As soon as part of the Soviet Union, Belarus is finding its feet as one of the new nations in the Commonwealth of Independent States, the headquarters of this organization is in Minsk.

Belarus covers an area slightly smaller than the UK, and has no coastline. It borders Russia within the north and east, Latvia and Lithuania within the North West, Poland within the west and Ukraine in the south. Low ridges cover a lot from the country, with marshy lowlands in between. The Pripet Marshes are within the south – at 1 time Europe’s largest marsh area, they have now largely been drained for agriculture. It’s generally a low-lying nation – the highest point reaches only 345m above sea level. The Dnepr is Belarus’ main river, and it flows east out of Russia then south into Ukraine. Average winter temperatures are around the -6°C mark, occasionally falling to -8°C in the north and snow arrives in December or January and lies around until March or April. Belarus receives most of its rainfall between June and August, and warmest temperatures (l7-19°C) are experienced in July.

Primeval forest

Forest once covered the whole of Belarus, but most had been removed for farming by the 16th century. Some forest has regrown, particularly around the Pripet Marshes – it’s a mixture of coniferous and deciduous trees, although silver birch dominates. The Marshes are also house to hundreds of thriving species of marsh flora. On the western border with Poland lies the Belavezhskaja Pushcha Nature Reserve, the largest surviving area of primeval mixed forest in Europe. It’s jointly managed by Belarus and Poland, and 1 of its excellent success stories has been the European bison, whose population was reduced to 40 in captivity in 1945. There are now about 1000 within the park alone, and a number of thousand spread throughout. Europe. Elk, deer, wolf, fox, otter and badger are all also found within the forest. About 21% of the population are employed in agriculture. Cattle and pigs make up 60% from the produce, while primary crops are grain, potatoes and flax, which is made into linen.

Heavy industry – truck and tractor manufacture – is concentrated in Minsk, and you will find chemical processing factories at Soligorsk. Few mineral resources mean that the country is almost totally dependent on Russia for oil and gas supplies. These supplies were hit badly when the Soviet Union broke up, and this combined with the forced abandonment of much agricultural land after the nuclear accident at Chernobyl in 1986 (the power station is in neighbouring Ukraine, and a lot from the radioactive fallout landed on Belarus) has led to hard times for the economy. Inflation was at 2000% in 1993, but new government plans are being shaped to reduce the strain.

The Soviet connection has affected the ethnic make-up of the population. Estimates suggest that 2.2 million Belarusians died in World War II – the Jewish population was almost wiped out – and more (perhaps 700,000) disappeared during Soviet purges. Russians were moved in during the 1960s to fill the gaps in the labour force, and there is still a Russian minority of 1.3 million these days. The destruction caused by World War II and also the Soviet industrialization forced numerous people to move to the cities and abandon hundreds of villages.