Belarus
Minsk · Eastern Europe
Belarus is a country in Europe. Its capital city is Minsk, the official currency is the Belarusian Ruble, and the main language is Belarusian.
With a population of roughly 9.5 million people spread over 207,600 km², Belarus is the 97th most populous country in the world and the 84th largest by area. That works out at about 46 people per square kilometre.
Belarus shares land borders with Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia and Ukraine — 5 neighbours in all. Its largest urban centres are Minsk, Gomel and Mogilev. The highest point in the country is Dzyarzhynskaya Hara, at 345 metres.
For scale, it covers almost exactly the same area as Guyana, while its population is closest to that of United Arab Emirates.
- Capital
- Minsk
- Region
- Eastern Europe
- Population
- 9,500,000
- Area
- 207,600 km²
- Currency
- Belarusian Ruble
- Main language
- Belarusian
- Highest point
- Dzyarzhynskaya Hara
345 m - Land borders
- 5
Belarus: things worth knowing
- Belarus is one of the flattest countries in Europe; its highest point is a hill barely taller than a 100-storey building.
- Around a fifth of the country is forest and marshland, including Belovezhskaya Pushcha, one of the last primeval forests on the continent.
- It is among the few European countries that never had a coastline at any point in its history.
Belarus in context
Europe has 44 sovereign countries in total. Belarus ranks 17th among them by population.
See the full list of Europe countries, or browse all 195 countries.