Belarus - Geography

Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Belarus. Landlocked; glacial scouring accounts for the flatness of Belarusian terrain and for its 11,000 lakes. Mother's mean age at first birth is 26.8 years (2019 est.) (), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 1 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)

Geographical data of Belarus
Location Eastern Europe, east of Poland
Geographic coordinates 53 00 N, 28 00 E
Map references Europe
Tarrain generally flat with much marshland
Natural Resources timber, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay
Natural Hazards large tracts of marshy land
Irrigated Land 303 sq km (2020)
Major rivers (by length in km) Dnyapro (Dnieper) (shared with Russia [s] and Ukraine [m]) - 2,287 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth
Major aquifers
Land Boundaries 3,599 km
Border Countries Latvia 161 km; Lithuania 640 km; Poland 375 km; Russia 1,312 km; Ukraine 1,111 km
Coastline 0 km (landlocked)
Climate cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime
Area
Total Area
Land Area 202,900 sq km
Water Area 4,700 sq km
comparative Area slightly less than twice the size of Kentucky; slightly smaller than Kansas
Maritime Claims
Elevations
Highest point Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m
Lowest point Nyoman River 90 m
Mean elevation 160 m
Land Use
Agricultural land 43.7% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land: arable land arable land: 27.2% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land: permanent crops permanent crops: 0.6% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land: permanent pasture permanent pasture: 15.9% (2018 est.)
Forest 42.7% (2018 est.)
Other 13.6% (2018 est.)
Population Distribution

A fairly even distribution throughout most of the country, with urban areas attracting larger and denser populations

People and Society

In Belarus, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Belarusian 83.7%, Russian 8.3%, Polish 3.1%, Ukrainian 1.7%, other 2.4%, unspecified 0.9% (2009 est.)

Population
Pop growth rate -0.42% (2024 est.)
Birth rate 8.3 births/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Death rate 13.3 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Health expenditure 6.4% of GDP (2020)
Physicians Density
Hospital bed Density 10.8 beds/1,000 population (2014)
Total fertility rate 1.45 children born/woman (2024 est.)
Gross reproduction rate 0.7 (2024 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate 52.6% (2019)
Est married women (ages 15-49) 66.6% (2023 est.)
Literacy age 15 and over can read and write
Education expenditures 4.7% of GDP (2021 est.)
Net Migration rate 0.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Nationality Belarusian | Belarusian(s)
Languages
Religions Orthodox 48.3%, Catholic 7.1%, other 3.5%, non-believers 41.1% (2011 est.)
Age Structure
0-14 years 16.1% (male 787,849/female 741,293)
15-64 years 66.1% (male 3,073,507/female 3,204,088)
65 years and over 17.8% (2024 est.) (male 572,483/female 1,122,231)
Dependency Ratios
Total dependency ratio 50.8
Youth dependency ratio 25.4
Elderly dependency ratio 25.4
Potential support ratio 3.9 (2021 est.)
Median Age
Total 42.1 years (2024 est.)
Male 39.5 years
Female 45 years
Urbanization
Urban population 80.7% of total population (2023)
Rate of urbanization 0.28% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Major urban areas (Pop) 2.057 million MINSK (capital) (2023).
Sex Ratio
At birth 1.06 male(s)/female
0-14 years 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over 0.51 male(s)/female
Total population 0.88 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
Infant Motality
Total 2.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.)
Male 2.5 deaths/1,000 live births
Female 1.7 deaths/1,000 live births
Life Expectancy at birth
Total population 74.7 years (2024 est.)
Male 69.8 years
Female 80 years
Drinking Water Sources
Improved: urban urban: 100% of population
Improved: rural rural: 99.6% of population
Improved: total total: 99.9% of population
Unimproved: urban urban: 0% of population
Unimproved: rural rural: 0.4% of population
Unimproved: total total: 0.1% of population (2020 est.)
Sanitation facility acess
Improved: urban urban: 99.9% of population
Improved: rural rural: 98.3% of population
Improved: total total: 99.5% of population
Unimproved: urban urban: 0.1% of population
Unimproved: rural rural: 1.7% of population
Unimproved: total total: 0.5% of population (2020 est.)
Alcohol consumption per capita
Total 10.57 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Beer 2.26 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Wine 0.98 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Spirits 4.67 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Other alcohols 2.66 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Tobacco use
Total 30.5% (2020 est.)
Male 47.4% (2020 est.)
Female 13.5% (2020 est.)
Child marriage
Women married by age 15 0.1%
Women married by age 18 4.7%
Men married by age 18 1.6% (2019 est.)
Demographic profile
All Important Facts about Belarus

Want to know more about Belarus? Check all different factbooks for Belarus below.

Belarus is found in Eastern Europe