{ "id": "epcpxnbj29", "slug": "belarus-epcpxnbj29", "title": "Belarus (Беларусь)", "updated": "2026-10-21", "topic_path": [ { "id": "places", "label": "Places and geography", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/places" }, { "id": "places.overviews", "label": "Countries, territories, and regional overviews", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/places.overviews" }, { "id": "places.overviews.countries", "label": "Countries and territories", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/places.overviews.countries" }, { "id": "places.overviews.countries.alpha-a-to-ga", "label": "Titles A to Ga", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/places.overviews.countries.alpha-a-to-ga" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.eeu.t1946.places", "label": "Eastern Europe · 1946 to 2000: Places and geography", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.eeu.t1946.places", "path": [ { "id": "geo.eeu", "label": "Eastern Europe", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.eeu" }, { "id": "geo.eeu.t1946", "label": "Eastern Europe · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.eeu.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.eeu.t1946.places", "label": "Places and geography", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.eeu.t1946.places" } ] }, { "id": "geo.eeu.t2021.places.overviews", "label": "Eastern Europe · 2021 and later: Countries, territories, and regional overviews", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.eeu.t2021.places.overviews", "path": [ { "id": "geo.eeu", "label": "Eastern Europe", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.eeu" }, { "id": "geo.eeu.t2021", "label": "Eastern Europe · 2021 and later", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.eeu.t2021" }, { "id": "geo.eeu.t2021.places", "label": "Places and geography", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.eeu.t2021.places" }, { "id": "geo.eeu.t2021.places.overviews", "label": "Countries, territories, and regional overviews", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.eeu.t2021.places.overviews" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Belarus (Беларусь), Eastern European state under President Alexander Lukashenko since 1994; authoritarian rule, about 1,200 political prisoners, Russian territory use in the Ukraine war, and an economy dependent on Russia.", "snippet": "Belarus (Беларусь), Eastern European state under President Alexander Lukashenko since 1994; authoritarian rule, about 1,200 political prisoners, Russian territory use in the Ukraine war, and an economy dependent on Russia.", "node": "places.overviews.countries.alpha-a-to-ga", "markdown": "# Belarus (Беларусь)\n\n**Belarus** (Беларусь), formerly known in English as Belorussia or Byelorussia, is a landlocked country in [Eastern Europe](https://www.edgepedia.org/eastern-europe) that declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. It is governed as an authoritarian presidential republic under [Alexander Lukashenko](https://www.edgepedia.org/alexander-lukashenko), who has ruled for more than three decades and was sworn in for a seventh term in March 2025 after an election the opposition called a farce[1](https://apnews.com/article/7b5d85b8400d678a19608f3054e63350) • [2](https://apnews.com/article/92109ba1c43b199cd5b34e77fb1e284d). Since 2020 the country has seen systematic political repression, and since February 2022 it has allowed Russian forces to use its territory in the war against Ukraine[3](https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2026/country-chapters/belarus).\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Population | 9,085,991 (2025), declining at about 0.5 percent per year[4](https://data.worldbank.org/country/belarus?view=chart) |\n| Economy | GDP of $93.4 billion and GDP per capita of $10,279.3 (2025); growth of 1.3 percent and inflation of 6.6 percent[4](https://data.worldbank.org/country/belarus?view=chart) |\n| Official languages | Belarusian and Russian; in the 2009 census 70.2 percent reported Russian and 23.4 percent Belarusian as their usual language[5](https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/about/archives/2021/static/1cebcfc1dc0e8ad5a9154c03c24a6bb8/BO-summary.pdf) |\n| Head of state | Alexander Lukashenko, president since 1994, sworn in for a seventh term on 25 March 2025[1](https://apnews.com/article/7b5d85b8400d678a19608f3054e63350) |\n| Political prisoners | About 1,200 held as of September 2025, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski[6](https://apnews.com/article/ce505654be106696bbc832a002e91088) |\n| Trade with Russia | Nearly 70 percent of exports go to Russia and 60 percent of imports come from there[7](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2026/07/28/war-in-ukraine-europe-fears-more-active-belarusian-involvement_6755929_4.html) |\n| Freedom status | Classified as an authoritarian state in which elections are openly rigged and civil liberties are severely restricted[8](https://freedomhouse.org/country/belarus/freedom-world/2026) |\n\n## Government and politics\n\nUnder the constitution, the head of state is a president chosen by direct popular vote, and legislative authority rests with the two-chamber National Assembly, while a prime minister nominally leads the government; in reality, however, authority is concentrated in the presidency[9](https://2021-2025.