Belarus

This article is about the European country. For other uses, see Belarus (disambiguation). This is a featured article. Click here for more information. Republic of Belarus Рэспубліка Беларусь (Belarusian) Республика Беларусь (Russian) Flag National emblem Anthem: Дзяржаўны гімн Рэспублікі Беларусь (Belarusian) Dziaržaŭny himn Respubliki Bielaruś State Anthem of the Republic of Belarus MENU0:00 Location of Belarus (green)in Europe (dark grey) – [Legend] Location of Belarus (green) in Europe (dark grey) – [Legend] Capital and largest city Minsk 53°55′N 27°33′E Official languagesa Belarusian Russian Ethnic groups 83.7% Belarusians 8.3% Russians 3.1% Poles 1.7% Ukrainians 0.1% Jews 3.1% Other Demonym Belarusian Government Personal Dictatorship - President Alexander Lukashenko - Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich Legislature National Assembly - Upper house Council of the Republic - Lower house House of Representatives Independence from the Soviet Union - Declared 27 July 1990 - Established 25 August 1991 - Completed 25 December 1991 Area - Total 207,595 km2 (85th) 80,155 sq mi - Water (%) negligible (2.830 km2 or 1.093 sq mi)b Population - 2012 census 9,457,500[1] (87th) - Density 45.8/km2 (142nd) 120.8/sq mi GDP (PPP) 2012 estimate - Total $146.745 billionc - Per capita $15,633c GDP (nominal) 2012 estimate - Total $63.259 billionc - Per capita $6,739c Gini (2011) positive decrease 26.5[2] low HDI (2013) Increase 0.793[3] high · 50th Currency Belarusian ruble (BYR) Time zone FET[4] (UTC+3) Drives on the right Calling code +375 ISO 3166 code BY Internet TLD .by a. ^ Constitution of the Republic of Belarus Section 1, Article 17 b. ^ "FAO's Information System on Water and Agriculture". FAO. Archived from the original on 26 January 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2013. c. ^ "Belarus". International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 17 April 2013. Belarus (Listeni/bɛləˈruːs/ bel-ə-rooss; Belarusian: Белару́сь Bielaruś pronounced [bʲɛlaˈrusʲ]; Russian: Белару́сь, Респу́блика Беларусь Belarus’, Respublika Belarus’), officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe[5] bordered by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Hrodna (Grodno), Homiel (Gomel), Mahilyow (Mogilev) and Vitsebsk (Vitebsk). Over forty percent of its 207,600 square kilometres (80,200 sq mi) is forested, and its strongest economic sectors are service industries and manufacturing.[6]