Location Eastern Europe, east of Poland

Geographic coordinates 53 00 N, 28 00 E

Map references Europe

Area
total: 207,600 sq km
water: 0 sq km
land: 207,600 sq km

Area - comparative slightly smaller than Kansas

Land boundaries
total: 2,900 km
border countries: Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 407 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, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay

Land use
arable land: 30%
permanent crops: 1%
other: 69% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land 1,150 sq km (1998 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, Desertification, 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; glacial scouring accounts for the flatness of Belarusian terrain and for its 11,000 lakes; the country is geologically well endowed with extensive deposits of granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, and clay

NOTE: The information regarding Belarus on this page is re-published from the 2002 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Belarus Geography 2002 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Belarus Geography 2002 should be addressed to the CIA.