The
Demographics of Belarus is about the
demographicDemographics or demographic data are selected population characteristics as used in government, marketing or opinion research, or the demographic profiles used in such research...
features of the
populationIn biology, a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular species; in sociology, a collection of human beings. Individuals within a population share a factor may be reduced by statistical means, but such a generalization may be too vague to imply anything...
of
BelarusBelarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel , Mahilyow and Vitebsk...
, including population growth,
population densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans. It is a key term used in geography....
,
ethnicityAn ethnic group is a group of humans whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage that is real or presumed.Ethnic identity is further marked by the researcher Seng Yang in the recognition from others of a group's distinctiveness and the recognition of common cultural,...
, education level, health, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population. The ethnic majority in Belarus call themselves
BelarusiansBelarusians are an East Slavic ethnic group who populate the majority of the Republic of Belarus. Introduced to the world as a new state in the early 1990s, the Republic of Belarus brought with it the notion of a re-emerging Belarusian ethnicity, drawn upon the lines of the Belarusian language...
.
The population of Belarus suffered a dramatic decline during World War II, dropping from more than 9 million in 1940 to 7.7 million in 1951.
The
Demographics of Belarus is about the
demographicDemographics or demographic data are selected population characteristics as used in government, marketing or opinion research, or the demographic profiles used in such research...
features of the
populationIn biology, a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular species; in sociology, a collection of human beings. Individuals within a population share a factor may be reduced by statistical means, but such a generalization may be too vague to imply anything...
of
BelarusBelarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel , Mahilyow and Vitebsk...
, including population growth,
population densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans. It is a key term used in geography....
,
ethnicityAn ethnic group is a group of humans whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage that is real or presumed.Ethnic identity is further marked by the researcher Seng Yang in the recognition from others of a group's distinctiveness and the recognition of common cultural,...
, education level, health, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population. The ethnic majority in Belarus call themselves
BelarusiansBelarusians are an East Slavic ethnic group who populate the majority of the Republic of Belarus. Introduced to the world as a new state in the early 1990s, the Republic of Belarus brought with it the notion of a re-emerging Belarusian ethnicity, drawn upon the lines of the Belarusian language...
.
Demographic trends
The population of Belarus suffered a dramatic decline during World War II, dropping from more than 9 million in 1940 to 7.7 million in 1951. It then resumed its long-term growth, rising to 10 million in 1999. After that the population began a steady decline, dropping to 9.7 million in 2006-2007. Originally a highly agrarian country with nearly 80% of its population in rural areas, Belarus has been undergoing a process of continuous urbanization. The share of its rural population decreased from 70% in 1959 to less than 30% in the 2000s.
Ethnic groups
- Belarusians
Belarusians are an East Slavic ethnic group who populate the majority of the Republic of Belarus. Introduced to the world as a new state in the early 1990s, the Republic of Belarus brought with it the notion of a re-emerging Belarusian ethnicity, drawn upon the lines of the Belarusian language...
81.2%, RussiansThe Russian people are an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
11.4%, PolesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a Western Slavic ethnic group of Central Europe, living predominantly in Poland. Poles are sometimes defined as people who share a common Polish culture and are of Polish descent. Their religion is predominantly Roman Catholic...
3.9%, UkrainiansUkrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group primarily living in Ukraine, or more broadly—citizens of Ukraine...
2.4%, JewsPrior to World War II, Jews were the third largest ethnic group in Belarus, and comprised more than 40% of the population in cities and towns. The population of cities such as Minsk, Pinsk, Mahiliou, Babrujsk, Viciebsk, and Homiel was more than 50% Jewish. There were 724,548 Jews in Belarus in 1897...
0.3%, ArmeniansThe Armenians are a nation and ethnic group which originated in the Caucasus and the Armenian Highland. It is estimated that there are 8 million Armenians around the world. There is a large concentration of Armenians in the Caucasus, especially in Armenia, and there is a significant presence in...
0.1%, Lipka TatarsThe Lipka Tatars are a group of Tatars who originally settled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the beginning of 14th century. The first settlers tried to preserve their shamanistic religion and sought asylum amongst the non-Christian Lithuanians....
0.1%, Ruska RomaThe Ruska Roma , also known as Russian Gypsies , are a subgroup of Roma people, the biggest Romani group of Russia. Ruska Roma live mostly in Russia and Belarus, but can also be found in Eastern and Central Ukraine, France, Canada and the USA....
0.1%, LithuaniansLithuanians are the Baltic ethnic group native to Lithuania, where they number slightly over 3 million people. Another million or more make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Russia, United Kingdom and Ireland...
0.1%, Azeris 0.1%, others 0.3% (1999 census).
Prior to
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Jews were the second largest ethnic group in Belarus, and at 400,000 in the 1926 and 1939 censuses they even exceeded the number of Russians (although admittedly by a small margin). Jews accounted for 7%-8% of the total population at that time, comprising more than 40% of the population in cities and towns, where Jews and Poles were the majority, while Belarusians mostly lived in rural areas. The Holocaust decimated the Jewish population in Belarus, and after World War II, in 1959, Jews accounted for only 1.9% of the population. Since then, Jewish emigration to
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
and other countries reduced the number of Jews to 0.28% of the population (less than 28,000 in 1999).
