What is the terrain and geography like in Belarus?
The highest point in Belarus, Dzyarzhynskaya Hara, is 1,135 feet (346 meters). Averaging only 656 feet above sea level (200 meters), the country is predominately gently rolling fields in the north and marshy lowlands in the south. More than half the land is used for agriculture. Some one-third is densely forested with large stands of spruce, pine, oak, and/or beech, everywhere interspersed with beautiful white/silver birch. It is a land of more than 11,000 lakes — the largest, Lake Naroch, lies in the northwest. It is also a nation of many rivers and countless streams (more than 20,000). The most important river is the Dnjapro, which flows well into Belarus from Russia, then south into Ukraine — ultimately providing an all-important shipping channel between the Baltic and Black Seas. Natural resources are timber and deposits of peat, granite, potassium salts, dolomitic limestone, and chalk.
Geographic Location | Europe |
Total Area |
80,154 Square Miles 207,600 Square Kilometers |
Land Area |
78,340 Square Miles 202,900 Square Kilometers |
Water Area |
1,815 Square Miles 4,700 Square Kilometers |
Land Boundaries |
2,054 Miles 3,306 Kilometers |
Irrigated Land |
444 Square Miles 1,150 Square Kilometers |
Border Countries | Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 407 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km |
Geographic Coordinates | 53 00 N, 28 00 E |
Terrain | generally flat and contains much marshland |
Highest Point | 346 Meters |
Highest Point Location | Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m |
Lowest Point | 90 Meters |
Lowest Point Location | Nyoman River 90 m |
Natural Resources | forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay |
Time Zone | UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |