Belarus Travellers Guide
Total Area:207,600 sq km Land Borders: Latvia, Lithuania, Poland ,
Population: 10,293,011 Russia, Ukraine
Life Expectancy: 70 years HIV % Total Poulation:0.3&
Ethnic Groups: Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish 3.9%, Ukrainian 2.4%, other 1.1%
Languages:Belarusian, Russian, other
President:Aleksandr LUKASHENKO GDP - Per Capita: $6,900
After seven decades as a constituent republic of the USSR, Belarus attained its independence in 1991. It has retained closer political and economic ties to Russia than any of the other former Soviet republics. Belarus and Russia signed a treaty on a two-state union on 8 December 1999 envisioning greater political and economic integration. Although Belarus agreed to a framework to carry out the accord, serious implementation has yet to take place. Since his election in July 1994 as the country's first president, Alexander LUKASHENKO has steadily consolidated his power through authoritarian means. Government restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, peaceful assembly, and religion continue.