The Poles were the fourth largest ethnic group before World War II, comprising 1%-2% of the population in the pre-war censuses (less than 100,000). After the war, a large number of Poles (including Catholic Belarusians) were forced to move to
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. In exchange, Belarusians from the former
Belastok VoblastBelastok Voblast or Belostok Oblast was a territorial unit in the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic created after the Soviet invasion of Poland and annexation of West Belarus into BSSR in November 1939...
, which was ceded to Poland in 1945, were displaced to Belarus. Due to changes in the western border of Belarus and Poland after World War II (see
territorial changes of PolandThe territorial evolution of Poland over the history of Europe has taken many forms. As most nations emerged from the Middle Ages, they moved as nations or ethnic groups throughout Europe. The Polish people, however, remained in their settlements along the Vistula river, from the river's sources...
), the number of Poles in Belarus increased to more than 500,000 according to the first post-war census (1959) and to about 400,000 according to the 1999 census. Poles are now the third largest ethnic group in Belarus (see
Polish minority in BelarusThe Polish minority in Belarus numbers officially about 400,000 and forms the second largest ethnic minority in the country after Russians....
). There is around 15,000 of
Lipka TatarsThe Lipka Tatars are a group of Tatars who originally settled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the beginning of 14th century. The first settlers tried to preserve their shamanistic religion and sought asylum amongst the non-Christian Lithuanians....
.
ArmeniansThe Armenians are a nation and ethnic group which originated in the Caucasus and the Armenian Highland. It is estimated that there are 8 million Armenians around the world. There is a large concentration of Armenians in the Caucasus, especially in Armenia, and there is a significant presence in...
and
Ruska RomaThe Ruska Roma , also known as Russian Gypsies , are a subgroup of Roma people, the biggest Romani group of Russia. Ruska Roma live mostly in Russia and Belarus, but can also be found in Eastern and Central Ukraine, France, Canada and the USA....
(Russian Gypsies) account for about 10,000 each. There is also a growing number of Azeris (up from 1,400 in 1959 to 6,400 in 1999).
In the post-war period Belarus experienced an influx of workers from other parts of the Soviet Union, for example Russians and Ukrainians. The decade after independence saw a decline in the population of most of these minority groups, either by assimilation or emigration. The most significant exception to this trend has been a continued (if small-scale) net immigration of
ArmeniansThe Armenians are a nation and ethnic group which originated in the Caucasus and the Armenian Highland. It is estimated that there are 8 million Armenians around the world. There is a large concentration of Armenians in the Caucasus, especially in Armenia, and there is a significant presence in...
and Azeris, whose numbers increased from less than 2,000 in 1959 to around 10,000 in 1999.
Ethnic composition of the population of Belarus (in percent) 1959–1999
| Nationality |
1959 (resident) |
1970 (resident) |
1979 (census) |
1989 (census) |
1999 (census) |
| Total population (thou.) |
8,055.7 |
9,002.3 |
9,532.5 |
10,151.8 |
10,045.2 |
| Belarusians Belarusians are an East Slavic ethnic group who populate the majority of the Republic of Belarus. Introduced to the world as a new state in the early 1990s, the Republic of Belarus brought with it the notion of a re-emerging Belarusian ethnicity, drawn upon the lines of the Belarusian language...
|
81.1 |
81.0 |
79.4 |
77.9 |
81.2 |
RussiansThe Russian people are an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
|
8.2 |
10.4 |
11.9 |
13.2 |
11.4 |
| Poles The Polish people, or Poles , are a Western Slavic ethnic group of Central Europe, living predominantly in Poland. Poles are sometimes defined as people who share a common Polish culture and are of Polish descent. Their religion is predominantly Roman Catholic...
|
6.7 |
4.3 |
4.2 |
4.1 |
3.9 |
UkrainiansUkrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group primarily living in Ukraine, or more broadly—citizens of Ukraine...
|
1.7 |
2.1 |
2.4 |
2.9 |
2.4 |
| Jews |
1.9 |
1.6 |
1.4 |
1.10 |
0.3 |
ArmeniansThe Armenians are a nation and ethnic group which originated in the Caucasus and the Armenian Highland. It is estimated that there are 8 million Armenians around the world. There is a large concentration of Armenians in the Caucasus, especially in Armenia, and there is a significant presence in...
|
0.02 |
0.03 |
0.03 |
0.05 |
0.10 |
| Tatars The Lipka Tatars are a group of Tatars who originally settled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the beginning of 14th century. The first settlers tried to preserve their shamanistic religion and sought asylum amongst the non-Christian Lithuanians....
|
0.11 |
0.11 |
0.11 |
0.12 |
0.10 |
| Romani The Ruska Roma , also known as Russian Gypsies , are a subgroup of Roma people, the biggest Romani group of Russia. Ruska Roma live mostly in Russia and Belarus, but can also be found in Eastern and Central Ukraine, France, Canada and the USA....
