Belarus is Russia's closest neighbor and a reliable economic and political partner. In this article we will examine in detail the area and population of Belarus. Note the main development trends and demographics of the country.
Quick reference
Currently, the territory of the Republic of Belarus is divided into six regions and more than one hundred municipal regions. The list of main administrative units of the country:
- Brest region;
- Vitebsk region;
- Gomel region;
- The Grodno region;
- Minsk Region;
- Mogilev region.
From the economic point of view, the largest and most developed, from the economic point of view, is the Minsk agglomeration. Before we answer the question of what is the area of Belarus, we will consider key aspects of the administrative division of the country. The region consists of 22 isolated areas. The capital of the state of Minsk is not included in the division of any of the regions. It is home to a third of the total population of the country. This is an important political and industrial center of the state.
The area of Belarus is 207 595 square kilometers. About ten million people live on it. And Minsk itself covers an area of 348 km². Almost two million inhabitants are registered in it. It is divided into several large districts. The central part of the capital is represented by the architectural heritage of the Stalin era. New microdistricts are characterized by altitude and an abundance of recreational zones.
What is the area of Belarus by region? The Brest region spread over 32 786 km². It registered 1,400,000 people. The area of Vitebsk exceeds 40,000 km². The number of its inhabitants reached 1,187,000. The territory of Gomel is 40,371 km 2 , and the population is 1,420,000.
Grodno region is the smallest. It occupies a land of 25,126 km². It has 1 million inhabitants. The area of the Minsk region excluding the capital city is 39 853 km². The number of inhabitants has almost reached 1,500,000. The Mogilev region is compact in size and covers an area of 29,067 km². One million people are registered in it.
History reference
The area of Belarus today differs from the one occupied by the country in the X century. For centuries, the state was part of various powers, and its territory was redrawn. The republic was part of the Polotsk and Smolensk principalities. In the XVI century it was part of the Commonwealth. In the XVIII century it was part of the Russian Empire.
Until 1930, the area of Belarus belonged to Poland. The republic withdrew from the USSR in 1991, announcing its own sovereignty. At the beginning of the 20th century, the state was divided not into regions and regions, but into voivodships, provinces, and later into districts. Administrative units were abolished. Large areas were divided, new provinces were formed. The modern structure of the republic has remained unchanged since 2009.
Geography and landscape
The area of Belarus exceeds 200,000 square kilometers. The country is located in the eastern part of Europe. It has common borders with Ukraine, the Russian Federation, Lithuania, Poland and Latvia. Their total length is almost 3,000 km. The length of the state is 650 km. The distance from Minsk to Moscow is 700 kilometers.
According to the rating of world powers, the area of Belarus in km 2 occupies the 84th position. The territory of the country is mostly flat. The maximum height of the hills reaches 350 meters above sea level. Grodno region is located in the Neman lowland. Its height is only 80 meters above sea level.
Extreme points of the republic:
- High city;
- Khotimsk;
- Komarin;
- settlements of the Verkhnedvinsky district, located on the north side of Lake Osvey.
Weather
The climate throughout Belarus is temperate continental. It is characterized by mild and snowy winters, hot and humid summer months. Meteorologists note a gradual warming of the climate. Winter in the republic has become 1 ° C warmer.
Demographic picture
The beginning of this century in the Republic of Belarus was marked by an increase in the rates of natural population decline and a decrease in the number of youth. Moreover, the area of the Republic of Belarus allows increasing the population density. In recent years, the number of newborns per thousand people has reached 11 children. Until 2000, this figure was 9.9. Life expectancy exceeded 70 years abroad.
The positive migration balance exceeded 10 300. The infant mortality rate is steadily decreasing . The level of demography in the country with a total area of Belarus of 207 thousand km² corresponds to European standards. Natural decline is gradually decreasing. Moreover, the magnitude of the social burden on the able-bodied population of the state remains high.
Anxiety among doctors causes a total complication of pregnancy in Belarusian women. Seven out of ten women in labor have chronic diagnoses. The number of pathologies diagnosed in adolescents is growing. The list of the main reasons for the weakening of the health of the nation is the abuse of alcoholic beverages. The ubiquitous smoking of tobacco is also detrimental.
The priority of local authorities is improving the quality of the migration flow entering the territory of the republic. Demographers state that the mass exodus of young people from the country's agricultural regions to the large industrial centers of Belarus continues. If the demographic situation is not corrected, then in fifty years the republic will come close to the point of irreversibility of the processes of self-replenishment of the nation.
In addition to the federal programs being put in place, the government needs to restore the stability of economic, social and political living conditions. The National Development Plan was signed in 2015.
Social support
About three million families are registered in the republic. Of these, only half raise children. Currently, the country's leadership provides social and material support to large parents. Young spouses are given loans for the construction of their own housing.
The social support system for minors covers more than 500,000 children. For children under the age of two, the state provides food and hygiene products and medicines. Along with an increase in the birth rate, there was an increase in the number of children left without parental care. Social shelters contain more than two thousand children.
Life expectancy
The goal of the republic’s healthcare system is to create a unified, affordable and effective network of medical centers. Implemented programs have reduced the maternal mortality rate. In 2015, it amounted to 0.9 women per thousand live births. In modern perinatal complexes, babies born with a body weight of less than one kilogram are nursed. The reproductive technologies used by doctors have allowed more than six hundred babies to be born.
Mortality from myocardial infarction decreased by 12 percent. The gradual aging of the population leads to an increase in the number of chronic diseases. In the republic there are 500,000 people with disabilities. Every year, about fifty thousand receive disability status. Of these, forty percent are people who have not yet come out of working age.
Anxiety causes the health status of preschoolers. About 90% of children without chronic diseases come to the first grade. Only 80% of teenagers graduate healthy. The list of the most common diseases of the pathology of the organs of hearing and vision, disorders of the musculoskeletal system, cardiac and nervous systems.
The list of tasks that are set before the health workers of the republic:
- abortion prevention;
- medical examination;
- premarital counseling;
- prevention of chronic diseases.
Migration processes
Since the area of Belarus (km 2 ) is 207 thousand, and the population density is only 46 people per km², the attraction of foreign citizens is of great importance in stabilizing the demographic situation. Today, the state plays the role of recipient and donor. Every year, 33,000 visitors receive a temporary residence permit in the country. 13,000 people remain in the republic.
To increase the quality of migration flow, the government provides financial assistance to immigrants. Ethnic Belarusians have priority.
Ethnic composition
The country occupies the 84th position in the ranking of world powers by the largest territory, because the area of Belarus barely exceeds 200,000 km². Dozens of nationalities live in the republic. The dominant ethnic group is Belarusians. Their share is 84%. Russians - only 8%, Poles - 3%, Ukrainians - 2%. The number of Jews is 13,000, Armenians - 8,500, Tatars - 7,300, Gypsies - 7,000.
There are 5,500 Azerbaijanis in the republic, 5,000 Lithuanians. Moldovans, Georgians, Germans, Turkmens and Uzbeks live in the country. As well as Kazakhs, Chuvashs, Arabs, Chinese and Latvians. The reduction of Russians, Ukrainians and representatives of other Slavic peoples is noted. But the number of Asian nationalities is increasing.