The Republic of Belarus. Geographical Position of the Republic of Belarus.

Belarus is situated in the central part of Europe. Belarus stands at the crossroads from east to west and from north to south. It borders on Russia to the north and east, on the Ukraine to the south, on Poland to the west and on Lithuania and Latvia to the north-west.

The republic’s area is 207.600 square kilometres. It is just one fifth smaller than Great Britain in size, but it is larger than Denmark, Belgium and Greece taken together.

Broad plains and marshy lowlands occupy nearly three quarter’s of the territory. They are called Belarusian Polesye. There are also some hills and elevations. They can be found in the northern and central parts of the country. The lowest point of the territory is Nyoman River (90 m). The highest point is Dzarzhynskaya Hara (346 m).

There are a lot of rivers and streams and more than 10,000 lakes in the republic. The largest rivers are the Dnieper, Western Dvina, Pripiat and Neman, while the largest lake is Narach.

Forests and bush cover more than a quarter of the area. The most famous is Belavezhskaya Puscha. Rare bisons – aurochses live there. They survived from glacial times.

Climate

The climate in the republic is moderately continental with mild, humid winters and relatively cool and rainy summers. The autumns are damp and springs sunny. The climate is changeable due to the occasional influence of the Atlantic sea air.

Population

The population of Belarus is over 10 million.(10,350,194 – July 2001 est.). Belarusions are 81,2% of them, while the others are mostly Russians (11,4%), Polish, Ukrainians, Jews and others (7,4%).

Most of the population are Russian Orthodox (80%). Other religions are Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim.

The largest part of the population live in cities and towns. The most important centres are Minsk, the capital, Grodno, Gomel, Brest, Mogilev and Vitebsk. They are not only administrative, but also industrial and cultural centres of the six territorial regions of Belarus.

People speak Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian here, though the official languages are Belarusian and Russian.

Belarus is a presidential republic. The President of the Republic of Belarus is Head of the State, guarantor of the country’s Constitution, human and citizens’ rights and liberties.

National Economy of Belarus.

Vocabulary

expenditure - затраты

grains - хлебные злаки

heavy machinery - тяжелое маши­ностроение

heavy-duty truck - сверхмощный грузовой автомобиль

hog - свинья

in short supply - дефицитный

incentive - стимул

instrument making - приборостроение

large-capacity dump truck - крупнотоннажный самосвал

limestone - известняк

limited-liability company - компания с ограниченной имущественной ответственностью

livestock breeding - племенное животноводство

livestock farming - животноводство

lowland - низина, долина

machine building - машиностроение

marsh - болото

meadow - луг

merchandise - товары

merger - слияние, объединение

metal-cutting tool - металлорежущий станок

mining - горное дело

miscellaneous - разнообразный

mulch - мульчировать

oats - овес

oil refining - перегонка нефти

pasture - пастбище

peat - торф

petrochemicals - нефтехимические продукты

pipeline - трубопровод; нефтепровод

plywood - фанера

potash - поташ, углекислый калий

potassium - калий

raise - выращивать (растения);

разводить (птицу, скот);

recover - извлекать

rolled - листовой, прокатный

rye – рожь

sheep - овца; баран;

soda ash - сода

strike out - сражаться

sugar beet - сахарная свекла

sunflower - подсолнечник

swamp - болото

synthetic resin - синтетические смолы

timber processing - деревообработка

upland - гористая часть страны

wheat - пшеница

wood products - изделия из дерева

Belarus is relatively poor in terms of natural resources. It does not have vast amounts of most of the minerals used in modern industrial production. The country has small reserves of petroleum and natural gas.

In the south-west there are small reserves of hard coal, brown coal, and petroleum, but they are not easily accessible and remain undeveloped. The country has large forest reserves. About one-third of the republic is covered in forest.

Belarus does possess, however, one of the world's largest reserves of potassium salts discovered in 1949 south of Minsk and exploited from the 1960s around the new mining town and fertilizer-manufacturing centre of Soligorsk. Although exports of potash to other former Soviet republics declined significantly in the 1990s, exports to other countries remained at a high level.

The country also is a world leader in the production of peat, which is especially abundant in the Pripyat Marshes. Peat is used as a mulching material in agriculture. In briquette form it is used as fuel.

Among the other minerals recovered are salt, an important deposit of which, near Mozyr, was opened in the 1980s, building materials, chiefly limestone and, near Grodno, quartz sands for glassmaking, both used locally, and small deposits of gold and diamonds.

Belarus is heavily reliant on oil and gas supplies from Russia. These fuel imports reach Belarus via two major pipelines: the Friendship Pipeline car­rying oil, and the Natural Lights Pipeline carrying natural gas. The government is attempting to accelerate the development of its raw material base, but Belarus remains dependent on Russia for most of its energy and fossil-fuel requirements.