Soviet republics. On 25 December
1998, Russian President Boris YEL'TSIN and Belarusian President
Aleksandr LUKASHENKO signed several agreements intended to provide
greater political, economic, and social integration while preserving
both states' sovereignty.

Geography

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

People

Population: 10,401,784 (July 1999 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 19% (male 1,027,974; female 985,342)
15-64 years: 67% (male 3,390,552; female 3,591,245)
65 years and over: 14% (male 463,369; female 943,302) (1999 est.)

Population growth rate: -0.09% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 9.7 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 13.71 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Net migration rate: 3.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.49 male(s)/female
total popula