What countries border Belarus?
What is the current weather in Belarus?
What is Belarus famous for?
What is the capital of Belarus?
Capital | Minsk |
Government Type | presidential republic in name, although in fact a dictatorship |
Currency | Belarusian Rubles (BYB/BYR) |
Total Area |
80,154 Square Miles 207,600 Square Kilometers |
Location | Eastern Europe, east of Poland |
Language | Belarusian, Russian, other |
GDP - real growth rate | -3% |
GDP - per capita (PPP) | $17,500.00 (USD) |
What is the population of Belarus?
Ethnic Groups | Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4% |
Nationality Noun | Belarusian(s) |
Population | 9,477,918 |
Population Growth Rate | -0.18% |
Population in Major Urban Areas | MINSK (capital) 1.861 million |
Urban Population | 75.000000 |
What type of government does Belarus have?
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: Alyaksandr LUKASHENKA reelected president (); percent of vote - Alyaksandr LUKASHENKA (independent) 80.1%, Svyatlana TSIKHANOWSKAYA (independent) 10.1%, other 9.8%; note - widespread street protests erupted following announcement of the election results amid allegations of voter fraud 2015: Alyaksandr LUKASHENKA president (); percent of vote - Alyaksandr LUKASHENKA (independent) 84.1%, Tatsyana KARATKEVICH 4.4%, Sergey GAYDUKEVICH 3.3%, other 8.2%. |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal |
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 |
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 |
Independence | 25 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union) |
What environmental issues does Belarus have?
Overview |
Belarus occupies 80,154 square miles (207,600 square kilometers) and is approximately the size of Great Britain or the State of Kansas. It is a landlocked country bounded by Poland on the west; Ukraine on the south; on the northeast by Russia; and on the northwest by Latvia and Lithuania. From east to west, Belarus covers 404 miles (650 kilometers); from north to south is 348 miles (560 kilometers). The highest point in Belarus, Dzyarzhynskaya Hara, is 1,135 feet (346 meters). Averaging only 656 feet above sea level (200 meters), the country is predominately gently rolling fields in the north and marshy lowlands in the south. More than half the land is used for agriculture. Some one-third is densely forested with large stands of spruce, pine, oak, and/or beech, everywhere interspersed with beautiful white/silver birch. It is a land of more than 11,000 lakes — the largest, Lake Naroch, lies in the northwest. It is also a nation of many rivers and countless streams (more than 20,000). The most important river is the Dnjapro, which flows well into Belarus from Russia, then south into Ukraine — ultimately providing an all-important shipping channel between the Baltic and Black Seas. Natural resources are timber and deposits of peat, granite, potassium salts, dolomitic limestone, and chalk. |
Climate | Belarus is located on the 53rd latitude--roughly the same as Hamburg, Germany; Dublin, Ireland; and Edmonton, Canada. It has a temperate continental climate. Average summer temperatures are in the mid-60s to mid-70s. (July is the warmest month.) It can be cold from October to April. Average winter temperatures are in the low teens and 20s F. Frost can occur 6 to 7 months of the year. Snow/ice can be expected from December to March, and occasionally into April. Winter days are short. Spring, summer, and fall bring long hours of welcome light. Average annual precipitation is 22-28 inches; June, July, and August are the wettest months. |
Border Countries | Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 407 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km |
Environment - Current Issues | Soil pollution from pesticide use; southern part of the country contaminated with fallout from 1986 nuclear reactor accident at Chornobyl in northern Ukraine |
Environment - International Agreements |
Party To: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
Terrain | Generally flat and contains much marshland |
How big is the Belarus economy?
Economic Overview |
As part of the former Soviet Union, Belarus had a relatively well-developed industrial base, but it is now outdated, inefficient, and dependent on subsidized Russian energy and preferential access to Russian markets. The country’s agricultural base is largely dependent on government subsidies. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, an initial burst of economic reforms included privatization of state enterprises, creation of private property rights, and the acceptance of private entrepreneurship, but by 1994 the reform effort dissipated. About 80% of industry remains in state hands, and foreign investment has virtually disappeared. Several businesses have been renationalized. State-owned entities account for 70-75% of GDP, and state banks make up 75% of the banking sector. Economic output declined for several years following the break-up of the Soviet Union, but revived in the mid-2000s. Belarus has only small reserves of crude oil and imports crude oil and natural gas from Russia at subsidized, below market, prices. Belarus derives export revenue by refining Russian crude and selling it at market prices. Russia and Belarus have had serious disagreements over prices and quantities for Russian energy. Beginning in early 2016, Russia claimed Belarus began accumulating debt – reaching $740 million by April 2017 – for paying below the agreed price for Russian natural gas and Russia cut back its export of crude oil as a result of the debt. In April 2017, Belarus agreed to pay its gas debt and Russia restored the flow of crude. New non-Russian foreign investment has been limited in recent years, largely because of an unfavorable financial climate. In 2011, a financial crisis lead to a nearly three-fold devaluation of the Belarusian ruble. The Belarusian economy has continued to struggle under the weight of high external debt servicing payments and a trade deficit. In mid-December 2014, the devaluation of the Russian ruble triggered a near 40% devaluation of the Belarusian ruble. Belarus’s economy stagnated between 2012 and 2016, widening productivity and income gaps between Belarus and neighboring countries. Budget revenues dropped because of falling global prices on key Belarusian export commodities. Since 2015, the Belarusian government has tightened its macro-economic policies, allowed more flexibility to its exchange rate, taken some steps towards price liberalization, and reduced subsidized government lending to state-owned enterprises. Belarus returned to modest growth in 2017, largely driven by improvement of external conditions and Belarus issued sovereign debt for the first time since 2011, which provided the country with badly-needed liquidity, and issued $600 million worth of Eurobonds in February 2018, predominantly to US and British investors. |
Industries | Metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, televisions, synthetic fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators |
Currency Name and Code | Belarusian Rubles (BYB/BYR) |
Export Partners | Russia 39%, UK 11.2%, Ukraine 9.5%, Netherlands 4.3%, Germany 4.1% |
Import Partners | Russia 56.6%, China 7.9%, Germany 4.6% |
What current events are happening in Belarus?
Source: Google News
What makes Belarus a unique country to travel to?