Geographic coordinates: 53 00 N, 28 00 E
Map references: Commonwealth of Independent States
Area:
total:
207,600 kmē
land:
207,600 kmē
water:
0 kmē
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, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay
Land use:
arable land:
29%
permanent crops:
1%
permanent pastures:
15%
forests and woodland:
34%
other:
21% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 1,150 kmē (1998 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, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified:
Law of the Sea
Geography - note: landlocked
Reference
Much of the material in this article is adapted from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and 2003.