Belarus (Republic of Belarus, Belarus) is one of the states of Eastern Europe. The population in 2018 amounted to 9 million 491 thousand 823 people. The area of the republic is 207 600 km 2 . According to the number of inhabitants, it is at 93 places in the world. The capital is the city of Minsk. It is also the largest in the republic. The demographic situation in Belarus is unfavorable, but is gradually improving. Forecasts are not very optimistic yet, but they are not catastrophic. A gradual decline in the population is expected.
Geography
Belarus borders with Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Poland and Russia. This country is the only one in eastern Europe with which Russia still maintains more or less friendly relations. Largely due to this, the Russian language, along with Belarusian, is considered the state language of the republic. The monetary unit is the Belarusian ruble.
Form of government
By the nature of governance, Belarus has many similarities with Russia. This is a unitary, presidential republic, where Alexander Lukashenko has ruled since 1994. However, Belarusian legislation does not limit the number of terms of the current president. Unlike Russia, Belarus, by the nature of governance, is more in line with the socialist regime, which allows maintaining an acceptable standard of living of the population (generally higher than in Russia), even despite the absence of natural resources and wood sources. In particular, this form of government allowed the country to preserve the forests on its territory, while in Russia and Ukraine in recent years there has been intensive deforestation.
Economy of Belarus
The basis of the economy is a socialist-oriented way of managing, with the dominance of state ownership. Typically, planning, centralized distribution and state regulation of prices. The lack of significant sources of hydrocarbons and the accumulated external debt are the main inhibiting factors in the development of the economy.
The most developed sectors of the economy: agriculture, engineering, forestry, energy and chemistry.
The population of the Republic of Belarus
The population of Belarus in recent years is quite stable and is at the level of 9.5 million people. According to this indicator, it occupies 93rd place in the world. In relation to other European countries, Belarus has an average population level. Compared with other CIS countries, their number is less than in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The population density in the whole country is 46 people / km 2 . However, its distribution over the territory is rather uneven. Most (28%) of the residents live in the Minsk agglomeration.
The share of citizens in the total population is 77%. The most populous are Minsk (1 938 280 people) and Gomel with a population of 516 976 people.
current demographic situation in Belarus
In Belarus, there is a downward trend in population. Until the 90s, it grew, but the growth rate began to decline since the 1970s. The maximum number of inhabitants reached in 1994. Then the republic was inhabited by 10,243,500 people. Then the population began to gradually decline, after which, from the end of the 2000s, it practically did not change. According to forecasts, its decline will continue, but at a slowing speed, and will stop only by 2100 (stopping at the level of 5.7 million people), after which it will begin to grow.
The reasons for the decline in the population are a combination of low fertility and high mortality, as well as migration flows, the spread of single-parent families, and frequent divorces.
However, the number of urban residents is growing. Accordingly, the proportion of citizens increases.
Gradually, demographic indicators in the country are improving. There is a gradual increase in the birth rate and a decrease in mortality. But mortality still exceeds fertility. Over the past decade, the level of infant mortality and mortality of giving birth to mothers has sharply decreased. In this regard, the country is not inferior to developed countries, having a better situation than in other CIS countries.
Natural growth gradually leaves the negative zone. So, in 2002, it was -4.1 people, and in 2012 -3 people. (per 1000 inhabitants).
In the age structure, a large proportion of older people. In the sexual structure, the proportion of women is higher. Each woman in the country corresponds to 0.87 men. However, at a young and middle age, representatives of both sexes are approximately equally divided.
National composition of the population
The most common nationality is Belarusians (83.7%). In second place are Russians (8.3%). The Poles are in the third (3.1%), and the Ukrainians in the fourth (1.7%). There are much fewer Jews, Armenians, Tatars, Gypsies, Azerbaijanis and Lithuanians in the republic. There are also individual representatives of other nationalities.
The highest proportion of Belarusians is in rural areas. The percentage of Russians is more significant in the east, and in the northwest there are more Poles. Previously, this dependence was expressed more strongly. Now the population has become more mixed.
Religious and linguistic composition
In 2011, there were 3321 religious organizations in the republic, while in 1989 there were only 768. Most of the population (68%) adhered to Orthodoxy, 14% adhered to the Catholic worldview, and the remaining 3% preferred other religions.
There are 2 official languages in Belarus: Russian and Belarusian. They are compulsory subjects for study in the country's schools. Almost the entire population can be expressed in both languages.
Conclusion
Thus, the demographic situation in the Republic of Belarus is rather unfavorable. This is due to high mortality and low birth rates. However, the social and demographic situation in Belarus is gradually improving. First of all, this is due to a decrease in mortality. The main directions of improving the demographic situation in the Republic of Belarus are to further reduce mortality, switch to families with two or three children to ensure full reproduction of the population, develop incentive measures, improve the economy through a transition from hydrocarbon dependence to the development of alternative energy technologies and electric vehicles, etc. However, while forecasts give a further decline in population.