Belarus - Facts and figures

      Territory — 207.6 thousand square kilometers

      Geographical position — Western Europe

      Borders on — Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, Ukraine

      Population — 9,8 million people

      Capital — Minsk, about 1.8 million dwellers

      Basic ethnic groups — apart from 81.2% of the Belarusians the population is formed by Russians, Poles, Jews, Ukrainians and just few others

      Language — Belarusian, Russian

      Local time — GTM + 2 hours

      Currency (monetary unit) — Belarusian rouble

      Climate — Moderately continental with mild and wet winter and warm summer.

      Landscape and nature — Belarus represents lowlands (plain–and–hills relief prevails) with heights from 80 meters up to the highest point of 345 meters above the sea level.

      36% of the territory is covered with woods (mixed deciduous and coniferous woods) and 45% is occupied by the agricultural lands

      There are more than 20 thousand rivers and streams and more than 10 thousand lakes in Belarus.

      6.1% of the country is referred as specially protected and monitored ecological areas.