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/313615_BELARUS-2021-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf). The Council of the Republic, the upper chamber, comprises 64 members, 56 elected by local soviets of the country's six regions and 8 appointed by the president[10](https://www.robert-schuman.eu/en/our-information-files/belarus).\n\n**Constitutional changes.** Amendments adopted in 2022, together with a January 2023 law on the presidency, entrenched Lukashenka's power. They reintroduced a two-term limit that was to take effect only after the 2025 presidential election, guaranteed former presidents immunity from prosecution for acts committed in office, and gave them a permanent seat in the Council of the Republic[11](https://freedomhouse.org/country/belarus/freedom-world/2025).\n\n**Elections.** Lukashenko was handed a sixth term in the August 2020 election, which the opposition and Western governments denounced as rigged, triggering mass protests that were violently suppressed[2](https://apnews.com/article/92109ba1c43b199cd5b34e77fb1e284d). In January 2025 he was re-elected with 87 percent of the vote according to state election authorities, in a vote the EU described as neither free nor fair and conducted in a climate of repression[8](https://freedomhouse.org/country/belarus/freedom-world/2026) • [12](https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2025/03/27/belarus-eu-lists-further-25-individuals-and-7-entities-in-the-context-of-the-so-called-presidential-election-and-for-supporting-the-repressive-regime-of-lukashenka/pdf/). He was sworn in for a seventh term on 25 March 2025[1](https://apnews.com/article/7b5d85b8400d678a19608f3054e63350).\n\n## Human rights situation\n\nInternational and Belarusian rights groups, along with the UN human rights expert on Belarus, described a continuously deteriorating situation through 2024 and 2025[13](https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2025/country-chapters/belarus). The UN Group of Independent Experts on the Human Rights Situation in Belarus stated it has reasonable grounds to believe that some violations amount to the crimes against humanity of political persecution and imprisonment[14](https://www.unognewsroom.org/teleprompter/en/2583/hrc58-human-rights-in-belarus-19-march-2025).\n\n**Political prisoners.** As of 12 July 2025, 1,150 political prisoners were in custody, with 4,022 in total including those released, according to the Belarusian Helsinki Commission[15](https://belhelcom.org/sites/default/files/bhc_sdg16_vnr_belarus_2025.pdf). [Human rights](https://www.edgepedia.org/human-rights) advocates put the number still held at about 1,200 as of September 2025, including [Ales Bialiatski](https://www.edgepedia.org/ales-bialiatski), founder of the Viasna Human Rights Center and winner of the [Nobel Peace Prize](https://www.edgepedia.org/nobel-peace-prize)[6](https://apnews.com/article/ce505654be106696bbc832a002e91088). According to reports, these inmates must display a distinctive yellow badge, frequently end up in solitary, and are cut off from all contact with the outside.[16](https://apnews.com/article/e20232aca4d0894dedade382441a4520)\n\n**Civil society.** A UN document records 1,187 civil society organizations liquidated as of 31 December 2024[17](https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/g25/011/97/pdf/g2501197.pdf). In August 2023 the Viasna Human Rights Center, one of the oldest human rights organizations in the country, was added to the list of \"extremist organizations\"[11](https://freedomhouse.org/country/belarus/freedom-world/2025). In February 2025, legislative amendments expanded the criminal code articles that can be investigated under a \"special procedure,\" adding offenses such as \"discreditation of the Republic of Belarus\" and \"insult or libel of the president\" that are commonly used for politically motivated prosecution[3](https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2026/country-chapters/belarus). Over the course of 2025, Belarusian courts labeled over 2,000 information materials, among them Telegram channels, books, and social media accounts, as \"extremist\".[8](https://freedomhouse.org/country/belarus/freedom-world/2026)\n\n**Selective releases.