CINXE.COM
Key facts, Belarus | Belarus.by
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> <head> <title>Key facts, Belarus | Belarus.by</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> <meta http-equiv="content-language" content="en"/> <meta name="description" content="From population to currency, find out everything you need to know about Belarus using the key facts table " /> <meta name="keywords" content="Belarus, Belarus Minsk, Belarus map, Belarus flag, language Belarus, Belarus population, Belarus currency, where is belarus situated, Languages spoken in Belarus, Republic of Belarus, Key facts about Belarus, Nationality of Belarus"/> <meta name="robots" content="noindex, nofollow"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/styles/styles.css" type="text/css" /> <link rel="icon" href="/favicon.gif" type="image/gif" /> </head> <body lang="en" > <div class="all_print"> <div class="logo_inner"> <div class="official"><a href="/en" title="Official Website of the Republic of Belarus">Official Website of the Republic of Belarus</a></div> <div class="belarusj"><a href="/en" title="Official Website of the Republic of Belarus"><img src="/bimages/001498_752418.jpg" alt="Official Website of the Republic of Belarus" title="Official Website of the Republic of Belarus" ></a></div> </div> <div class="print_content"><h1>Key facts about Belarus</h1> <div class="inner_photo"> <img src="/dadvimages/000444_145669.jpg" alt="Belarus on the map of Europe" title="Belarus on the map of Europe"/><br> Belarus on the map of Europe </div> <div class="clear"></div> <P align=justify><STRONG>An introduction in facts and figures to this landlocked country in the north-east of Europe</STRONG></P> <H2 align=justify>Official Name</H2> <H3 align=justify>Republic of Belarus</H3> <H2 align=justify>President of Belarus </H2> <P align=justify><A href="http://www.president.gov.by/en/" target=_blank><STRONG>Aleksandr Lukashenko</STRONG></A> (1994 - present ) </P> <H2 align=justify>Prime Minister of Belarus</H2><SPAN lang=RU> <P align=justify><STRONG>Roman Golovchenko</STRONG> (appointed prime minister on 4 June 2020)</P></SPAN> <H2 align=justify>Total land area of Belarus </H2> <P align=justify>207,600 km²</P> <UL> <LI> <DIV align=justify>woodland - 43%</DIV> <LI> <DIV align=justify>agricultural lands - 39%</DIV> <LI> <DIV align=justify>surface waters, including wetlands - 6%</DIV> <LI> <DIV align=justify>other lands - 12%</DIV></LI></UL> <P align=justify><STRONG>The Republic of Belarus ranks:</STRONG></P> <UL> <LI> <DIV align=justify>84th in the world in terms of territory</DIV> <LI> <DIV align=justify>97th in the world in terms of population. </DIV></LI></UL> <H2 align=justify>Nationality of Belarus </H2> <P align=justify><STRONG>Population – 9.156,0 million</STRONG> (on 1 January 2024)</P> <UL type=disc> <LI> <DIV align=justify>Life expectancy at birth – 74.5 years </DIV> <LI> <DIV align=justify>Population living in cities – 78% </DIV> <LI> <DIV align=justify>The <A href="/en/about-belarus/geography/minskcity" target=_blank><STRONG>capital is Minsk</STRONG></A> – 1.992,9 million inhabitants </DIV></LI></UL> <P align=justify><STRONG>Regional centres of Belarus</STRONG> (on 1 January 2024):</P> <UL type=disc> <LI> <DIV align=justify><A href="/en/about-belarus/geography/brest-region" target=_blank><STRONG>Brest Oblast</STRONG></A> – 1.308,6 million inhabitants (Brest – 344,5 thousand) </DIV> <LI> <DIV align=justify><A href="/en/about-belarus/geography/vitebsk-region " target=_blank><STRONG>Vitebsk Oblast</STRONG> </A><STRONG> </STRONG>–<STRONG> </STRONG>1.081,9 million inhabitants (Vitebsk – 358,4 thousand) </DIV> <LI> <DIV align=justify><A