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, Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change, Law of the Sea

Geography - note landlocked

NOTE: The information regarding Belarus on this page is re-published from the 1998 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Belarus Geography 1998 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Belarus Geography 1998 should be addressed to the CIA.