General · EdgepediaSeptember 17, 20267 min read

Belarus (Беларусь)

Belarus (Беларусь), formerly known in English as Belorussia or Byelorussia, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe that declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. It is governed as an authoritarian presidential republic under 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 farce¹^•². 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 Ukraine³.

Key fact	Detail
Population	9,085,991 (2025), declining at about 0.5 percent per year⁴
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 percent⁴
Official languages	Belarusian and Russian; in the 2009 census 70.2 percent reported Russian and 23.4 percent Belarusian as their usual language⁵
Head of state	Alexander Lukashenko, president since 1994, sworn in for a seventh term on 25 March 2025¹
Political prisoners	About 1,200 held as of September 2025, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski⁶
Trade with Russia	Nearly 70 percent of exports go to Russia and 60 percent of imports come from there⁷
Freedom status	Classified as an authoritarian state in which elections are openly rigged and civil liberties are severely restricted⁸

Government and politics

Under 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 presidency⁹. 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 president¹⁰.

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 Republic¹¹.

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 suppressed². 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 repression⁸^•¹². He was sworn in for a seventh term on 25 March 2025¹.

Human rights situation

International and Belarusian rights groups, along with the UN human rights expert on Belarus, described a continuously deteriorating situation through 2024 and 2025¹³. 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 imprisonment¹⁴.

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 Commission¹⁵. Human rights advocates put the number still held at about 1,200 as of September 2025, including Ales Bialiatski, founder of the Viasna Human Rights Center and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize⁶. 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

Civil society. A UN document records 1,187 civil society organizations liquidated as of 31 December 2024¹⁷. 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. 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 prosecution³. 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

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 month¹⁸. In July 2026 Lukashenko pardoned 28 prisoners convicted of "extremist crimes" as part of efforts to improve relations with the West². 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

Foreign relations and the war in Ukraine

Belarus 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 so³. In February 2022 the regime offered the use of Belarusian territory and provided technical and infrastructure support for the invasion¹⁹. In March 2023, Russian authorities announced an agreement to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus¹¹. 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 jamming²⁰^•⁷.

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 2027¹²^•²¹. 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 economy⁶^•²².

Economy

Belarus's economy remains strained by sanctions, labor shortages, and dependence on Russia²³. 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 estimate⁴. A widening trade gap drove the current account deficit higher in early 2025²³. Trade is heavily oriented toward Russia, which takes nearly 70 percent of exports and supplies 60 percent of imports⁷.

Language and society

Belarusian was declared the official language at independence in 1991, but Russian was introduced as a second state language in a 1995 referendum²⁴. In the 2009 census, 70.2 percent of the population reported speaking Russian and 23.4 percent Belarusian⁵. 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 life²⁴.

By 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 area⁴.

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Places and geography › Countries, territories, and regional overviews › Countries and territories › Titles A to Ga

Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026

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