href="/en/about-belarus/geography/gomel-region" target=_blank><STRONG>Gomel Oblast</STRONG> </A> – 1.338,6 million inhabitants (Gomel – 501,1 thousand) </DIV> <LI> <DIV align=justify><A href="/en/about-belarus/geography/grodno-region" target=_blank><STRONG>Grodno Oblast</STRONG></A> – 992,6 thousand inhabitants (Grodno – 361,1 thousand)</DIV> <LI> <DIV align=justify><A href="/en/about-belarus/geography/mogilev-region" target=_blank><STRONG>Mogilev Oblast</STRONG></A> – 981,2 thousand inhabitants (Mogilev – 353,1 thousand)</DIV> <LI> <DIV align=justify><A href="http://www.belarus.by/en/about-belarus/geography/minsk-region"><STRONG>Minsk Oblast</STRONG></A> – 1.460,3 million inhabitants</DIV></LI></UL> <H3 align=justify>Ethnicity </H3> <DIV align=justify> <TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD vAlign=top width=150> <P><STRONG>Belarusian</STRONG> <BR><STRONG>Russian</STRONG> <BR><STRONG>Polish</STRONG> <BR><STRONG>Ukrainian</STRONG> <BR><STRONG>Jewish</STRONG></P></TD> <TD vAlign=top width=97> <P>84.9%<BR>7.5%<BR>3.1%<BR>1.7%<BR>0.1%</P></TD></TR> <TR> <TD vAlign=top width=247 colSpan=2> <P>(Source: 2019 census) </P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV> <H3 align=justify></H3> <H2 align=justify>Languages spoken in Belarus</H2> <P align=justify>Belarusian and Russian</P> <H2 align=justify>National holidays in Belarus</H2> <P align=justify>Independence Day, <STRONG>3 July</STRONG></P> <H2 align=justify>Currency of Belarus </H2> <P align=justify>Belarusian rouble (Br)</P> <H2 align=justify>Economic indicators</H2> <P><STRONG>GDP (2023) Br216.1 billion</STRONG>; Br23,540 per capita</P> <P>GDP (2022) Br191.4 billion; Br20,730 per capita</P> <P>GDP (2021) Br176.8 billion; Br19,010 per capita</P> <P>GDP (2020) Br149.7 billion; Br15.960 per capita</P> <P align=justify>GDP (2019) Br134.7 billion; Br14,300 per capita</P> <H2 style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Foreign trade</H2> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><STRONG>Foreign trade in goods and services (the balance of payments methodology, million U.S. dollars, 2023): 95,268</STRONG></P> <UL> <LI> <DIV style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Export: 47,870</DIV> <LI> <DIV style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Import 47,398</DIV> <LI> <DIV style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Surplus: 472</DIV></LI></UL> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Foreign trade in goods: 81,089</P> <UL> <LI> <DIV style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Export: 39,366</DIV> <LI> <DIV style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Import: 41,723</DIV> <LI> <DIV style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Deficit: 2,357</DIV></LI></UL> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Foreign trade in services: 14,179</P> <UL> <LI> <DIV style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Export: 8,504</DIV> <LI> <DIV style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Import: 5,675</DIV> <LI> <DIV style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Surplus: 2,829 </DIV></LI></UL> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><STRONG>Export:</STRONG> petrochemical, mechanical engineering, metallurgy, woodworking, light industry, dairy and meat products, furniture, glass, fiberglass, cement.</P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><STRONG>Import:</STRONG> energy resources (oil and natural gas), raw materials, materials and components (metals and metal products, raw materials for chemical production, machine parts), technological equipment.