** The government has pardoned prisoners in batches while arrests continue. In June 2025 it pardoned and released 14 prisoners, but at least 60 more people were arrested on politically motivated charges the same month[18](https://apnews.com/article/120bd25d334fa9fbcbcd604ccdecca2c). In July 2026 Lukashenko pardoned 28 prisoners convicted of \"extremist crimes\" as part of efforts to improve relations with the West[2](https://apnews.com/article/92109ba1c43b199cd5b34e77fb1e284d). In a report issued that week, the UN's special rapporteur on human rights in Belarus, Nils Muižnieks, cautioned that, although several hundred political prisoners had been freed during the preceding year, the country's rights situation had not gotten any better overall.[2](https://apnews.com/article/92109ba1c43b199cd5b34e77fb1e284d)\n\n## Foreign relations and the war in Ukraine\n\nBelarus allowed Russian forces to use its territory from the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and has continued to do so[3](https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2026/country-chapters/belarus). In February 2022 the regime offered the use of Belarusian territory and provided technical and infrastructure support for the invasion[19](https://bti-project.org/fileadmin/api/content/en/downloads/reports/country_report_2026_BLR.pdf). In March 2023, Russian authorities announced an agreement to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus[11](https://freedomhouse.org/country/belarus/freedom-world/2025). Belarus has not contributed troops to the fighting, but it hosts Russia's nuclear weapons and military infrastructure and produces components for Moscow's military industries, including optics, chassis, and electronics for drone jamming[20](https://apnews.com/article/1c084e433e7caa8503a92396b46c6538) • [7](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2026/07/28/war-in-ukraine-europe-fears-more-active-belarusian-involvement_6755929_4.html).\n\n**Sanctions.** The EU has imposed successive rounds of sanctions since August 2020 against those responsible for internal repression and, from 2022, for Belarus's role in the war; in February 2026 it extended the restrictive measures for one year, until 28 February 2027[12](https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2025/03/27/belarus-eu-lists-further-25-individuals-and-7-entities-in-the-context-of-the-so-called-presidential-election-and-for-supporting-the-repressive-regime-of-lukashenka/pdf/) • [21](https://www.euaa-preprod-aws.euaa.europa.eu/belarus-political-opposition-and-dissent/14-international-sanctions-and-accountability). Relations with Washington have partly thawed: in September 2025 the United States eased sanctions in exchange for the release of some political prisoners, allowing Belarus to repair and buy parts for its Boeing aircraft, and in December 2025 Washington lifted its sanctions on potash, a fertilizer central to the Belarusian economy[6](https://apnews.com/article/ce505654be106696bbc832a002e91088) • [22](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2026/05/26/war-in-ukraine-kyiv-grows-anxious-over-belarusian-threat_6753813_4.html).\n\n## Economy\n\nBelarus's economy remains strained by sanctions, labor shortages, and dependence on Russia[23](https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/77351105a334213c64122e44c2efe523-0500072021/related/mpo-am25.pdf). In 2025 the country recorded GDP of $93.4 billion, per capita GDP of $10,279.3, growth of 1.3 percent, inflation of 6.6 percent, and unemployment of 3.4 percent on the modeled ILO estimate[4](https://data.worldbank.org/country/belarus?view=chart). A widening trade gap drove the current account deficit higher in early 2025[23](https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/77351105a334213c64122e44c2efe523-0500072021/related/mpo-am25.pdf). Trade is heavily oriented toward Russia, which takes nearly 70 percent of exports and supplies 60 percent of imports[7](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2026/07/28/war-in-ukraine-europe-fears-more-active-belarusian-involvement_6755929_4.html).\n\n## Language and society\n\nBelarusian was declared the official language at independence in 1991, but Russian was introduced as a second state language in a 1995 referendum[24](https://time.com/6224762/fight-to-preserve-belarusian-language/). In the 2009 census, 70.2 percent of the population reported speaking Russian and 23.4 percent Belarusian[5](https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/about/archives/2021/static/1cebcfc1dc0e8ad5a9154c03c24a6bb8/BO-summary.pdf). According to the 2019 census, about 60 percent of the population recognize Belarusian as their native language, but just over a quarter use it in everyday life[24](https://time.com/6224762/fight-to-preserve-belarusian-language/).\n\nBy broader social indicators, the country ranks high on access to services: 94 percent of the population used the internet in 2024, life expectancy at birth was 74 years, and forests covered 44.1 percent of the land area[4](https://data.worldbank.org/country/belarus?view=chart).