Geopolitical position

Belarus enjoys a highly favourable and advantageous economic, geographical, and geopolitical position. It lies at the crossroads of major railways and highways, oil, gas, and product pipelines, and communication systems between Western Europe, regions of Russia, and Asian countries, as well as between the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea.

Several important transport corridors cross its territory: Pan-European transport corridor II (Berlin - Warsaw - Minsk - Moscow - Nizhniy Novgorod)Pan-European transport corridor IX (Helsinki - St.Petersburg - Moscow/Pskov - Kiev - Kishinev - Bucharest - Dimitrovgrad - Alexandropoulos) Pan-European transport corridor IXB (Kiev – Minsk - Vilnius - Kaunas - Klaipeda/Kaliningrad).

Belarus borders on Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, and the Ukraine. The total length of the state border comes to 2,969 km.

Distances between Minsk and the capitals of neighbouring states are as follows: Vilnius - 215 km, Riga - 470 km, Warsaw - 550 km, Kiev - 580 km, Moscow -700 km. The Republic of Belarus is also a party to a number of cross-border activities with many other foreign countries.

Agreements on promotion and protection of investments into cultural and business sectors were concluded with the following countries: Armenia, Austria, Bahrain, the Belgium- Luxembourg Economic Union, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Denmark, Egypt, Germany, Finland, France, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Macedonia, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, the Netherlands, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, the Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Yugoslavia.

1. Can you name the capitals of the above countries?

2. Make a small oral presentation (3-5 min) about the geopolitical position of Belarus in small groups.

3. Complete the following text with the given numbers:

73.4%; 9,689; 60 ; 340; 57; 2008; 55; 99.6%; 28; 10,000; 8; 46.3%

PEOPLE

The population of Belarus is___ million people, as of January___. Its urban population constitutes___ of the total.

According to national statistics,___ of the total population in Belarus is literate. The country possesses ___ higher educational establishments, including ___ Universities and ___ Academies. The student resident ratio of ___ per ___stands among the highest in Europe.

The proportion of workforce, or economically active individuals, among the total population is estimated at___.

Retirement age in the country depends on gender: ___ for women, and ___ years for men.

Text 4

1. Answer the following questions before you read the text about Belarusian economy.

1. Does the Republic of Belarus offer a favourable geographical position as a transit country?

2. What traditional industries remain a key driver of economic growth of Belarus?

3. Do we operate an open, export-oriented economy?

4. Does the country depend heavily on supplies of Russian natural resources and raw materials?

5. What are some of the leading agricultural products in Belarus?

6. What are the main export items from Belarus to the other countries?

7. Who is the largest trading partner of Belarus? Why?

8. What percentage of national GDP is generated by state enterprises?

9. What is an average salary in our country?

2. Read the text, underline the key words in each paragraph in order to use them when summarizing the information given.