General information about Belarus
Belarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Hrodna (Grodno), Homiel (Gomel), Mahilyow (Mogilev) and Viciebsk (Vitebsk). Forty percent of the country is forested, and its strongest economic sectors are agriculture and manufacturing.
After seven decades as a constituent republic of the USSR, Belarus attained its independence in 1991. It has retained closer political and economic ties to Russia than any of the other former Soviet republics. Belarus and Russia signed a treaty on a two-state union on 8 December 1999 envisioning greater political and economic 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, Aleksandr LUKASHENKO has steadily consolidated his power through authoritarian means. Government restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, peaceful assembly, and religion remain in place.
- Capital (and largest city) Minsk
- Official language(s) Belarusian, Russian
- Independence from the Soviet Union - Declared 27 July 1990
- Established 25 August 1991 - Completed 25 December 1991
- Area - Total 207,600 km2 80,155 sq mi
- Water (%) negligible (2.830 km˛)
- Population – 2009 estimate 9,648,533; 1999 census 10,045,200
- Density 46.7/km2
- GDP (PPP) 2008 estimate - Total $119.096 billion
- GDP Per capita $12,313
- Currency Belarusian ruble (BYR)
- Time zone EET (UTC+2)