\n\n## References\n\n1. [Authoritarian leader of Belarus is sworn in for a 7th term, AP News (25 March 2025)](https://apnews.com/article/7b5d85b8400d678a19608f3054e63350)\n2. [Belarus' authoritarian leader pardons 28 political prisoners to ease ties with the West, AP News (1 July 2026)](https://apnews.com/article/92109ba1c43b199cd5b34e77fb1e284d)\n3. [World Report 2026: Belarus, Human Rights Watch](https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2026/country-chapters/belarus)\n4. [Belarus, World Bank Open Data](https://data.worldbank.org/country/belarus?view=chart)\n5. [CIA World Factbook archive, Belarus population and language data (2021)](https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/about/archives/2021/static/1cebcfc1dc0e8ad5a9154c03c24a6bb8/BO-summary.pdf)\n6. [Leader of Belarus opposition warns Trump, AP News (24 September 2025)](https://apnews.com/article/ce505654be106696bbc832a002e91088)\n7. [War in Ukraine: Europe fears more active Belarusian involvement, Le Monde (28 July 2026)](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2026/07/28/war-in-ukraine-europe-fears-more-active-belarusian-involvement_6755929_4.html)\n8. [Belarus: Freedom in the World 2026, Freedom House](https://freedomhouse.org/country/belarus/freedom-world/2026)\n9. [Belarus 2021 Human Rights Report, US Department of State](https://2021-2025.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/313615_BELARUS-2021-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf)\n10. [Country Sheet: Belarus, Robert Schuman Foundation](https://www.robert-schuman.eu/en/our-information-files/belarus)\n11. [Belarus: Freedom in the World 2025, Freedom House](https://freedomhouse.org/country/belarus/freedom-world/2025)\n12. [Belarus: EU lists further 25 individuals and 7 entities, Council of the EU (27 March 2025)](https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2025/03/27/belarus-eu-lists-further-25-individuals-and-7-entities-in-the-context-of-the-so-called-presidential-election-and-for-supporting-the-repressive-regime-of-lukashenka/pdf/)\n13. [World Report 2025: Belarus, Human Rights Watch](https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2025/country-chapters/belarus)\n14. [HRC58: Human rights in Belarus, UN Geneva Multimedia Newsroom (19 March 2025)](https://www.unognewsroom.org/teleprompter/en/2583/hrc58-human-rights-in-belarus-19-march-2025)\n15. [The human rights situation in Belarus, Belarusian Helsinki Commission VNR submission 2025](https://belhelcom.org/sites/default/files/bhc_sdg16_vnr_belarus_2025.pdf)\n16. [UN calls on Belarus to investigate torture and death of political prisoners, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/e20232aca4d0894dedade382441a4520)\n17. [UN document G25/011/97 on civil society liquidations in Belarus](https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/g25/011/97/pdf/g2501197.pdf)\n18. [Belarus keeps up crackdown on dissent even as authorities free some prisoners, AP News (1 July 2025)](https://apnews.com/article/120bd25d334fa9fbcbcd604ccdecca2c)\n19. [BTI 2026 Country Report: Belarus](https://bti-project.org/fileadmin/api/content/en/downloads/reports/country_report_2026_BLR.pdf)\n20. [Concerns mount that Belarus could be a launchpad for a new Russian offensive, AP News (31 May 2026)](https://apnews.com/article/1c084e433e7caa8503a92396b46c6538)\n21. [International sanctions and accountability, EUAA country guidance on Belarus](https://www.euaa-preprod-aws.euaa.europa.eu/belarus-political-opposition-and-dissent/14-international-sanctions-and-accountability)\n22. [War in Ukraine: Kyiv grows anxious over Belarusian threat, Le Monde (26 May 2026)](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2026/05/26/war-in-ukraine-kyiv-grows-anxious-over-belarusian-threat_6753813_4.html)\n23. [Belarus Macro Poverty Outlook, World Bank](https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/77351105a334213c64122e44c2efe523-0500072021/related/mpo-am25.pdf)\n24. [Inside the Fight To Revive the Belarusian Language, TIME](https://time.com/6224762/fight-to-preserve-belarusian-language/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Places and geography › Countries, territories, and regional overviews › Countries and territories › Titles A to Ga*\n\n*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/belarus-epcpxnbj29", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/belarus-epcpxnbj29.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Belarus (Беларусь)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/belarus-epcpxnbj29. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Belarus (Беларусь)](https://www.edgepedia.org/belarus-epcpxnbj29)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/belarus-epcpxnbj29](https://www.edgepedia.org/belarus-epcpxnbj29). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Belarus (Беларусь)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/belarus-epcpxnbj29. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Belarus, Eastern European state under President Alexander Lukashenko since 1994; authoritarian rule, about 1,200 political prisoners, Russian territory use in the Ukraine war, and an economy dependent on Russia." }