Belarus: country facts, travel advice and health

Yandex Taxi: the most used ride-hailing app, also via Uber, with good fares when booked in the app.BC. My Train: Belarusian Railway's app for train times and tickets.

Source: Wikivoyage · Checked 24 Oct 2026 ↗

Cards or cash

Mostly cashMostly cards

Step 1 of 5: Bring all the money you need in cash; card payment is the exception.Source: Wikivoyage · Checked 24 Oct 2026 ↗

Money in Belarus

Belarusian Ruble · BYN

Change leftover roubles back before leaving; they are hard and costly to exchange abroad.

Bring clean, unmarked banknotes; damaged ones may be refused or cost extra to change.

Compare the gap between buying and selling rates before changing money.

Source: Wikivoyage · Checked 24 Oct 2026 ↗

Collect Belarusian Ruble in CointryOur sister app for coin and banknote collectors · cointry.appOpen

Public holidays in the next 12 months

Sat, 7 Nov 2026 · October Revolution Day Дзень Кастрычніцкай рэвалюцыі

Fri, 25 Dec 2026 · Catholic Christmas Day Каляды каталiцкiя

Fri, 1 Jan 2027 · New Year's Day Новы год

Sat, 2 Jan 2027 · New Year's Day Новы год

Thu, 7 Jan 2027 · Christmas Day (Orthodox) Каляды праваслаўныя

Mon, 8 Mar 2027 · International Women's Day Мiжнародны жаночы дзень

Sat, 1 May 2027 · Labour Day Дзень працы

Sun, 9 May 2027 · Victory Day Дзень Перамогi

Tue, 11 May 2027 · Commemoration Day Радунiца

Sat, 3 Jul 2027 · Independence Day Дзень Незалежнасцi

Source: Nager.Date · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗

02Free

Safety today

Germany, the US and the UK publish their travel advice openly. Here is what those that cover Belarus say, side by side, checked daily.

German Foreign Office says

Travel warning

Calm

Caution

Serious

Don’t go ●

Source: Auswärtiges Amt
Updated 13 Oct 2026 · Checked 24 Oct 2026Official page

U.S. Department of State says

Do not travel

Calm

Caution

Serious

Don’t go ●

Level 4 of 4

Source: travel.state.gov
Updated 28 Dec 2025 · Checked 24 Oct 2026Official page

UK Foreign Office says

Advises against all travel

Source: GOV.UK
Updated 10 Sept 2026 · Checked 24 Oct 2026Official page

Countrywise is a summary. The official page is authoritative.

03Free

Health

Routine vaccines, including measles, up to date; hepatitis A and B advised for the unvaccinated.

Vaccinations

Bring routine vaccinations, including measles, up to date before you go; hepatitis A and B are advised for unvaccinated travellers.

Talk to a travel clinic 4–8 weeks before you go.

Source: CDC
Checked 24 Oct 2026Official page

Summarised from the CDC’s Travelers’ Health pages. Using them does not mean the CDC endorses Countrywise.

04Travel layer

In the app: the travel layer

The travel layer

Read a country like someone who’s been there.

What’s different from home, and what’s the lawMust-see places, free entry and World Heritage sites20 words to remember, with pronunciationStrange and surprising factsThe anthem and national symbolsSaved for offline use

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Must-see · 1Minsk

Rebuilt capital: lively nightlife, grand Soviet-era planning

Source: Wikivoyage · Checked 24 Oct 2026 ↗

Strange & surprising · #1

Belarus is the only country still marking the anniversary of the 1917 Russian Revolution as a public holiday.

Source: Wikivoyage · Checked 24 Oct 2026 ↗

National anthem: My Belarusy. The lyrics, translated, and the story are in the app. Source: Wikidata · Checked 24 Oct 2026 ↗

4 World Heritage sites in Belarus, each with a photo and its story, in the app. Source: UNESCO World Heritage List

05Free

Deep facts

Economy
GDP	≈ $93.4 billionSource: World Bank · 2025 figures · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗
Per person	≈ $10,279Source: World Bank · 2025 figures · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗
Top exports	fertilizers, rapeseed oil, wood, poultry, beef (2023)Source: The World Factbook (archive) · as of 2025/26 · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗

Population
Population	9.1 millionSource: World Bank · 2025 figures · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗
Median age	42.5 yearsSource: The World Factbook (archive) · 2025 figures · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗
Life expectancy	74.7 yearsSource: The World Factbook (archive) · 2024 figures · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗
Religions	Orthodox 48.3%, Catholic 7.1%, other 3.5%, non-believers 41.1% (2011 est.)Source: The World Factbook (archive) · 2011 figures · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗

Geography
Area	207,600 km²Source: The World Factbook (archive) · as of 2025/26 · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗
Climate	cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritimeSource: The World Factbook (archive) · as of 2025/26 · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗
Terrain	generally flat with much marshlandSource: The World Factbook (archive) · as of 2025/26 · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗

Government
Type of government	presidential republic in name, although in fact a dictatorshipSource: The World Factbook (archive) · as of 2025/26 · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗
Calling code	+375Source: libphonenumber · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗

About the data

Written from the sources we link, and checked against them before each release. Countrywise summarises public sources. We are not an official source. For safety and entry rules, always follow the official page we link to.

From your foreign ministry when it publishes its advice openly (Germany, the US, the UK). Otherwise we show those three side by side. Checked daily, with the date next to every entry.

CDC · 24 Oct 2026 ↗GOV.UK · 24 Oct 2026 ↗IANA Time Zone Database · 23 Oct 2026 ↗libphonenumber · 23 Oct 2026 ↗Nager.Date · 23 Oct 2026 ↗The World Factbook (archive) · 23 Oct 2026 ↗U.S. Department of State · 25 Oct 2026 ↗Unicode CLDR · 23 Oct 2026 ↗Wikidata · 24 Oct 2026 ↗Wikivoyage · 24 Oct 2026 ↗World Bank · 23 Oct 2026 ↗

Flag artwork from flag-icons (MIT licence).