Belarus: Geography#
Location | Eastern Europe, east of Poland |
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Geographic Coordinates | 53 00 N, 28 00 E 53.0,28.0 |
Area | total: 207,600 sq km land: 202,900 sq km water: 4,700 sq km [Verified in 8 databases] |
Land boundaries | total: 3,599 km border countries: Latvia 161 km, Lithuania 640 km, Poland 375 km, Russia 1,312 km, Ukraine 1,111 km |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) |
Elevation Extremes | lowest point: Nyoman River 90 m highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m |
Highest Mountains | |
Terrain | generally flat and contains much marshland |
Natural Hazards | NA |
Natural Resource | timber, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay |
Land Use | arable land: 26.63% permanent crops: 0.59% other: 72.78% (2011) |
Climate | cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime |
Irrigated Land | 1,150 sq km (2003) |
Renewable Water Resources | 58 cu km (2011) |
Environment_CurrentIssues | 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-Sulfur 85, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Large Cities | Minsk; Homel; Mahiljow; Vitebsk; Hrodna Minsk; Gomel; Mahilyow; Vitebsk; Hrodna [List Verified] Explanation: "Gomel and Homel are alternate names" Important Cities |
Geography-note | landlocked; glacial scouring accounts for the flatness of Belarusian terrain and for its 11,000 lakes Important Rivers |