Belarus vs. Ukraine
Geography
| Belarus | Ukraine | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Eastern Europe, east of Poland | Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland, Romania, and Moldova in the west and Russia in the east |
| Geographic coordinates | 53 00 N, 28 00 E | 49 00 N, 32 00 E |
| Map references | Europe | AsiaEurope |
| Area | total: 207,600 sq km land: 202,900 sq km water: 4,700 sq km | total: 603,550 sq km land: 579,330 sq km water: 24,220 sq km note: approximately 43,133 sq km, or about 7.1% of Ukraine's area, is Russian occupied; the seized area includes all of Crimea and about one-third of both Luhans'k and Donets'k oblasts |
| Area - comparative | slightly less than twice the size of Kentucky; slightly smaller than Kansas | almost four times the size of Georgia; slightly smaller than Texas |
| Land boundaries | total: 3,599 km border countries (5): Latvia 161 km, Lithuania 640 km, Poland 375 km, Russia 1312 km, Ukraine 1111 km | total: 5,581 km border countries (7): Belarus 1111 km, Hungary 128 km, Moldova 1202 km, Poland 498 km, Romania 601 km, Russia 1944 km, Slovakia 97 km |
| Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 2,782 km |
| Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 m or to the depth of exploitation |
| Climate | cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime | temperate continental; Mediterranean only on the southern Crimean coast; precipitation disproportionately distributed, highest in west and north, lesser in east and southeast; winters vary from cool along the Black Sea to cold farther inland; warm summers across the greater part of the country, hot in the south |
| Terrain | generally flat with much marshland | mostly fertile plains (steppes) and plateaus, with mountains found only in the west (the Carpathians) or in the extreme south of the Crimean Peninsula |
| Elevation extremes | highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m lowest point: Nyoman River 90 m mean elevation: 160 m | highest point: Hora Hoverla 2,061 m lowest point: Black Sea 0 m mean elevation: 175 m |
| Natural resources | timber, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay | iron ore, coal, manganese, natural gas, oil, salt, sulfur, graphite, titanium, magnesium, kaolin, nickel, mercury, timber, arable land |
| Land use | agricultural land: 43.7% (2018 est.) arable land: 27.2% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 0.6% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 15.9% (2018 est.) forest: 42.7% (2018 est.) other: 13.6% (2018 est.) | agricultural land: 71.2% (2018 est.) arable land: 56.1% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 1.5% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 13.6% (2018 est.) forest: 16.8% (2018 est.) other: 12% (2018 est.) |
| Irrigated land | 1,140 sq km (2012) | 21,670 sq km (2012) |
| Natural hazards | large tracts of marshy land | occasional floods; occasional droughts |
| Environment - current issues | soil pollution from pesticide use; southern part of the country contaminated with fallout from 1986 nuclear reactor accident at Chornobyl' in northern Ukraine | air and water pollution; land degradation; solid waste management; biodiversity loss; deforestation; radiation contamination in the northeast from 1986 accident at Chornobyl' Nuclear Power Plant |
| Environment - international agreements | party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements | party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic- Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds |
| Geography - note | landlocked; glacial scouring accounts for the flatness of Belarusian terrain and for its 11,000 lakes | strategic position at the crossroads between Europe and Asia; second-largest country in Europe after Russia |
| Total renewable water resources | 57.9 billion cubic meters (2017 est.) | 175.28 billion cubic meters (2017 est.) |
| Population distribution | a fairly even distribution throughout most of the country, with urban areas attracting larger and denser populations | densest settlement in the eastern (Donbas) and western regions; noteable concentrations in and around major urban areas of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donets'k, Dnipropetrovs'k, and Odesa |
Source: CIA Factbook