</P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><STRONG>Belarus’ major trading partners:</STRONG> Russia, the EAEU and the CIS countries. Belarusian manufacturers are building up their presence in the markets of Asia, Africa, America and Oceania.</P> <H2 align=justify>Main Industries of Belarus</H2> <UL type=disc> <LI> <DIV align=justify>metallurgy</DIV> <LI> <DIV align=justify>mechanical engineering</DIV> <LI> <DIV align=justify>chemical and petrochemical</DIV> <LI> <DIV align=justify>light industry</DIV> <LI> <DIV align=justify>food industry</DIV></LI></UL> <P align=justify>Belarus ranked <STRONG>53rd</STRONG> out of 153 countries in the 2021 edition of the <STRONG>Competitive Industrial Performance Index (CIP)</STRONG> that is compiled by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.</P> <H2 align=justify><STRONG>Area of farmland in Belarus</STRONG></H2> <P align=justify>8,036,300 hectares (as of late 2023)</P> <H2 align=justify><STRONG>Agriculture</STRONG></H2> <P align=justify>Areas of speciality in agriculture: grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beet, flax, meat and dairy industry</P> <H2 align=justify>Natural resources </H2> <UL type=disc> <LI>wood <LI> <DIV align=justify>peat</DIV> <LI> <DIV align=justify> <DIV align=justify>potash and rock salts</DIV></DIV> <LI> <DIV align=justify>small oil and natural gas fields </DIV> <LI> <DIV align=justify>granite </DIV> <LI> <DIV align=justify>dolomite </DIV> <LI> <DIV align=justify>limestone </DIV> <LI> <DIV align=justify>clay </DIV> <LI> <DIV align=justify>sand </DIV></LI></UL> <H2 align=justify>Number of people in employment</H2> <P align=justify>4.15 million (2023)</P> <P align=justify><STRONG>Unemployment (2023):</STRONG> 3.5%; 172,100 (based on sample survey by ILO methodology).</P> <P align=justify>Breakdown of employed population by type of economic activity (2023):</P> <UL type=disc> <LI> <DIV align=justify>production sector – 24.1%</DIV> <LI> <DIV align=justify> <DIV align=justify>wholesale and retail trade; repairs of automobiles – 14.3%</DIV></DIV> <LI> <DIV align=justify> <DIV align=justify>education – 10.4%</DIV></DIV> <LI>agriculture, forestry, fishing industry – 8.4% <DIV></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <LI> <DIV align=justify> <DIV align=justify>transportation, storage, postal services and courier delivery – 6.6%</DIV></DIV> <LI> <DIV align=justify> <DIV align=justify>civil engineering – 5.9%</DIV></DIV> <LI>information and communications – 3.0% <LI> <DIV align=justify>others – 27.3%</DIV></LI></UL> <H2 align=justify>Communications</H2> <P align=justify><STRONG>Number of mobile communication subscribers</STRONG> – 11.7 million (2024).</P> <P align=justify><STRONG>Population covered by</STRONG> 2G and 3G network – 98%, by 4G LTE network – 99.0%.<BR><STRONG>Territory covered by</STRONG> 2G – 99.3%, by 3G – 98.6%, by 4G LTE – 93.0%.</P> <P align=justify><STRONG>Number of broadband internet users</STRONG> – over 11.4 million (2024).<BR><STRONG>International bandwidth</STRONG> – 3,760 Gbps (2024)</P> <P align=justify>In 2022, Belarus ranked 58th in the UN E-Government Survey (the index features a total of 193 countries).</P> <H2 align=justify>Transportation</H2> <P align=justify><STRONG>Railways</STRONG> – 5,474.1km, including 1,369.3km of electric track (2023)<BR><STRONG>Highways</STRONG> – 104,100km, including paved roads 90,400 km (2023)<BR><STRONG>Tram lines</STRONG> (double-track) – 98.7km (2022)<BR><STRONG>Trolleybus lines</STRONG> (double-track) – 529.1km (2022)<BR><STRONG>Metro lines</STRONG> (double-track) – 58.3km (2022)<BR><STRONG>Main pipelines</STRONG> – 11,916.7km (2022)</P> </div> <div class="print_development"> © BELARUS.BY, 2009 - 2024</div> </div> </body> </html>