.by General FAQ
Belarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe and a former founding member of the Soviet Union. Despite declaring independence after the fall of communism in the 1990s, Belarus maintains many soviet-era policies such as state-ownership of the economy. Most of the approximately 9.5 million residents of Belarus are concentrated near the capital city, Minsk. The official languages are Belarusian and Russian.
The Belarusian economy remains state-controlled, and over 50 percent of the population is employed by state-controlled cpr144449003101 companies. Belarus' strongest economic sectors are agriculture and manufacturing, and its largest trading partner is Russia.
