Last updated on January 12th, 2022
Did you know?
25. The game “World of Tanks,” and the famous Viber App originated from Belarus.
26. Belarus has four UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
27. ‘Independence Avenue’ in Minsk is the longest street (15 km) in Belarus. The name of this street has been changed 14 times so far.
28. Belarus received about 60% of the contamination that fell on the former Soviet Union from the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.
29. Chemical and nuclear pollution in the country are among its major environmental problems.
30. World War II took the lives of almost 25% of the population of Belarus.
Flag of Belarus
31. Primeval lowland oak woods can only be found in Pripyatski National Park, which is in Belarus.
32. About 45% of the country is covered by forest land.
33. Belarus also has the distinction of printing one of the first-ever bibles. This was done in 1517 in Prague.
34. The National Library of Belarus contains 8 million items of various media. Each day, the library sees more than 2,200 users and delivers 12,000 documents. It was founded on September 15, 1922.
35. Every city in Belarus has a Lenin street named after Vladimir Lenin – a Russian communist revolutionary, politician and political theorist.
36. During World War II, more than 800,000 Jewish people were executed by the Germans in Belarus.
37. The Minsk botanical garden is the third largest in Europe.
38. Belarus is slightly smaller than the state of Kansas in size.
39. There are approximately 6,805,786 internet users in Belarus.
40. The country has 86,392 km of roadways, and 5,528 km of railways.
41. Belarus has produced at least 68 Olympic champions in the past 50 years.
42. Belarusians can make at least 300 different recipes with potatoes. They can even make pancakes using potatoes.
43. The death penalty has been completely abolished in all European countries except for Belarus.
44. Approximately 40-45% of the country’s population is 25-54 years old.
45. The country spends approximately 6% of its GDP on health care and has a 99.7% literacy rate.
46. The country experiences a moderate continental climate.
47. “Lacinka” is the name of the Latin-script in Belarusian writing.
Belarus – the country at a glance
| Independence | 25 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union) |
|---|---|
| Capital City | Minsk (53°55′N 27°33′E) |
| Largest City | Minsk (53°55′N 27°33′E) |
| Area | total: 207,600 sq km land: 202,900 sq km water: 4,700 sq km |
| Population | 9,038,342 (2024est.) |
| Official Language | Belarusian and Russian |
| Borders | Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Ukraine. |
| Currency | Belarusian ruble (BYR) |
| Religion | Judaism, Islam, Christianity. |
| Demonym | Belarusian |
| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal |
| Life expectancy at birth | 74.7 years (2024 est.) Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life. |
| Climate | cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime |
| Terrain | generally flat with much marshland |
| Mean elevation | 160 m |
| Lowest point | Nyoman River 90 m |
| Highest point | Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m |
| Natural resources | timber, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay |
| Agricultural land | 43.7% |
| Birth rate | 8.3 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Death rate | 13.3 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Sex ratio | 0.88 male(s)/female (2024 est.) |
| Government type | presidential republic in name, although in fact a dictatorship |
| President | Alexander Lukashenko |
| Prime Minister | Roman Golovchenko |
| Literacy | 99.9% (2019) |
| National symbol | no clearly defined current national symbol, the mounted knight known as Pahonia (the Chaser) is the traditional Belarusian symbol |
| National colors | green, red, white |
| National anthem | "My, Bielarusy" (We Belarusians) |
| Industries | metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, televisions, synthetic fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators |
| Exports | $47.87 billion (2023 est.) fertilizers, refined petroleum, rapeseed oil, wood, beef (2022) |
| Imports | $47.398 billion (2023 est.) cars, packaged medicine, fabric, plastic products, vehicle parts/accessories (2022) |
| GDP - per capita (PPP) | $27,700 (2023 est.) |
| Internet country code | .by |
| Time Zone | FET (UTC+3) |
| Calling Code | +375 |
| Drives on the | Right |
| Table last updated | October 23, 2023 |