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Full name: Republic of Belarus
Government type: presidential republic
President: Alexander Lukashenko
Capital: Minsk (1814 thousand as of March 1, 2008)
Major language: Belarusian, Russian (both official)
Monetary unit: Belarusian ruble (Br) (since July 26, 1993)
Geography
Total area: 207,6 thousand square kilometers (arable land - 28%, hayfields and pastures 16%, bogs 11%, forests 34%, other lands 11%)
State border: total border length 2969km
The highest point: Dzierzhinsky Hill (345 meters above the sea level)
Major rivers:
(Length in the Belarusian territory)
Dniepr 700km
Berezina 613km
Pripyat 495km
Sozh 493km
Neman 459km
Ptich 421km
Major lakes, sq.km
Naroch 79,6
Osveya 52,8
Chervonoye 40,8
Lukomlskoye 37,7
Driviaty 36,1
Administrative division:
The Republic of Belarus is composed of six administrative centers, or oblasts (Brest, Vitebsk, Gomel, Grodno, Mogilev, Minsk), 118 regions, 109 towns and 104 urban communities. There are 12 towns with the population more than 100 thousand people in Belarus.
Population: 9,689,7 million people (as of January 1, 2008)
Density of population: 48 people/km2
Ethnic origin:
(National census of 1999)
Belarusians 81.2%
Russians 11.4%
Poles 3.9%
Ukrainians 2.4%
Jews 0.3%
Other ethnicities 0.8% of the total population of the country.
The Belarusian diaspora abroad is more than 3 million people.
Eastern Orthodox believers account for about 80% of Belarusians, Catholic believers account for 14%, Protestant believers account for about 2%, Judaism, Buddhism and others about 4% of Belarusians.
Total population by oblast, mln (as of January 1, 2004):
Vitebsk oblast 1,334.5
Grodno oblast 1,156.4
Minsk oblast 3,240.2
Mogilev oblast 1,180.5
Brest oblast 1,470.9
Gomel oblast 1,516.1
Economy
Economy
In 2007, Belarus GDP grew by 8.2% (the government forecast was 8-9%). The GDP energy intensity fell by 7.9% (6-7%). The growth of labour efficiency reached 7.7% (7-8.6% as projected by the government).
In 2007, the industrial output in Belarus upped by 8.5% from 2006, which meets the upper forecast margin.
In 2007, the production of consumer goods ramped up by 8.2% from 2006 (8.5-9.5% as projected), including the production of foodstuffs 4.2% (9-10%), the production of nonfoods 11.7% (8-9%). Some companies reported higher rate of growth of productivity of labour than on average country-wide. 14.4% of these companies belonged to the Ministry of Industry, 10.6% to the Bellesbumprom and 15.4% to the Belbiopharm concerns.
In 2007, the production of agricultural products at enterprises of all categories was 4.1% up from 2006, while the forecast predicted a 6-7.5% growth. The production of grain rose by 21.8%, flax by 33.1%, potatoes by 5%.
Total length of roads:
Motor roads circa 80.000km
Railways 5,512.2mln km
National and religious holidays:
New Year January 1,
Christmas (Orthodox Christmas) January 7,
Easter in accordance with the calendar of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches,
The Day of Fatherland Defenders and the Belarusian Armed Forces February 23,
The Womens Day March 8,
Radunitsa (the day honouring the memory of the dead family members and relatives) in accordance with the calendar of the Orthodox Church,
The Labour Day May 1,
The October Revolution Day November 7,
The Memory Day (the day honouring the memory of the dead family members and relatives) November 2,
Christmas (Catholic Christmas) December 25.
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