Location: Eastern Europe, between Poland and Russia

Map references: Asia, Commonwealth of Independent States - European States, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area:
total area: 207,600 sq km
land area: 207,600 sq km
comparative area: slightly smaller than Kansas

Land boundaries: total 3,098 km, Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 605 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims: none; landlocked

International disputes: none

Climate: cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime

Terrain: generally flat and contains much marshland

Natural resources: forest land, peat deposits

Land use:
arable land: 29%
permanent crops: 1%
meadows and pastures: 15%
forest and woodland: 0%
other: 55%

Irrigated land: 1,490 sq km (1990)

Environment:
current issues: soil pollution from pesticide use; southern part of Belarus contaminated with fallout from 1986 nuclear reactor accident at Chornobyl'
natural hazards: NA
international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur, Biodiversity, Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection; signed, but not ratified - Climate Change, Law of the Sea

Note: landlocked

NOTE: The information regarding Belarus on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Belarus Geography 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Belarus Geography 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.