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 – 9.463,8 million (on 1 January 2013)

• Life expectancy at birth – 72.2 years
• Population living in cities – 76.3%
• The capital is Minsk – 1.901,1 million inhabitants

Regional centres of Belarus (January 2013):

• Brest  – 326,4 inhabitants 
• Vitebsk  – 369,4 inhabitants  
• Gomel  – 515 inhabitants 
• Grodno  – 352,5 inhabitants 
• Mogilev  – 366,8 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 (2012) Br527385 billion; per capita: Br55724 thousand

Commodity structure of export (2012):

• mineral products – 36.2%
• chemical industry production, rubber – 21,7%
• cars, equipment and vehicles – 17,9%
• black, nonferrous metals and products from them – 5,5%
• articles of food and agricultural raw materials – 10,6%
• others – 8,1%

Commodity structure of import (2012):

• mineral products – 39,4%
• cars, equipment and vehicles – 22,9%
• black, nonferrous metals and products from them – 10,0%
• chemical industry production, rubber – 12,4%
• articles of food and agricultural raw materials – 7,8%
• others – 7,4%

Main Business Partners of Belarus

• Russia
• Netherlands 
• Ukraine 
• Germany
• Latvia 
• China
• Poland 
• Italy
• Lithuania
• Brazil

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

4.6 million (2012)

Breakdown of employed population by type of economic activity (2012):

• production sector – 25.5%
• agriculture, hunting, forestry industry – 10.2%
• civil engineering – 7.9 %
• transportation and communication – 7.4%
• retail; repairs of automobiles, household goods, and personal-use items – 13.8%
• education – 10%
• healthcare and social services – 7%
• others – 18.2%

Unemployment in Belarus

24,9 thousand unemployed (2012)

Communication Facilities in Belarus

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

Internet users: more than 6.8 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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