Editing Belarus (section)

==Geography==
{{Main|Geography of Belarus|Climate of Belarus}}

Belarus lies between latitudes [[51st parallel north|51°]] and [[57th parallel north|57° N]], and longitudes [[23rd meridian east|23°]] and [[33rd meridian east|33° E]]. Its extension from north to south is {{convert|560|km|abbr=on}}, from west to east is {{convert|650|km|abbr=on}}.<ref name="statistics">{{cite web|url=http://landofancestors.com/travel/statistics/geography/235-coordinates-of-the-extreme-points-of-the-state-frontier.html|title=Coordinates of the extreme points of the state frontier. Main Geographic Characteristics of the Republic of Belarus|publisher=the Scientific and Production State Republican Unitary Enterprise "National Cadastre Agency" of the State Property Committee of the Republic of Belarus|year=2011|website=Land of Ancestors|access-date=11 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921053717/http://landofancestors.com/travel/statistics/geography/235-coordinates-of-the-extreme-points-of-the-state-frontier.html|archive-date=21 September 2013}}</ref> It is [[landlocked country|landlocked]], relatively flat, and contains large tracts of [[marsh]]y land.<ref name="ciageo">{{Cite CIA World Factbook|country=Belarus|section=Geography|access-date=7 November 2007|year=2007}}</ref> About 40% of Belarus is covered by forests.<ref name="key facts"/><ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/nationalreports/europethecis/belarus/belarus_2005_en.pdf|title= Belarus: Window of Opportunity (see Table 15, page 66)|publisher=United Nations|access-date=22 September 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081001230713/http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/nationalreports/europethecis/belarus/belarus_2005_en.pdf|archive-date=1 October 2008|url-status=live}}
</ref> The country lies within two ecoregions: [[Sarmatic mixed forests]] and [[Central European mixed forests]].<ref name="DinersteinOlson2017">{{cite journal|last1=Dinerstein|first1=Eric|last2=Olson|first2=David|last3=Joshi|first3=Anup|last4=Vynne|first4=Carly|last5=Burgess|first5=Neil D.|last6=Wikramanayake|first6=Eric|last7=Hahn|first7=Nathan|last8=Palminteri|first8=Suzanne|last9=Hedao|first9=Prashant|last10=Noss|first10=Reed|last11=Hansen|first11=Matt|last12=Locke|first12=Harvey|last13=Ellis|first13=Erle C|last14=Jones|first14=Benjamin|last15=Barber|first15=Charles Victor|last16=Hayes|first16=Randy|last17=Kormos|first17=Cyril|last18=Martin|first18=Vance|last19=Crist|first19=Eileen|last20=Sechrest|first20=Wes|last21=Price|first21=Lori|last22=Baillie|first22=Jonathan E. M.|last23=Weeden|first23=Don|last24=Suckling|first24=Kierán|last25=Davis|first25=Crystal|last26=Sizer|first26=Nigel|last27=Moore|first27=Rebecca|last28=Thau|first28=David|last29=Birch|first29=Tanya|last30=Potapov|first30=Peter|last31=Turubanova|first31=Svetlana|last32=Tyukavina|first32=Alexandra|last33=de Souza|first33=Nadia|last34=Pintea|first34=Lilian|last35=Brito|first35=José C.|last36=Llewellyn|first36=Othman A.|last37=Miller|first37=Anthony G.|last38=Patzelt|first38=Annette|last39=Ghazanfar|first39=Shahina A.|last40=Timberlake|first40=Jonathan|last41=Klöser|first41=Heinz|last42=Shennan-Farpón|first42=Yara|last43=Kindt|first43=Roeland|last44=Lillesø|first44=Jens-Peter Barnekow|last45=van Breugel|first45=Paulo|last46=Graudal|first46=Lars|last47=Voge|first47=Maianna|last48=Al-Shammari|first48=Khalaf F.|last49=Saleem|first49=Muhammad|title=An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm|journal=BioScience|volume=67|issue=6|year=2017|pages=534–545|issn=0006-3568|doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014|pmid=28608869|pmc=5451287|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Many streams and 11,000 lakes are found in Belarus.<ref name="ciageo"/> Three major rivers run through the country: the [[Neman River|Neman]], the [[Pripyat River|Pripyat]], and the [[Dnieper River|Dnieper]]. The Neman flows westward towards the Baltic Sea and the Pripyat flows eastward to the Dnieper; the Dnieper flows southward towards the [[Black Sea]].<ref name="bell">{{cite book|last=Bell|first=Imogen|title=Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia 2003|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2002|page=132|isbn=1-85743-137-5}}</ref>

