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Belarus

Belarus is a country located in Eastern Europe, covering an area of 207,628 square kilometers (80,165 square miles). It is home to an estimated 9,116,000 people as of 2023. The capital city is Minsk and the population mostly consists of Belarusians, with minorities of Russians, Poles, and Ukrainians. Belarusian and Russian are both official languages, while Christianity is the predominant religion, primarily Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic. The currency used is the Belarusian rubel.

The northern part of Belarus is crossed by the Western Dvina River, the Dnieper flows through eastern Belarus, the south has extensive marshy areas along the Pripet River, the upper course of the Neman flows in the west, and the Bug forms part of the boundary with Poland in the southwest. Major cities aside from Minsk include Homel, Mahilyow, and Vitsyebsk. Agriculture was once the mainstay of the economy but has since decreased in importance, while manufacturing and services have grown.

Belarus is a republic with two legislative houses. The president is the head of state and government, while the prime minister is nominally the head of government but is actually subordinate to the president.

In terms of facts, Belarus is also known as Belorussia, White Russia, Byelorussia, Byelarus, Republic of Belarus, and Respublika Byelarus’. Its population rank in 2022 was 96 and its population projection for 2030 is 9,195,000. The density is 113.7 persons per square mile (223) and 43.9 persons per square kilometer (2023). The urban-rural population is 77.6% and 22.4%, respectively. In 2018, the life expectancy at birth for males was 69.2 years and 79.4 years for females. The gross national income (GNI) for 2020 was 59,513 U.S. dollars and the GNI per capita was 6,330 U.S. dollars.