Geographical position

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

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 relief

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.

Agricultural lands

Agricultural lands occupy 45% of Belarus, including 30% of tillage. There are 0.9 hectares of cultivated land, including 0.6 hectares of tillage, per capita in Belarus.

Forests

Forests account for 36% of the country's territory. There are 0.7 hectares of woods and 111 cubic meters of timber per capita here, which is almost twice as high as the average European level. The trees growing in Belarus mostly belong to valuable species. Pine-tree occupies 52.9%, fur-tree, 10.5%, oak and other hard-leaved species, 3.8%, birch-tree, 18.1%, aspen, 2.3%, alder, 9.6% of the forest-covered area. However, the species composition of the wood is far from optimum. In terms of the fertility of forest soils, the area under hard-leaved species may be expanded 1.5 to 2 times over.

The forest potential in Belarus is rather high, the annual increment of timber reserves is 25 million cubic meters, while the actual timber production is 10–11 million cubic meters per year. The area occupied by mature woods is steadily growing. The forest, apart from being a source of timber, performs numerous ecological functions (such as water protection, water regulation, soil protection, assimilation functions, etc.), as well as sanitation, recreation and health-building. Belarusian forests play an important biospheric role and make a considerable contribution into the ecological stabilization of Central and Eastern Europe.

Belarusian forests concentrate considerable natural resources of alimentary melliferous, medical, technical and other useful herbs. Blackberry, cranberry, bilberry, blueberry, ashberry, wild pears, and high cranberry are widely spread in the forests. About 1.5 thousand tons of mushrooms, 0.4 thousand tons of medical raw materials, 34 thousand tons of birch-tree sap, 16 thousand tons of hazelnuts, and more than 20 thousand tons of galipot are produced in Belarus annually.