Geography
Belarus
Area
land
202,900 sq km
water
4,700 sq km
total
207,600 sq km
Climate
characterized by cold winters and cool, humid summers; it represents a transition between continental and maritime climates
Terrain
predominantly flat and contains extensive marshland
Land use
other
16.5% (2023 est.)
forest
44% (2023 est.)
agricultural land
39.6% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: arable land
arable land: 27.4% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: permanent crops
permanent crops: 0.4% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: permanent pasture
permanent pasture: 11.7% (2023 est.)
Location
located in Eastern Europe, to the east of Poland
Coastline
0 km (landlocked)
Elevation
lowest point
Nyoman River 90 m
highest point
Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m
mean elevation
160 m
Irrigated land
260 sq km (2022)
Map references
Europe
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
Maritime claims
none (landlocked)
Natural hazards
vast areas of wetland
Geography - note
being landlocked, the flat landscape of Belarus is a result of glacial erosion, contributing to its 11,000 lakes
Natural resources
resources include timber, peat, minor reserves of oil and natural gas, as well as granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, and clay
Area - comparative
approximately 1.8 times the area of Kentucky; somewhat smaller than Kansas
Geographic coordinates
53 00 N, 28 00 E
Population distribution
there is a relatively uniform population distribution across most of the nation, with urban regions experiencing higher density
Major watersheds (area sq km)
Atlantic Ocean drainage
(Black Sea) Dnieper (533,966 sq km)
Major rivers (by length in km)
Dnyapro (Dnieper) (shared with Russia [s] and Ukraine [m]) - 2,287 km
note: [s] denotes river source after the country name; [m] denotes river mouth after the country name