Geography of Belarus
Topography and drainage
Belarus's level terrain is broken up by the
Belarus's 3,000 streams and 4,000 lakes are major features of the landscape and are used for floating timber, shipping, and power generation.
Glacial scouring accounts for the flatness of Belarusian terrain and for its numerous lakes.
Nearly one-third of the country is covered with pushchas, large unpopulated tracts of forests.[3] Share of area covered with forests ranges from 34% in the Brest and Hrodna regions to 45% in the Homiel region. Forests cover 36–37.5% of the Minsk, Mahilioŭ and Vitsebsk regions. Districts with the highest percentage of area covered by forests are Rasony and Lielčycy, in the extreme northern and southern parts of Belarus respectively. The level of woodiness had declined during history – from 60% in 1600 AD to 22% in 1922 but started to increase in the middle of the 20th century.[6] The Białowieża Forest, shared with Poland in the far west, is the oldest and most magnificent of the forests; a reservation here shelters animals and birds that became extinct elsewhere in the distant past.[3]
Climate
Because of the proximity of the
The highest average yearly precipitation is recorded in
Location | July (°C) | July (°F) | January (°C) | January (°F) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Minsk | 23/14 | 74/57 | −2/−6 | 28/20 |
Gomel | 25/15 | 77/58 | −2/−7 | 28/19 |
Mogilev | 23/12 | 74/55 | −1/−6 | 30/21 |
Vitebsk | 23/13 | 74/56 | −3/−7 | 26/18 |
Grodno | 24/12 | 75/55 | −1/−6 | 30/21 |
Brest | 25/14 | 77/58 | 0/−5 | 31/23 |
Flora and fauna
In Belarus, nearly 1,500 species of
Animals in Belarus are those common to Central and Eastern Europe.
National Parks
The National Parks are a huge part of the country's identity. The people of Belarus are particularly proud of their country's national parks. Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park is a preserved part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Białowieża Forest in Belarus since 1992. Later, the Council of Europe stated that the park was one of the most conservation conscious areas. Many animals can be found in these parks, i.e., red deer, wild boar and elk.[9]
Environmental concerns
- Environment – Current Issues
-
- Air Quality – Air quality in Belarus has been an issue for many years in the past. Belarus is ranked third in the world for death associated with air pollution, a ratio of 100 out of every 100,000 deaths from 2010 to 2012.Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.[11]The increased use of natural gas and alternative energy to burning coal is the leading fight against the pollution. Policies implemented in Belarus can also be seen as a leading cause of the quality of air going up and becoming better. Fines and fees may be used to enforce rules and regulations and also to keep awareness of the issue known. The money brought in from the fees and fines are used by the Environmental Fund in Belarus.
- Air Quality – Air quality in Belarus has been an issue for many years in the past. Belarus is ranked third in the world for death associated with air pollution, a ratio of 100 out of every 100,000 deaths from 2010 to 2012.
- The south-eastern part of the country was contaminated with fallout from the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, receiving about 70% of the radiation. Vast amounts of territory in Gomel and Mogilev Regions were rendered uninhabitable. Roughly 7,000 km2 (2,700 sq mi) of soil were contaminated by caesium-137 to levels greater than 15 curies (550 gigabecquerels) per square kilometer, i.e., taken from human usage for an indefinite time. Overall economic costs for containment and decontamination is estimated at $235 billion in Belarus.
- The south-eastern part of the country was contaminated with fallout from the
- Environment – international agreements
-
- Party to treaties: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
Area and boundaries
- Area
-
- Total: 207,600 km² (81,054 sq mi)
- country comparison to the world: 86
- Land: 202,900 km² (81,054 sq mi)
- Water: 4,7000 km²
- Area comparative
-
- Victoria
- Canada comparative: Belarus half the size of Newfoundland and Labrador
- Europe comparative: Belarus holds 13th place, slightly smaller than the United Kingdom or Romania
- United States comparative: Belarus slightly smaller than Kansas.
- Land boundaries
- Coastline
- 0 km (0 mi). Belarus is landlocked; the nearest body of water is the Baltic Sea, yet Lithuania and Latvia block access to the Baltic.
- Maritime claims
- None (landlocked)
- Elevation extremes
-
- Lowest point: Neman River90 m (295 ft)
- Highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m (1,135 ft)
- Lowest point:
Natural resources
The natural resources of Belarus include timber, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay, potash, and halite (salt).