|
0.06 |
0.08 |
0.09 |
0.11 |
0.10 |
LithuaniansLithuanians are the Baltic ethnic group native to Lithuania, where they number slightly over 3 million people. Another million or more make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Russia, United Kingdom and Ireland...
|
0.10 |
0.09 |
0.07 |
0.07 |
0.06 |
| Others |
0.2 |
0.3 |
0.3 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
Languages
BelarusianThe Belarusian language, or Belorussian is the language of the Belarusian people and is spoken in Belarus and abroad, chiefly in Russia, Ukraine, and Poland...
and
RussianRussian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe...
are the official languages according to the
Constitution of BelarusThe Constitution of the Republic of Belarus is the ultimate law of Belarus. Adopted in 1994, three years after the country declared its independence from the Soviet Union, this formal document establishes the framework of the Belarusian state and government and enumerates the rights and freedoms...
(Article 17). The constitution guarantees preservation of the cultural heritage of all ethnic minorities, including their languages (Article 15).
Russian, and not Belarusian, is the dominant language in Belarus, spoken normally at home by 63% of the population (1999 census). Even among ethnic Belarusians nearly 60% normally speak Russian at home. Ukrainians and Jews also speak mostly Russian. Poles are the ethnic group who most frequently use Belarusian at home (58%), but the rest speak mainly Russian, with less than 5% reporting Polish as the language normally used within the family.
Language normally spoken at home, % of population in respective ethnic group
| Nationality |
Population,
'000 |
Belarusian |
Russian |
Other language |
| Total population (thou.) |
10,045 |
36.7 |
62.8 |
0.5 |
| Belarusians Belarusians are an East Slavic ethnic group who populate the majority of the Republic of Belarus. Introduced to the world as a new state in the early 1990s, the Republic of Belarus brought with it the notion of a re-emerging Belarusian ethnicity, drawn upon the lines of the Belarusian language...
|
8,159 |
41.3 |
58.6 |
0.1 |
RussiansThe Russian people are an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
|
1,142 |
4.3 |
95.7 |
— |
| Poles The Polish people, or Poles , are a Western Slavic ethnic group of Central Europe, living predominantly in Poland. Poles are sometimes defined as people who share a common Polish culture and are of Polish descent. Their religion is predominantly Roman Catholic...
|
396 |
57.6 |
37.7 |
4.7 |
UkrainiansUkrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group primarily living in Ukraine, or more broadly—citizens of Ukraine...
|
237 |
10.2 |
83.6 |
6.2 |
| Jews |
28 |
3.8 |
95.7 |
0.5 |
CIA World Factbook demographic statistics
The following demographic statistics are from the
CIA World Factbook, unless indicated otherwise.
Age structure
- 0-14 years: 14.3% (male 707,550/female 667,560)
- 15-64 years: 71.3% (male 3,337,253/female 3,540,916)
- 65 years and over: 14.5% (male 446,746/female 948,508) (2009 est.)
Birth rate
- 9.71 births/1,000 population (2009 est,)
- country comparison to the world: 200
- In 2007 103,425 children were born
Death rate
- 13.92 deaths/1,000 population (2009 est.)
- country comparison to the world: 24
- In 2007 there were 132,855 deaths
Net migration rate
- 0.38 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
- country comparison to the world: 68
Urbanization
- Urban population: 73% of total population (2008)
- Rate of urbanization: 0% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
Sex ratio
- At birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
- Under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
- 15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
- 65 years and over: 0.47 male(s)/female
- Total population: 0.87 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
Infant mortality rate
- Total: 6.43 deaths/1,000 live births
- country comparison to the world: 177
- Male: 7.45 deaths/1,000 live births
- Female: 5.36 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
- Total population: 70.63 years
- country comparison to the world: 141
- Male: 64.95 years
- Female: 76.67 years (2009 est.)
Total fertility rate
- 1.24 children born/woman (2009 est.)
- country comparison to the world: 214
HIV/AIDS
- Adult prevalence rate: 0.2% (2007 est.)
- country comparison to the world: 104
- People living with HIV/AIDS: 13,000 (2007 est.)
- country comparison to the world: 91
- Deaths: 1,100 (2007 est.)
- country comparison to the world: 69
Religions
According to 1997 estimates, 80% of the religious population belonged to the
Eastern Orthodox ChurchThe Orthodox Church, also officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to in English speaking countries as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the world's second largest Christian communion, estimated to number 225 million members...
and most of the rest were Roman Catholic. There were also small numbers of Protestants, Muslims, and
JewsJudaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts...
. During the times of the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
the majority of population was atheistic, and this situation did not change significantly after independence, although the number of people declaring themselves religious grows. Catholics, Jews, and Muslims mostly reside in western Belarus.
Literacy
- Definition: age 15 and over who can read and write
- Total population: 99.6%
- Male: 99.8%
- Female: 99.5% (2003 est.)