GEOGRAPHY
Location:
Eastern Europe, east of Poland
Geographic
coordinates: 53 00 N, 28 00 E
Map
references: Commonwealth of Independent States
Area:
total: 207,600 sq km
land: 207,600 sq km
water: 0 sq km
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
Land
use:
arable land: 29%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures: 15%
forests and woodland: 34%
other: 21% (1993 est.)
Irrigated
land: 1,000 sq km (1993 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, Environmental Modification,
Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change, Law of the Sea
Geography—note: landlocked