Potash, halite and phosphorite
Belarus has a large number of potash deposits – all formed during the Famennian stage of the Late Devonian epoch – with commercial reserves of 10 billion metric tonnes. Three main potash deposits have been explored – Starobin (Belarusian: Старобінскае, Russian: Старобинское), Petrikov (Belarusian: Петрыкаўскае, Russian: Петриковское) and Oktyabrsky (Belarusian: Акцябрскае, Russian: Октябрьское). Sylvinite (potash ore) from these three deposits contains up to 28%, 40% and 39% KCl respectively. Amounts of MgCl2 vary from 0.15–0.3% in Starobin to 1.5–4% in Petrikov and more than 5% in Oktyabrsky. The Starobin deposit has 2.6 billion tonnes of proven reserves (A, B, C1 categories) and 600 million tonnes of prognosed reserves (C2 category) of potash. Reserves at the Petrikov deposit are estimated at 2.12 billion tonnes (C1 and C2 categories) of potash. The Oktyabrsky deposit has 637 million tonnes of potash (C1 and C2) and 1.1 billion tonnes of carnallite.[12] Only the Starobin deposit is used, but in 2014 construction of the first factory in the Petrikov deposit began.[12][13] Several smaller, less-explored deposits are known, mainly in Gomel and Minsk Regions.[12]
Large halite (salt) deposits were formed during Frasnian and Famennian stages of the Late Devonian epoch. Saliferous formations cover 26,000 km2 in the southeastern part of the country. Three deposits have been explored – Starobin (in Minsk Region), Mazyr and Davydaŭskaje (both in Gomel Region). The Davydaŭskaje deposit is the biggest, with proven reserves over 20 billion tonnes, but only the Starobin and Mazyr deposits are used to produce salt. More than 350,000 tonnes of halite are mined in the Starobin deposit per year (2004). In the Mazyr deposit, the saliferous liquid is extracted via wells, and up to 360,000 tonnes of salt are produced annually (2004).[12]
There are known
Fossil fuels
Due to the Belarus' high level of marshiness, it is very rich in peat. 9,191 peat deposits are known, totalling 5.7 billion tonnes of overall reserves. Before land improvement projects began in 20th century, peat covered 14% of Belarus. Although the country has no deposits of high-ranked coal, the amount of lower-ranked lignite is estimated at 553 million tonnes. Its average heat content is 25.2 MJ/kg. The amount of oil shale in southern Belarus is estimated at 8.8 billion tonnes with 3.6 billion in the Lyuban (Belarusian: Любанскае, Russian: Любанское) and Turaŭ (Belarusian: Тураўскае, Russian: Туровское) deposits alone. Oil shale lies at a depth of 66–600 m and deeper. The layer thickness of oil shale deposits is usually 0.1–3.7 m, and the average heat content is 6.7 MJ/kg. Belarusian oil shale was formed in Late Devonian and Early Carboniferous periods.[12]
The southeastern part of Belarus has many small oil fields. The first oil deposit was discovered near Rechytsa in 1964. Belarus extracts about 1.8 million tonnes of oil per year, which provides 17–18% of country's needs (2004). Oil is usually found in the Late Devonian sediments and is frequently connected with salt layers, but two deposits are situated among the Late Proterozoic sediments.[12]
Metals
Belarus has two big iron deposits – Akolaŭskaje (Okolovskoye; in
Other minerals
Many
Land use
- Land use
-
- Arable land: 27.21%
- Permanent crops: 0.59%
- Other: 72.19% (2012)
- Irrigated land
- 1,150 km² (2003)
- Total renewable water resources
- 58 km3 (2011)
- Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)
- Total: 4.34 km3/yr (32%/65%/3%)
- Per capita: 435.4 m3/yr (200p)
- Water resources
- About 10,800 rivers and streams, with the total length of 91,000 km, and about 11,000 lakes, including 470 lakes with an area exceeding 0.5 km² each. Polesieregion.
Notes
- ^ slightly smaller than the United Kingdom or the state of Kansas
References
- This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook (2000, 2003, 2009) which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain.
- ^ a b Клімат // Беларуская энцыклапедыя [Belarusian Encyclopedia]. — Т. 18, ч. 2: Беларусь [Vol. 18, part 2]. — Мн.: Беларуская энцыклапедыя, 2004. — С. 41.
- ^ a b Клімат // Беларуская энцыклапедыя [Belarusian Encyclopedia]. — Т. 18, ч. 2: Беларусь [Vol. 18, part 2]. — Мн.: Беларуская энцыклапедыя, 2004. — С. 43.
- ^ OCLC 33359277. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.)
{{cite encyclopedia}}
: CS1 maint: postscript (link - ^ "Main Geographic Characteristics of the Republic of Belarus". Land of Ancestors. The Scientific and Production State Republican Unitary Enterprise “National Cadastre Agency” of the State Property Committee of the Republic of Belarus. 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
- ^ Азёры і вадасховшічы // Беларуская энцыклапедыя [Belarusian Encyclopedia]. — Т. 18, ч. 2: Беларусь [Vol. 18, part 2]. — Мн.: Беларуская энцыклапедыя, 2004. — С. 49–53.
- ^ a b c d Раслінны свет // Беларуская энцыклапедыя [Belarusian Encyclopedia]. — Т. 18, ч. 2: Беларусь [Vol. 18, part 2]. — Мн.: Беларуская энцыклапедыя, 2004. — С. 56–65.
- ^ a b Клімат // Беларуская энцыклапедыя [Belarusian Encyclopedia]. — Т. 18, ч. 2: Беларусь [Vol. 18, part 2]. — Мн.: Беларуская энцыклапедыя, 2004. — С. 40–45.
- ^ "Belarus climate information". Weatherbase. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
- ISBN 1841622079.
- ^ Batalevich, Luchina (November 24–25, 2016). "Actual Environmental Problems" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-01.
- ^ "Belarus" (PDF). Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-03-02. Retrieved 2017-03-02.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Карысныя выкапні // Беларуская энцыклапедыя [Belarusian Encyclopedia]. — Т. 18, ч. 2: Беларусь [Vol. 18, part 2]. — Мн.: Беларуская энцыклапедыя, 2004. — С. 28–34.
- ^ Belaruskali starts building new mining and processing factory, belarus.by, 27 August 2014