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@Belarus
Introduction Belarus
Background:
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.
Geography Belarus
Location:
Eastern Europe, east of Poland
Geographic coordinates:
53 00 N, 28 00 E
Map references:
Europe
Area:
total: 207,600 sq km
water: 0 sq km
land: 207,600 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than Kansas
Land boundaries:
total: 2,900 km
border countries: Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 407 km,
Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km
Coastline:
0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims:
none (landlocked)
Climate:
cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between
continental and maritime
Terrain:
generally flat and contains much marshland
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Nyoman River 90 m
highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m
Natural resources:
forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas,
granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay
Land use: arable land: 29.55% permanent crops: 0.6% other: 69.85% (2001)
Irrigated land:
1,150 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards:
NA
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
Geography - note:
landlocked; glacial scouring accounts for the flatness of
Belarusian terrain and for its 11,000 lakes; the country is
geologically well endowed with extensive deposits of granite,
dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, and clay
People Belarus
Population:
10,310,520 (July 2004 est.)
Age structure:
0–14 years: 16.3% (male 859,219; female 823,839)
15–64 years: 69.2% (male 3,469,926; female 3,662,203)
65 years and over: 14.5% (male 496,204; female 999,129) (2004 est.)
Median age:
total: 36.9 years
male: 34.2 years
female: 39.5 years (2004 est.)
Population growth rate:
−0.11% (2004 est.)
Birth rate:
10.52 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Death rate:
14.1 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Net migration rate:
2.54 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15–64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.5 male(s)/female
total population: 0.88 male(s)/female (2004 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 13.62 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 12.47 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
male: 14.71 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 68.57 years
male: 62.79 years
female: 74.65 years (2004 est.)
Total fertility rate:
1.36 children born/woman (2004 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.3% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
15,000 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
1,000 (2001 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Belarusian(s)
adjective: Belarusian
Ethnic groups:
Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4%
Religions:
Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant,
Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.)
Languages:
Belarusian, Russian, other
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.6%
male: 99.8%
female: 99.5% (2003 est.)
Government Belarus
Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Belarus
conventional short form: Belarus
local short form: none
former: Belorussian (Byelorussian) Soviet Socialist Republic
local long form: Respublika Byelarus'
Government type:
republic in name, although in fact a dictatorship
Capital:
Minsk
Administrative