The republic of Belarus is situated in the center of Europe. The capital is the city of Minsk. Belarus borders on Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia and Ukraine. The total length of the state border makes up 2,969 km. The territory of Belarus totals 207.6 thousand sq km. It stretches from west to east for 650 km and from north to south for 560 km. In comparison with other European countries, Belarus is slightly smaller than Great Britain and Rumania, 2.2 times as big as Portugal and Hungary and 5 times as big as the Netherlands and Switzerland. The distance between Minsk and the capitals of neighboring states is as follows: Vilnius - 215 km, Riga - 470 km, Warsaw - 550 km, Kiev – 580 km, Moscow - 700 km.