Ethnic_groups_in_Belarus

Demographics of Belarus

Demographics of Belarus

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The demographics of Belarus is about the demographic features of the population of Belarus, including population growth, population density, ethnicity, education level, health, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population.

Quick Facts Belarus, Population ...
Belarus: Population and rural population 1913–2008 (beginning of year). Source: official statistics from BelStat.
More information Year, Pop. ...

Population

The population of Belarus suffered a dramatic decline during World War II, dropping from more than 9 million in 1940 to 7.7 million in 1951. It then resumed its long-term growth, rising to 10 million in 1999.[3] After that the population began a steady decline, dropping to 9.7 million in 2006–2007.[4] Originally a highly agrarian country with nearly 80% of its population in rural areas, Belarus has been undergoing a process of continuous urbanization. The rural population saw its share of the total population decrease from 70% in 1959 to less than 30% in the 2000s.[5]

Population

9,491,800 (January 2018 est.)[6]
country comparison to the world:'’ 92 [7]

Age structure

0–14 years: 15.4% (male 759,285/female 717,118)
15–24 years: 11.7% (male 575,907/female 544,170)
25–54 years: 45.5% (male 2,141,419/female 2,227,433)
55–64 years: 13.3% (male 562,639/female 716,216)
65 years and over: 14.2% (male 430,225/female 933,646) (2014 est.)

Median age

Total: 39.4 years
Male: 36.3 years
Female: 42.4 years (2014 est.)

Sex ratio

At birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
0–14 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15–24 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
25–54 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
55–64 years: 0.87 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.46 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.87 male(s)/female (2014 est.)
Population change in Belarus, 1970 – 2010[8]
1970–1989 1970–2010 1999–2010

Life expectancy at birth

Life expectancy in Belarus since 1900
Life expectancy in Belarus since 1960 by gender
Average life expectancy at birth in Belarus (2018)
Total population: 72.15 years
country comparison to the world: 138
Male: 66.53 years
Female: 78.1 years (2014 est.)
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Total fertility rate (TFR) in Belarus by region and year

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  • Birth rate (by district, 2019)
    Birth rate (by district, 2019)
  • Mortality rate (by district, 2019)
    Mortality rate (by district, 2019)
  • Rate of natural increase (by district, 2019)
    Rate of natural increase (by district, 2019)

Infant mortality rate

Total: 4.0 Positive decrease deaths/1,000 live births for 429 death. (2010)
Total: 3.9 Positive decrease deaths/1,000 live births for 422 death. (2011)
Total: 3.4 Positive decrease deaths/1,000 live births for 386 death. (2012)
Total: 3.5 Negative increase deaths/1,000 live births for 407 death. (2013)
Total: 3.5 Steady deaths/1,000 live births for 415 death. (2014)
Total: 3.5 Positive decrease deaths/1,000 live births for 321 death. (January–September 2014)
Total: 3.2 Increase deaths/1,000 live births for 283 death. (January–September 2015)

Vital statistics

Belarusian provinces of the Russian Empire

The figures below refer to the five governorates of the Russian Empire (Grodno, Vitebsk, Minsk, Mogilev, Vilna) with a Belarusian majority.[10]

More information Year, Average population (from 1990 onwards beginning of year) ...

Current vital statistics

[12]

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Structure of the population

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Population by Sex and Age Group (Census 04.X.2019): [13]

Ethnic groups

Belarusians 84.9%, Russians 7.5%, Poles 3.1%, Ukrainians 1.7%, Jews 0.1%, Armenians 0.1%, Lipka Tatars 0.1%, Ruska Roma 0.1%, Lithuanians 0.1%, Azerbaijanis 0.1%, others 2.2% (2019 census).

Prior to the Second World War

Prior to World War II, Jews were the second largest ethnic group in Belarus, and at 400,000 in the 1926 and 1939 censuses they even exceeded the number of Russians (although admittedly by a small margin).[14] Jews accounted for 7%–8% of the total population at that time, comprising more than 40% of the population in cities and towns, where Jews and Poles were the majority, while Belarusians mostly lived in rural areas.

The Poles were the fourth largest ethnic group in Byelorussian SSR (current Eastern portion of Belarus), before World War II, comprising 1–2% of the population in the pre-war censuses (less than 100,000).[14]

More information Ethnic group, census 19261 ...

