Key facts about Belarus

Belarus on the map of Europe

An introduction in facts and figures to this landlocked country in the north-east of Europe

Official Name

Republic of Belarus

President of Belarus

Alexander Lukashenko (1994 - present )

Prime Minister of Belarus

Mikhail Myasnikovich (2010)

Total land area of Belarus

207,600 km²

Nationality of Belarus

Population – 9.503,8 million

• Life expectancy at birth – 70.5 years
• Population living in cities – 74%
• The capital is Minsk – 1.836,8 million inhabitants

Regional centres of Belarus (2009):

• Brest  - 310,000 inhabitants 
• Vitebsk  – 348,000 inhabitants  
• Gomel  – 483,000 inhabitants 
• Grodno  –328,000 inhabitants 
• Mogilev  – 358,000 inhabitants 

Ethnicity

Languages spoken in Belarus

Belarusian and Russian

National holidays in Belarus

Independence Day, 3 July

Currency of Belarus

Belarusian rouble (Br)

Economic indicators

GNP (2010) Br162964 billion; per capita: Br17171 thousand

Commodity structure of export (2009):

• mineral products -  37.9%
• chemical industry production, rubber – 18,2%
• cars, equipment and vehicles – 15,7%
• black, nonferrous metals and products from them – 6,9%
• articles of food and agricultural raw materials – 10,8%
• others – 10,5%

Commodity structure of import (2009):

• mineral products – 40,3%
• chemical industry production, rubber – 12,4%
• cars, equipment and vehicles – 22,6%
• black, nonferrous metals and products from them – 8,8%
• articles of food and agricultural raw materials – 8,2%
• others – 7,7%

Main Business Partners of Belarus

• Russia
• Ukraine 
• Netherlands 
• Germany
• China
• Poland
• Venezuela 
• The UK
• Latvia
• Italy

Main Industries of Belarus

• metallurgical
• mechanical engineering, including tractors and agricultural, cars, machine-tool constructing and tool industry, instrument making, radio engineering, electro technical, electronic, optics-mechanical industry; and metal working
• chemical and petrochemical
• light industry
• food industry

Area of farmland in Belarus

8927 thousands hectares (2010)

Agriculture

Areas of speciality in agriculture: grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beet, flax, meat and dairy industry

Natural resources

• wood
• peat
• small oil and natural gas fields
• granite
• dolomite
• limestone
• clay
• sand

Number of people in employment

4.7 million (2010)

Distribution of employed population across key economic sectors (2009):

• industry – 26.2%
• agriculture – 9.3%
• transportation and communication – 7.6%
• retail, catering, logistics – 14.7%
• education – 9,7%
• public health services, physical training and social security – 7.2%
• others – 16.3%

Unemployment in Belarus

34,4 thousand unemployed (2010)

Communication Facilities in Belarus

Telephone: main telephone equipment – about 4.2 million, users of mobile phones – 10.7 million

Internet users: more than 3.1 million

In terms of overall postal e-services development, the Universal Postal Union index places Belarus in the top ten (2011).

Transportation

Railways – 5,511 km, including 897km of electric track

Highways – 85,700 km. Including paved roads 74,300 km

Oil pipelines – 2,984 km

Gas pipelines – 7,421 km

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