (%)59
Stock of narrow money5,213,000,000 98
Stock of broad money13,320,000,000 95
Stock of domestic credit31,340,000,000 72
Industrial production growth rate10.50 (%)9
Current account balance-3,067,000,000 150
Exports46,600,000,000 62
Imports48,180,000,000 55
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold5,624,000,000 86
Debt - external34,120,000,000 69

Energy

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Electricity - production28,550,000,000 (kWh)66
Electricity - consumption29,540,000,000 (kWh)62
Electricity - exports3,933,000,000 (kWh)32
Electricity - imports8,404,000,000 (kWh)28
Electricity - installed generating capacity8,032,000 (kW)63
Electricity - from fossil fuels99.70 (% of total installed capacity)50
Electricity - from hydroelectric plants0.20 (% of total installed capacity)148
Electricity - from other renewable sources0.10 (% of total installed capacity)96
Crude oil - production30,000 (bbl/day)67
Crude oil - exports34,320 (bbl/day)50
Crude oil - imports431,300 (bbl/day)19
Crude oil - proved reserves198,000,000 (bbl)63
Refined petroleum products - production427,800 (bbl/day)36
Refined petroleum products - consumption188,800 (bbl/day)60
Refined petroleum products - exports302,000 (bbl/day)24
Refined petroleum products - imports39,660 (bbl/day)76
Natural gas - production220,000,000 (cu m)77
Natural gas - consumption21,820,000,000 (cu m)35
Natural gas - imports21,600,000,000 (cu m)17
Natural gas - proved reserves2,832,000,000 (cu m)96
Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy68,240,000 (Mt)50

Communications

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Telephones - main lines in use4,208,000 41
Telephones - mobile cellular10,695,000 71
Internet hosts295,217 64
Internet users2,643,000 69

Transportation

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Airports65 76
Railways5,537 (km)32
Roadways86,392 (km)53
Waterways2,500 (km)36

Military

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Military expenditures1.40 (% of GDP)107

Data based on CIA facts book 2010 & 2013, wikipedia, national statistical offices and their census releases

List of current world heritage sites

NameSince
Architectural, Residential and Cultural Complex of the Radziwill Family at Nesvizh
The Architectural, Residential and Cultural Complex of the Radziwill Family at Nesvizh is located in central Belarus. The Radziwill dynasty, who built and kept the ensemble from the 16th century until 1939, gave birth to some of the most important pe ...
2005
Białowieża Forest
This is an extension of and new proposal for the Belovezhskaya Pushcha / Białowieża transboudary site on the border between Poland and Belarus, inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1979. Situated on the watershed of the Baltic Sea and Black Sea, t ...
1979
Mir Castle Complex
The construction of this castle began at the end of the 15th century, in Gothic style. It was subsequently extended and reconstructed, first in the Renaissance and then in the Baroque style. After being abandoned for nearly a century and suffering se ...
2000
Struve Geodetic Arc
The Struve Arc is a chain of survey triangulations stretching from Hammerfest in Norway to the Black Sea, through 10 countries and over 2,820 km. These are points of a survey, carried out between 1816 and 1855 by the astronomer Friedrich Georg Wilhel ...
2005