Belarussians vote on Sunday in the presidential elections that pit incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko against three other candidates.

Situated in eastern Europe, Belarus borders Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and Ukraine. With a total area of 207,000 square km, the country consists of six regions.

The country has a population of 9.75 million. The capital, Minsk, is home to about one-fifth of the nation's population. The official languages are Belarussian and Russian.

Belarus is landlocked and relatively flat. Forests cover about a third of the land. Lakes and rivers punctuate the country. Three major rivers run through its territory: the Neman, the Pripyat, and the Dnepr.

The country has a broad agricultural base. The chief agricultural products are potatoes, flax, hemp, sugar beet, rye and oats.

The main branches of industry produce tractors and trucks, earth-movers, metal-cutting machine tools, agricultural equipment, motorcycles, chemicals, fertilizer, textiles, and consumer goods.

The major trading partners are Russia, Germany, Ukraine, and Poland. Two-thirds of Belarussian exports go to Russia. Belarus also serves as a transit point for Russian oil and natural gas exports to other European countries.

In 2005, the Belarussian economy grew 9.2 percent from the previous year.

Belarus is a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank.

Source: Xinhua