Belarus
Belarus (officially Republic of Belarus) is a country in Eastern Europe, with its capital at Minsk, and is home to roughly 9.1M people.
Its official languages are Belarusian, Russian; the currency in circulation is Belarusian ruble (Br); people from here are called Belarusian.
- »Nearly half the country is forested. Białowieża, shared with Poland, is one of the last remnants of primeval lowland forest in Europe.
Belarus touches five neighbours: Latvia to the northwest, Lithuania to the northwest, Poland to the west, Russia to the northeast and Ukraine to the southeast. Directions run from one centre to the other.
Minsk was almost entirely destroyed in the Second World War and rebuilt in monumental Stalinist style, which is why its centre reads as a single planned composition.
206,623 km² (79,778 sq mi), 84th largest of 198 countries and territories on file, almost exactly the size of Guyana.
Population 9,132,629, 99th of 198 on file. That averages 44 per km² (114 per sq mi).
The red and green bands date to the Soviet era; the vertical ornamental pattern on the hoist is a traditional Belarusian woven design.