Geographical facts, information on the political and economic situation in Belarus, the country most affected by the Chernobyl disaster.

Sources (5.2)  Sahm, Astrid: Transformation im Schatten von Tschernobyl, Münster, 1999, p. 184 (11.1)  The World Guide 2001/2002, New Internationalist Publications Ltd., Oxford, 2001, p. 111/112 (12.1)  United Nation Office in the Republic of Belarus: Belarus: choices for the future. National human Development Report, Medium Company, Minsk, 2000, p. 104/105 (23.1)  Chernobyl Interinform Agency, Kiev und, and Chernobyl Committee: MailTable of official data on the reactor accident, (e-mail communication, 21.5.2002), (13.1)  Informationen 249 Gemeinschaft unabhängiger Staaten, (14.1)  Dieter Balle: Vorsichtige Schritte aus der Isolation? EU lehnt Aufhebung von Sanktionen bisher ab, In: Neues Deutschland, Berlin, 15.2.2002, (15.1)  Michael Bauchmüller: Europas letzte Planwirtschaft [Europe's last planned economy], In: Süddeutsche Zeitung, München, 19.12.2001, (12.2)  United Nation Office in the Republic of Belarus: Belarus: choices for the future. National human Development Report, Medium Company, Minsk, 2000, p. 67 (16.2)  Committee on the Problems of the Consequences of the Catastrophe at the Chernobyl NPP: Interview, Minsk, 16.04.2002, p. 5 Documents Summary of the International Conference “Chernobyl 20 Years after. Strategy for Recovery and Sustainable Development of the Affected Regions. 19-21 April 2006, Minsk. Belarus: map of contamination with Cs-137 for 2004. Belarus: map of contamination with Cs-137 for 2016 (forecast). Belarus: map of contamination with Cs-137 for 2046 (forecast). Belarus: map of contamination with Sr-90 for 2004. Belarus, Gomel Region: map of contamination with Sr-90 for 2004. Belarus, Gomel Region: map of contamination with Cs-137 for 2004. Belarus, Mogilev Region: map of contamination with Cs-137 for 2004. Belarus, Brest Region: map of contamination with Cs-137 for 2004.

Geographical facts

White Russia or Belarus (official name: Republic of Belarus) lies on the East European Plain. It borders Poland to the west, Lithuania and Latvia to the north-west, Russia to the north-east, and Ukraine to the south. Of its 10 million inhabitants, 1.9 million live in the capital, Minsk. Other large cities are Gomel, Mahilyow, Vitsebsk, Hrodna and Brest. These five cities and Minsk are also the administrative centres of the country's six regions.

Belarus was the country most severely affected by the nuclear reactor disaster at Chernobyl. 23 per cent of its territory is contaminated with caesium-137 at levels higher than 1 Ci/km2. At the time of the accident, 2.2 million people lived in this area. At the beginning of 1996, 1.84 million people, including almost 500 000 children, still lived in the contaminated territories. Today, 1.3 million are living there. The area with the highest level of radioactivity lies around the regional capital Gomel. The population has been falling since 1996, as has life expectancy (5.2; 11.1; 12.1; 23.1).

Economic situation

The nuclear disaster at Chernobyl effectively deprived the country of 22 per cent of its agricultural land and 21 per cent of its forests. The official Chernobyl Committee in Minsk, which is responsible for dealing with the consequences of the disaster, estimates the total damage for the Republic at USD 235 billion. This is more than ten times the gross national product of 1997 and about 60 times the annual national budget.