integration. Although Belarus agreed to a framework to carry out the
accord, serious implementation has yet to take place. Since his
election in July 1994 as the country's first president, Alexandr
LUKASHENKO has steadily consolidated his power through authoritarian
means. Government restrictions on freedom of speech and the press,
peaceful assembly, and religion continue.

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
land: 207,600 sq km
water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative:

slightly smaller than Kansas

Land boundaries:

total: 3,306 km
border countries: Latvia 171 km, Lithuania 680 km, Poland 605 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: 26.77%
permanent crops: 0.6%
other: 72.63% (2005)

Irrigated land:

1,310 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:

58 cu km (1997)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

total: 2.79 cu km/yr (23%/47%/30%)
per capita: 286 cu m/yr (2000)

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, Climate
Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine
Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:

landlocked; glacial scouring accounts for the flatness of Belarusian
terrain and for its 11,000 lakes

People
Belarus

Population:

9,685,768 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 1