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Contents 1 Demographic data from the CIA World Factbook 1.1 Population 1.2 Age structure 1.3 Median age 1.4 Population growth rate 1.5 Birth rate 1.6 Death rate 1.7 Net migration rate 1.8 Sex ratio 1.9 Infant mortality rate 1.10 Life expectancy at birth 1.11 Total fertility rate 1.12 HIV/AIDS 1.13 Nationality 1.14 Ethnic groups 1.15 Religions 1.16 Languages 1.17 Literacy 2 Cities 3 References

10,293,011 (July 2006 est.) (NB the Belarus National Statistics Office estimate is considerably lower at 9,750,500 (end 2005) ^[1]).

0-14 years: 15.7% (male 825,823/female 791,741)

15-64 years: 69.7% (male 3,490,442/female 3,682,950)

65 years and over: 14.6% (male 498,976/female 1,003,079) (2006 est.)

Total: 37.2 years

Male: 34.5 years

Female: 39.9 years (2006 est.)

-0.06% (2006 est.)

11.16 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

14.02 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

2.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

Under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.5 male(s)/female

Total population: 0.88 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Total: 13 deaths/1,000 live births

Male: 13.92 deaths/1,000 live births

Female: 12.03 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Total population: 69.08 years

Male: 63.47 years

Female: 74.98 years (2006 est.)

1.43 children born/woman (2006 est.)

Adult prevalence rate: 0.3% (2001 est.)

People living with HIV/AIDS: 15,000 (2001 est.)

Deaths: 1,000 (2001 est.)

Noun: Belarusian(s)

Adjective: Belarusian

Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish 3.9%, Ukrainian 2.4%, Jews 1.1% (Others, Lithuanians, Lipka Tatars)

Prior to World War II, Jews were the third largest ethnic group in Belarus, and comprised more than 40 percent of the population in cities and towns, where Jews and Poles were the majority, while Belarusians mostly lived in rural areas. By 1989, Jews accounted for only 1.1% of the population, mainly due to the Holocaust and emigration from the Soviet Union to the United States and Israel.^{[citation needed]}

The Poles were the second largest ethnic group. After WW2 over 1 million Poles were forced to move to Poland, also many were killed or forced to Siberia and Kazakstan. In exchange, the same number of Belarusians from the former Belastok Voblast, that was given to Poland by Stalin, were forced out to Belarus. Today there are about 500 thousands Poles in Belarus. Another ethnic group are the Lipka tatars that count for about 5-10,000. Poles, Jews and Lipka tatars mostly reside in western Belarus.

In 1997, 80% of the religious population belong to the Russian Orthodox Church, other two main religions are Catholicism (which is most of the rest) and a small number adhering to Protestant Christianity. Besides that, there is a number of adherents of Islam and Judaism. During the times of the Soviet Union the majority of population was atheistic, and this situation did not change significantly with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, although the number of people declaring themselves religious grows. Catholics, Jews and Muslims mostly reside in western Belarus.

Official Belarusian and Russian others Polish, Ukrainian, Lithuanian

Definition: age 15 and over can read and write

Total population: 99.6%

Male: 99.8%

Female: 99.5% (2003 est.)

Largest cities in Belarus (population in thousands, 2006)

Minsk - 1741.4
Homel - 481.2
Mogilev - 365.1
Vitebsk - 342.4
Hrodna - 314.8
Brest - 298.3
Babruysk - 220.8
Baranovichi - 168.6
Barysau - 150.4
Orsha - 130.5
Pinsk - 125.3
Mazyr - 111.8
Salihorsk - 101.4
Navapolatsk - 101.3
Lida - 98.4
Maladzyechna - 98.2
Polatsk - 82.8
Zhlobin - 72.8
Svetlahorsk - 71.7
Rechytsa - 66.2
Slutsk - 62.2
Zhodzina - 60.9
Slonim - 51.6
Kobryn - 50.8
Vaukavysk - 46.8
Kalinkavichy - 37.8
Smarhon - 36.7
Asipovichy - 34.7
Rahachou - 34.7
Horki - 33.9
Navahrudak - 30.7
Vileyka - 30.0
Biaroza - 29.8
Krychaw - 28.8
Dzyarzhynsk - 24.5
Ivatsevichy - 24.1
Luninets - 23.9
Pastavy - 20.5

This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook (2006 edition) which, as a US government publication, is in the public domain.