Short facts about the 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 sq km land:  207,600 sq km water:  0 sq km

Area - comparative:

slightly smaller than Kansas

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

Land use:

arable land:  29% permanent crops:  1% permanent pastures:  15% forests and woodland:  34% other:  21% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land:

1,000 sq km (1993 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, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified:  Law of the Sea

Geography - note:

landlocked

Source: World Factbook