Natural environment and geography
The Republic of Belarus (Belarus) is located in the Eastern part of Europe. In the West it shares borders with Poland, in the North-West — Lithuania, in the North — Latvia, in the North-East and East — Russia, in the South — Ukraine. Its borders (the total length is 2,969 km) run across flatland without any significant natural barriers, which fosters the construction of transport lines and the development of broad economic links. The territory of Belarus is crossed by several European transport corridors providing the shortest communication routes from central and eastern districts of Russia to Western European countries, as well as between the Baltic and the Black seas. The distance from Minsk, capital of the country, to the capitals of the neighboring countries is as follows: 215 km to Vilnius, 470 km to Riga, 550 km to Warsaw, 580 km to Kyiv, 700 km to Moscow, 1,060 km to Berlin.
The territory of Belarus is 207.6 thousand square kilometers. It is a compact country. The longest distance, 650 km, is from West to East, and 560 km from North to South. In terms of the size, the Republic occupies the 13th place among the European countries and the 6th among the CIS countries (next to Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan). The Belarusian territory in Europe is slightly smaller than that of Great Britain and Romania, and more than 2.2 times bigger than Portugal and Hungary.
The population of Belarus is 9.6635 million people, as of June 2009. The demographic situation in the country is on the up. In 2007 the birth rate rose 7.3 % to 103 thousand babies, and the death rate fell 4 % to 103 thousand. The migration growth of population was 4.6 thousand people. Belarus is 5th among the CIS countries in terms of population, next to Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The country's population is 14 times smaller than in Russia, 5 times smaller than in Ukraine, but 1.3 times as big as that of three Baltic States of the ex-USSR together, 2 times bigger than in Finland or Denmark, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria or Sweden. Representatives over 100 nationalities reside on the territory of the Republic of Belarus. The major part of population is presented by native Belarusians comprising more than ¾ of population both in Republic on the whole, and cities and rural areas. Apart from the Belarusians a large number of the Russians, Poles, Ukrainians and representatives of other nationalities reside in Belarus.
The relief of Belarus is predominantly low hilly land with the average height of 160 m above the sea level, while the highest point is only 345 m above the sea level. Areas of flatland create favorable conditions for the expansion of human settlements, agricultural enhancement of terrain, development of industries, transport and service lines, development of tourism and recreation.
