Belarus is located in Europe. Belarus gained independence in 1991 after 70 years as a constituent republic of the USSR. With an area of 207,600 sq km, it is slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Kansas.
Belarus shares a border with Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and the Ukraine. It is landlocked with mostly flat land and much marshland.
People who live in Belarus are called Belarusians, which is also an adjective used to describe something from this country. As of July 2012, it is expected that there will be 9.5 million people in Belarus. The ethnic groups that reside in Belarus are mostly Belarusian (81.2%), with some Russian (11.4%), Polish (3.9%), and Ukrainian (2.4%). Two official languages are spoken there: Belarusian and Russian. Eastern Orthodox make up approximately 80% of the population, while the other 20% include Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim.
The country's official name is the Republic of Belarus. The capital is Minsk, and the country is made up of 6 provinces and 1 municipality. Though Belarus gained independence from the USSR on August 25, 1991, a constitution was not drafted until March of 1994. The constitution can be found on Constitution Finder. The current president is Aleksander Lukashenko. Information about the leaders of Afghanistan's government can be found here. The currency is the Belarusian ruble(abbreviated BY or BYR), which stands at 4,351.1 BYB per USD as of 2011.
All of this information was gathered from the CIA World Factbook. For more information, check out these resources...
Belarus Government Site
Belarus, CIA World Factbook
Background Note: Belarus, U.S. Department of State
Belarus 2010 Country Report on Human Rights Practices, U.S. Department of State.
You can also check out the Country Studies tab on our Fed Docs libguide here for more resources on all of the countries.
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