[[File:Strusta Lake - Panorama.jpg|thumb|[[Strusta Lake]] in the [[Vitebsk Region]]]]
The highest point is [[Dzyarzhynskaya Hara]] (Dzyarzhynsk Hill) at {{convert|345|m|ft|0}}, and the lowest point is on the Neman River at {{convert|90|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}.<ref name="ciageo"/> The average elevation of Belarus is {{convert|160|m|0|abbr=on}} [[above mean sea level|above sea level]].<ref>{{harvnb|Zaprudnik|1993|p=xix}}</ref> The climate features mild to cold winters, with January minimum temperatures ranging from {{convert|-4|°C|°F|1|lk=on}} in southwest ([[Brest, Belarus|Brest]]) to {{convert|-8|°C|°F|1}} in northeast ([[Vitebsk]]), and cool and moist summers with an average temperature of {{convert|18|°C|°F|1}}.<ref name="locclimate">{{cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/belarus/15.htm |title=Belarus&nbsp;– Climate |access-date=22 December 2007 |last=Fedor |first=Helen |year=1995 |work=Belarus: A Country Study |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] }}</ref> Belarus has an average annual rainfall of {{convert|550|to|700|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}.<ref name="locclimate"/> The country is in the transitional zone between [[continental climate]]s and [[Oceanic climate|maritime climates]].<ref name="ciageo"/>

Natural resources include [[peat]] deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, [[granite]], dolomite ([[limestone]]), [[marl]], chalk, sand, gravel, and clay.<ref name="ciageo"/> About 70% of the radiation from neighboring Ukraine's 1986 [[Chernobyl disaster|Chernobyl nuclear disaster]] entered Belarusian territory, and about a fifth of Belarusian land (principally farmland and forests in the southeastern regions) was affected by radiation fallout.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4485003.stm|work=BBC News|title=Belarus cursed by Chernobyl|first=Sarah|last=Rainsford|date=26 April 2005|access-date=26 March 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060424152147/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4485003.stm| archive-date= 24 April 2006|url-status=live}}</ref> The United Nations and other agencies have aimed to reduce the level of radiation in affected areas, especially through the use of [[caesium]] binders and [[rapeseed]] cultivation, which are meant to decrease soil levels of [[caesium-137]].<ref name="uncher">{{cite web|url=http://chernobyl.undp.org/english/belarus.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080506084709/http://chernobyl.undp.org/english/belarus.html| archive-date=6 May 2008| publisher=United Nations|title=The United Nations and Chernobyl&nbsp;– The Republic of Belarus|year=2004|access-date=4 October 2007}}</ref><ref name="iaea">{{cite news|first=Marilyn|last=Smith|title=Ecological reservation in Belarus fosters new approaches to soil remediation|publisher=International Atomic Energy Agency|url=http://tc.iaea.org/tcweb/news_archive/Chernobyl/ecoreserve/default.asp|access-date=19 December 2007}}</ref>

In Belarus [[forest cover]] is around 43% of the total land area, equivalent to 8,767,600 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, up from 7,780,000 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forests covered 6,555,600 hectares (ha), and planted forests covered 2,212,000 hectares (ha). Of the naturally regenerating forest 2% was reported to be [[primary forest]] (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 16% of the forest area was found within protected areas. For the year 2015, 100% of the forest area was reported to be under [[State ownership|public ownership]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/a6e225da-4a31-4e06-818d-ca3aeadfd635/content |title=Terms and Definitions FRA 2025 Forest Resources Assessment, Working Paper 194 |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |year=2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020, Belarus |url=https://fra-data.fao.org/assessments/fra/2020/BLR/home/overview |website=Food Agriculture Organization of the United Nations}}</ref>

Belarus borders five countries: [[Latvia]] to the north, [[Lithuania]] to the northwest, [[Poland]] to the west, [[Russia]] to the north and the east, and [[Ukraine]] to the south. Treaties in 1995 and 1996 demarcated Belarus's borders with Latvia and Lithuania, and Belarus ratified a 1997 treaty establishing the Belarus-Ukraine border in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.uef.fi/documents/428549/854028/countryreport-belarus-borders.pdf/751f5e6f-b72f-468e-999e-e1988a790aa7|title=Country Report: Belarus Borders: Borders and policy in Belarus|author=Larissa Titarenko|access-date=9 February 2017|year=2011|publisher=University of Eastern Finland|page=14}}</ref> Belarus and Lithuania ratified final border demarcation documents in February 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.uef.fi/documents/428549/854028/countryreport-belarus-borders.pdf/751f5e6f-b72f-468e-999e-e1988a790aa7|title=Country Report: Belarus Borders|author=Larissa Titarenko|access-date=12 November 2018|publisher=[[University of Eastern Finland]]}}</ref>