+375 is the dialing code for Belarus.
Belarus borders Russia, Ukraine and EU countries Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. The country is completely controlled by President Aleksandr Lukashenko and his authoritarian regime. Belarus has a broad industrial base but is economically dependent on Russia, not least Russian natural gas imports.
- Abbreviationfinder: Brief profiles of Belarus, including geography, history, politics, economics as well as common acronyms about this country.
Geography and climate
Belarus (Belarus) is almost half the size of Sweden. It borders the EU countries Latvia, Lithuania and Poland in the north and west as well as Russia in the east and Ukraine in the south.
Belarus lacks the sea coast but has plenty of lakes, marshes and swamps. The landscape is predominantly flat, but a low bedrock runs diagonally from west to east. In the north, the landscape consists largely of wooded hills with many lakes. In the south, lowland marshes spread around the river Pripjat – a tributary to the Dnieper, which is the country’s largest river. Other tributaries to the Dnieper are Dvina and Neman.
Large uninhabited forests occupy more than one third of the land area. In the north, conifers grow mainly but also birch and alar, in the south there are large deciduous forests. At the far west on the border with Poland is the Belovezhskaja Pushtja National Park. There are primeval forests with many rare animals, including Europe’s largest population of vines (European bison oxen). The forest area that is shared with Poland is best known in Sweden as the Białowieża forest. The Polish part was classified as World Heritage in 1979 and the World Heritage was expanded in 1992 with the Belarussian part.
Country Facts
Geography
| Cultivated land | 43.7 % |
| Land area | 207600 km 2 |
Population and health
| Population development | -0.2 ‰ |
| Urban population (Urbanization) | 76.7 % |
| Death rate | 13.36 per 1000 residents |
| Life expectancy: Women | 78.38 years |
| Life expectancy: Men | 66.91 years |
| Birth rate | 10.7 births per 1000 residents |
| HDI index | 0.798 |
| Population | 9589689 |
| Infant mortality | 3.62 deaths / 1000 births |
Population Graph Source: Countryaah.com
Energy
| Electricity, production | 31500 million kWh |
| Energy consumption per resident | 3222.6 kg. oil per resident |
| Natural gas, production | 220 million cubic meters |
| Crude oil, production | million tons |
Infrastructure
| Internet users | 52.2 per 100 residents |
| Mobile subscriptions | 119 per 100 residents |
| Passenger cars | 362 per 1000 residents |
Business and economics
| Unemployment | 0.7% of the workforce |
| GDP | 17700 per resident |
| Primary occupations | 9.4 % |
| Secondary profession | 45.9 % |
| Tertiary professions | 44.7 % |
Inland climates predominate, ie hot summers and very cold winters. The proximity to the Baltic Sea means that the air is relatively humid in the summers.
One of the country’s most famous cities is Brest on the Polish border, which through the ages has listened to several different kingdoms. Its dramatic war history also includes Swedish campaigns in the 17th century.
FACTS – GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE
Surface
207,600 km2 (2018)
Time
Swedish + 1 hour
Adjacent country (s)
Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia
Capital with number of residents
Minsk 1,800,000
Other major cities
Gomel 476,000, Mogilev 368,000, Vitebsk 342,000, Grodno 327,000, Brest 310,000 (Estimated 2009)
Highest mountain
Dzerzhinskijberget (346 m asl)
Important rivers
Dnieper, Dvina, Neman
Largest lake
Narotj
Average Precipitation / month
Minsk 33 mm (Feb), 89 mm (July)
Average / day
Minsk -5 °C (Jan), 19 °C (July)
2020
June
Rages against challengers to Lukashenko
June 11
Authorities carry out raids on companies linked to banker Viktor Babaryko, reports an independent news site with the address tut.by. A state audit agency tells the site that the reason is suspicion of tax fraud and money laundering. Babaryko believes the intention is to deter him from challenging President Lukashenko in the August 9 presidential election. As yet, no other candidate has been formally registered.
Orbán is celebrated in Minsk
June 5
President Lukashenko is visited by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who calls on the EU to lift its remaining sanctions on the Minsk regime: arms embargo and travel bans and frozen assets for a number of people. Lukashenko calls Hungary its “leading partner in the EU who understands us like no other”. He also praised Orbán for the courage to visit during the ongoing pandemic. Belarus has 253 confirmed deaths in covid-19 and Hungary, with approximately the same population, has 542.
New Prime Minister
June 4th
Roman Golovchenko is appointed by the president as new prime minister. He has previously chaired the Defense Industry Committee. According to the president, the representative Sergei Rumas, who has held the post for almost two years, will be engaged in business.
Lukashenko reforms the government
June 3
President Lukashenko dismisses the government by decree, but he describes it as a decision that gives transparency to the impending presidential election. In front of high-level employees, he says that there are no revolutionary changes awaiting, but that those who vote should know who is expected to handle important issues in the future.
Opposition leaders receive prison
June 1st
Opposition leader Mikola Statkevich is sentenced to 15 days in prison after being arrested the day before. The charges are that he organized an unauthorized meeting in Minsk on May 24, the wife says. On June 15, he will receive a new 15-day sentence.
