Europe

Belarus
Last reviewed: 27 June 2008

Country information

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BELARUS TODAY

Country Facts

Area: 207,600 sq km
Population: 9,724,723 (July 2007 est.)
Capital City: Minsk (population 1.8m)
People: Belarusian (77.9%), Russian (13.2%), Polish (4.1%), Ukrainian (2.9%), other (1.9%)
Languages: Belarusian and Russian, are the official national languages
Religions: Eastern Orthodox Christian (80%), Roman Catholic, other (incl. Protestant, Jewish and Muslim)
Currency: Belarusian rouble (BRb)
Major political parties: Agrarian Party (AP); Belarusian Labour Party (BLP) (unregistered); Belarusian Popular Front (BPF); Belarusian Social Democratic Party 'Hramada'; Communist Party of Belarus (CPB); Conservative Christian Party of the BPF; Party of Communists of Belarus; United Civic Party (UCP); Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)
Form of government: Presidential Republic
Head of State:Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko
Prime Minister/Premier: Sergei Sidorsky
Foreign Minister: Sergei Martynov
Membership of international groupings/organisations: Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Euro Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Labour Organisation (ILO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), Interpol, NATO's Partnership for Peace, Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), United Nations (UN), World Bank, World Health Organisation (WHO)

HEALTH

Although Chernobyl is located in Ukraine, over 70% of the radioactive fallout resulting from the meltdown and explosion in April 1986 fell on the territory of Belarus. Twenty per cent of Belarus' forests are contaminated as is over 6,000 sq km of prime agricultural land. Many Belarusians have been affected by the catastrophe and many Belarusian children visit the UK for recuperative holidays funded and supported by British charities, individuals and the British Embassy.