Geography of Belarus
Location:
Eastern Europe, east of Poland
Geographic coordinates:
53 00 N, 28 00 E
Map references:
Commonwealth of Independent States
Area:
total:
207,600 km²
land:
207,600 km²
water:
0 km²
Area comparative
Land boundaries:
total:
3,098 km
border countries:
Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 605 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km
Coastline:
0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims:
none (landlocked)
Climate:
cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime
Terrain:
generally flat and contains much marshland
Elevation extremes:
lowest point:
Nyoman River 90 m
highest point:
Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m
Natural resources:
forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay
Land use:
arable land:
29%
permanent crops:
1%
permanent pastures:
15%
forests and woodland:
34%
other:
21% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land:
1,150 km² (1998 est.)
Natural hazards:
NA
Environment - current issues:
soil pollution from pesticide use; southern part of the country contaminated with fallout from 1986 nuclear reactor accident at Chornobyl' in northern Ukraine
Environment - international agreements:
party to:
Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified:
Law of the Sea
Geography - note:
landlocked
Reference
Much of the material in this article is adapted from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and 2003.
- See also : Belarus
Referenced By
Belarus | Belarus' | Belaruss | Belorus | Belorussia | Byelorussia | ISO 3166-1:BY | Republic of Belarus | White Ruthenia
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