May
Battle against Lukashenko opponents
May 29th
A popular video blogger, Sergei Tichanovsky, is arrested and charged with violence against an official at a demonstration in Grodno. At the meeting, his wife Svetlana Tichanovskaya, who intends to run for president in August, collects signatures for his candidacy. (Registered candidates have the right to hold campaign meetings.) The result is that President Lukashenko dismisses her with statements that Belarus is not ready for a female president and that the country’s constitution is not designed for it either. The organization Viasna states that around 50 people are arrested as a result of the meeting in Grodno and other demonstrations.
Challengers to Lukashenko are stopped
May 19th
Opposition politician Mikola Statkevich is not allowed to stand in the presidential election in August. In the 2010 election, he challenged President Lukashenko, but was quickly arrested afterwards and was not released until five years later, when the regime was interested in mitigating criticism from Western countries. The electoral authority now refers to his “criminal past” as an obstacle to his candidacy. Statkevich himself says that what is understood “is not a choice but a circus”.
Victory parade despite the risk of infection
May 9
Thousands of soldiers and columns of armored vehicles parade through Minsk as Belarus celebrates the 75th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. Veterans of high age are among those passing in front of President Lukashenko. The parade is conducted, as every year, despite the World Health Organization (WHO) advising Belarus to find alternative solutions due to the corona pandemic. About 20,000 cases of infection and 121 deaths have been reported. In 1941, parts of Belarus were among the first in the then Soviet Union to be occupied by the Nazis and the occupation lasted until 1944. Hundreds of thousands of Belarusian Jews were among those killed in the Holocaust.
Presidential election in August
May 8
Presidential elections will be held on August 9, Parliament decides. President Lukashenko, who has so far won five well-run elections, has confirmed that he will run again this year and also made it clear that he is no stranger to being re-elected in 2025.
The end of the war is celebrated with amnesty
May 5th
With reference to the fact that 75 years have passed since the end of the Second World War, Parliament approves a proposed amnesty. The Interior Minister states that almost 5,400 prisoners will be released prematurely and that 6,500 prisoners will have their sentences shortened by one year. The big victory parade planned in Minsk to celebrate the end of the war will be carried out on May 9, despite the covid 19 pandemic that has claimed more than 100 lives in Belarus. Most former Soviet republics have canceled memorial ceremonies so as not to risk the spread of infection.
April
The spread of infection is increasing
April 11
The seriousness of the corona pandemic has reached Belarus, where 23 deaths are reported. The number of diagnosed cases of illness has risen to over 2,200, among them 300 employees in the healthcare sector. The World Health Organization (WHO), which predicts an impending societal spread, advises Belarus to take similar measures as other countries, including the ban on large public gatherings.
March
EU support against the corona crisis
March 30
As part of the EU’s response to the global corona crisis, a support package is promised to the six so-called Eastern Partnership countries Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova. The support includes a total of EUR 140 million for immediate healthcare needs, and in addition EUR 700 million is redistributed so that the money can be used to counter severe societal effects of the crisis. The planned activities are in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO).
Belarusian football viewer voice during the pandemic
March 29th
An unexpected effect of the corona virus is that TV viewers in a number of countries get to see Belarusian league football. Many countries have canceled the matches because of the risk of infection, but in Belarus, which is still running the game, the Football Federation is given the opportunity to sell broadcast rights. Media companies in Russia, Israel and India, among others, show interest. Belarus has fewer than 100 confirmed cases of covid-19 disease, and its president Lukashenko has demonstrated that he is not worried about the spread of infection.
Best virus therapy: drive tractor
March 16
President Lukashenko, who has a background as a collective agriculture manager, misses no opportunity to emphasize that life in the country is healthy. At a televised meeting, he downplayed the fears of the spread of coronavirus and recommended to citizens to work in the countryside and drive tractors. Belarus is also known for its production of tractors. Twenty-six cases of covid-19 disease have been reported.
February
Handshake between Lukashenko and Pompeo
February 1st
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visits President Lukashenko. The US visit is the first high level since 1994. They make statements about strengthening their interrelationships and Pompeo agrees that US energy companies are ready to export oil to Belarus. The US imposed sanctions on Belarus, which were mitigated in 2016 but have not been completely lifted. Belarus now has the same regime as when the sanctions were introduced with reference to an undemocratic regime.
January
Disagreement with Russia on oil price
January 3rd
Russia has stopped its oil deliveries to Belarus as the parties disagree on the price, Belarus sources say. The previous agreement between them expired at the New Year. President Lukashenko has ordered orders from other suppliers to be considered, such as imports through the Baltic States. Russian management company Transneft points out that transit trade, oil sold to countries west of Belarus, is not affected by the disagreement. Belarus has oil in stock for the middle of the month and says it does not fear queues at the stations. Later in January, it appears that a new contract between Belarus and Russia has, after all, been signed, with unknown conditions, and that Belarus has for the first time purchased Norwegian oil to be transported via Lithuania.