Belarus Geography - 2021

Location

Eastern Europe, east of Poland

Geographic coordinates

53 00 N, 28 00 E

Map references

Europe

Area

total: 207,600 sq km

land: 202,900 sq km

water: 4,700 sq km

Area - comparative

slightly less than twice the size of Kentucky; slightly smaller than Kansas

Land boundaries

total: 3,599 km

border countries (5): Latvia 161 km, Lithuania 640 km, Poland 375 km, Russia 1312 km, Ukraine 1111 km

Coastline

0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims

none (landlocked)

Climate

cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime

Terrain

generally flat with much marshland

Elevation

highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m

lowest point: Nyoman River 90 m

mean elevation: 160 m

Natural resources

timber, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay

Land use

agricultural land: 43.7% (2018 est.)

arable land: 27.2% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.6% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 15.9% (2018 est.)

forest: 42.7% (2018 est.)

other: 13.6% (2018 est.)

Irrigated land

1,140 sq km (2012)

Total renewable water resources

57.9 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

Population distribution

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

Natural hazards

large tracts of marshy land

Environment - international agreements

party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, 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