BELARUS

Area: 207,600 sq km
Population: 10.4 million
Capital City: Minsk
People: Belarusian (81.2%), Russian (11.4%), Polish (4%), Ukrainian 2.4%
Language: Belarusian, Russian
Religion: Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Roman Catholic

Currency: Belarusian Rouble

Time

The time in Belarus is set two hours ahead of the Universal time in Greenwich (GMT +02:00).

It is altered twice a year (the watches are set one hour forward in the last week of March and one hour backward in the last week of October).

Calling to Belarus

Country code of Belarus is 375
Area code of Minsk is 17 (from outside of Belarus) or 017 (from inside of Belarus), the phone number itself is a 7-digit and starts almost always with 2.
Area codes of other major Belarusian cities:
Brest          162     +     6-digit phone number
Vitebsk       212     +     6-digit phone number
Gomel        232     +     6-digit phone number
Grodno       152     +     6-digit phone number
Mogilev       222     +     6-digit phone number

 Official holidays

More detailed information about holidays in Belarus can be found here

Average incomes (per month):

Teacher                $115

Medical doctor     $140

Accountant          $140

Engineer              $135

Operator PC        $78

Secretary              $100

Kindergarten teacher $70

Average prices in Belarus (Minsk):

Kindergarten for the child  $ 7,4 per month

Cost of living for a woman with 1 child is around $40 per month

Bus ticket - $0,12

Metro -  $0,12

Apartment (state utilities) - around $32-$46 per month

Rent of apartment $60-$150 per month

Payment for telephone (subscriber's rental) $5,5  per month.

Internet – around $0,09-0,74 per hour.

Internet-café  $0,92 per hour

Electricity – $4,6 per month (for the family - 2 persons)

Gasoline -  $0,65-0,74  per litre.

Some prices for food:

Meat  $1,85-3,7 per kg.

Chicken $2 per kg.

Milk  $0,28 per lt.

Bread  $0,5

Cooked meats; sausages $2,3-4,6 per kg.

Fish $1,2-2,5 per kg.

Eggs $0,8

Apples $0,7 per kg.

Bananas $1 per kg.

Medical system:

Medical system is partly free in the country.

First reception of patient:  dentist - $6,5;  specialist $7-8;

Education in Belarus:

The education is in Russian language, but also partly in Belarusian language, as the country has two state languages.

The children begins to learn foreign languages from a first grade.

The education is obligatory during 12 years (from 6 till 18 y.o.)

A higher education will cost  from $400-1200 per year.

Tickets for:

Theatre $2-30

Cinema $1-2

Gym     $3-30

Sauna   $4-6