Transport and infrastructure in Belarus
Our listing of the primary kinds of transport compares the infrastructure of Belarus with the average of all countries in Europe. Overall, the main traffic and transport routes are well developed and in comparatively good condition.In terms of the length of its rail network, Belarus ranks 27th in the world with 0.58 meters per inhabitant. In total, the rail network is 5,459 kilometers long. Freight traffic on the rails most recently totaled 48.21 billion tons and kilometers traveled. Passenger traffic reached 6.22 billion passenger-kilometers in 2018.
The waterways and ports listed refer to inland traffic on rivers and canals, as there is no direct access to the sea in Belarus.
› Airports in Belarus
Back to overview: Belarus
Road traffic
The network of roads and highways has a total length of 86,600 km. For each of the country's 9.34 million inhabitants, this corresponds to 9.27 meters. This puts Belarus in 57th place in the global ranking. However, it is also important to note the country's population density, which is very low at around 45 inhabitants per km². Like this, disproportionately long distances generally have to be covered to reach the more remote parts of the country.With an average of 998 traffic fatalities per year (2012 - 2019), road traffic in Belarus is considered reasonably safe. This corresponds to around 4.3 accident fatalities per 10.6 inhabitants per year. By comparison, this figure is 12.2 in the USA and 17.1 worldwide.
In Belarus, traffic drives on the right-hand side of the road, i.e. people drive in the right-hand lane and overtake on the left. Oncoming traffic comes toward you on the left side. This rule was introduced at the end of the 18th century during the Napoleonic Wars. Here you can also find an overview of all countries with left-hand traffic.
Belarus | |||
| total | per 1 mio inhabitants | per km² | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roadways | 86,600 km | 9,271.64 km | 417.15 m |
| Railroads | 5,500 km | 584.46 km | 26.30 m |
| Waterways | 2,500 km | 267.66 km | 12.04 m |
| Commercial harbors | 4 | 0.43 | 0.000 |
| Airports | 5 | 0.54 | 0.024 |
Europe | |||
| total | per 1 mio inhabitants | per km² | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roadways | 6,708,300 km | 11,157.59 km | 1,111.61 m |
| Railroads | 258,600 km | 430.13 km | 42.85 m |
| Waterways | 53,100 km | 88.38 km | 8.81 m |
| Commercial harbors | 15,291 | 25.43 | 0.003 |
| Airports | 573 | 0.95 | 0.000 |
Data sources used
• Global Health Observatory Data Repository (World Health Organization)• UNCTAD
• Internation Union of Railways (UIC)
• CIA Factbook
• OECD Statistics
• Wikipedia (german)
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