After the Second World War

The Holocaust decimated the Jewish population in Belarus, and after World War II, in 1959, Jews accounted for only 1.9% of the population. Since then, Jewish emigration to Israel and other countries reduced the number of Jews to 0.1% of the population (13,000 in 2009).

Polish minority districts in 1960:
  Over 50% Polish
  40-50%
  30-40%
  10-30%
  Up to 10% Polish
  Border of Poland in 1939

After the war, a large number of Poles were forced to move to Poland. In exchange, Belarusians from the former Belastok Region, which was returned to Poland in 1945, after being occupied in 1939 were displaced to Belarus. Due to changes in the western border of Belarus and Poland after World War II (see territorial changes of Poland), the number of Poles in Belarus increased to more than 500,000 according to the first post-war census (1959) and to about 400,000 according to the 1999 census. Poles are now the third largest ethnic group in Belarus (see Polish minority in Belarus). There are around 15,000 of Lipka Tatars and about 10,000 of Ruska Roma (Russian Gypsies).

In the post-war period Belarus experienced an influx of workers from other parts of the Soviet Union, for example Russians and Ukrainians. The decade after independence saw a decline in the population of most of these minority groups, either by assimilation or emigration. The most significant exception to this trend has been a continued (if small-scale) net immigration of Armenians and Azerbaijanis, whose numbers increased from less than 2,000 in 1959 to around 10,000 in 1999.[3]

Ethnic composition of Belarus according to 2019 census
Belarusian Russians Poles Ukrainians
Ethnic composition of Belarus according to 2009 census
Belarusian Russians Poles Ukrainians
More information Ethnic group, census 19591 ...

Languages

Main article: Languages of Belarus

Belarusian and Russian are the official languages according to the Constitution of Belarus (Article 17). The constitution guarantees preservation of the cultural heritage of all ethnic minorities, including their languages (Article 15). Russian, and not Belarusian, is the dominant language in Belarus, spoken normally at home by 70% of the population (2009 census). Major cities such as Minsk and Brest are overwhelmingly Russian-speaking.

Languages of Belarus according to 2009 census (green – Belarusian, blue – Russian)
Native languages Spoken languages

Religion

Main article: Religion in Belarus

According to 1997 estimates, 80% of the religious population belonged to the Eastern Orthodox Church and the others are mainly Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, Protestants, Muslims, and Jews.[15]

Figures for 2020 state that 78% of the population have a Christian background (this includes 60% Orthodox and 10% Catholic). Of the rest, almost 22% are non-religious, with a very small number of Jews and Sunni Muslims.[16]

Urbanization

Urban population: 75% of total population (2011)
Rate of urbanization: 0.21% annual rate of change (2010–2015 est.)

See also

References

  1. [1]
    "Численность населения на 1 января 2024 г. и среднегодовая численность населения за 2023 год по Республике Беларусь в разрезе областей, районов, городов, поселков городского типа" (PDF). belstat.gov.by.
  2. [2]
    "Belarus: historical demographical data of the whole country". Populstat. Archived from the original on 14 April 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  3. [3]
    Ethnic composition of the population Archived February 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, 1999 Belarus Census.
  4. [4]
    Population estimates 1995–2007 Archived 2008-12-03 at the Wayback Machine, BelStat
  5. [5]
    Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Belarus 2007, BelStat, Minsk, 2007
  6. [6]
    "Population on January 1, 2018 by regions of the Republic of Belarus" (in Russian). Белстат. 2018.
  7. [7]
    "Belarus ranks 6th in population the CIS countries" (in Russian). БЕЛТА. 2018-07-06.
  8. [8]
    "Division of Belarus". pop-stat.mashke.org.
  9. [9]
    "Demographic Data". demdata.belstat.gov.by. 2016. Archived from the original on 2021-04-04. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  10. [10]
    "Статистический ежегодник Российской Империи (Издание ЦСК ) - Проект "Исторические Материалы"". istmat.info. Archived from the original on 2014-12-16. Retrieved 2014-12-24.
  11. [11]
    database Belstat.gov, visited 17 December 2023
  12. [12]
    "Бюллетени". www.belstat.gov.by.
  13. [13]
    "UNSD — Demographic and Social Statistics". unstats.un.org. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  14. [14]
    "Приложение Демоскопа Weekly". demoscope.ru.
  15. [15]
    "The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency". www.cia.gov. 28 October 2022.
  16. [16]
    The ARDA website, Retrieved 2023-08-01
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