# Belarus and Lithuania compared Belarus and Lithuania side by side: 43 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, and the 4 events their chronicles record of each other. Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/blr-vs-ltu Updated: 2026-08-10 (latest of the two dossiers' refreshes and the two chronicles' verification dates) Two sourced records set beside each other — nothing on this page was written for the pair. Every figure is the same observation, with the same source, as on the two national dossiers; every event is the same record, with the same sources, as on its own chronicle. Figures are compared, never graded. A "—" is an absence in the source data, never a zero; each value shows its own observation year — vintages differ by indicator and nation. ## Formation - Belarus: 25 August 1991 — Belarus declares independence from the Soviet Union - Lithuania: 6 July 1253 — Mindaugas is crowned King of Lithuania ## Economy | Metric | Belarus | Observed | Lithuania | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | GDP | $76 B | 2024 | $85 B | 2024 | | GDP per capita | $8,318 | 2024 | $29,384 | 2024 | | GDP growth | 4.0% | 2024 | 2.8% | 2024 | | Inflation | 5.8% | 2024 | 0.7% | 2024 | | Trade openness | 131.9% | 2024 | 143.0% | 2024 | ## Society | Metric | Belarus | Observed | Lithuania | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population | 9.1 m | 2024 | 2.9 m | 2024 | | Life expectancy | 74.4 yrs | 2024 | 77.2 yrs | 2024 | | Urban population | 79.2% | 2024 | 68.8% | 2024 | | Fertility rate | 1.2 | 2024 | 1.1 | 2024 | ## Governance | Metric | Belarus | Observed | Lithuania | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Voice & accountability | 27.3 | 2024 | 78.2 | 2024 | | Political stability | 59.4 | 2024 | 81.9 | 2024 | | Government effectiveness | 37.7 | 2024 | 74.7 | 2024 | | Regulatory quality | 35.4 | 2024 | 75.2 | 2024 | | Rule of law | 35.8 | 2024 | 80.6 | 2024 | | Control of corruption | 36.2 | 2024 | 68.0 | 2024 | ## Health | Metric | Belarus | Observed | Lithuania | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Health spending | 7.1% | 2023 | 7.6% | 2024 | | Physicians | 4.72 | 2023 | 4.47 | 2022 | | Under-5 mortality | 2.3 | 2024 | 3.4 | 2024 | | Measles immunisation | 98.0% | 2024 | 86.0% | 2024 | | Safe drinking water | 93.1% | 2024 | 96.7% | 2024 | ## Education | Metric | Belarus | Observed | Lithuania | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Adult literacy | 99.9% | 2019 | 99.8% | 2011 | | Education spending | 5.0% | 2024 | 4.3% | 2022 | | Primary enrolment | 96.8% | 2024 | 100.5% | 2024 | | Secondary enrolment | 94.8% | 2024 | 104.9% | 2024 | | Tertiary enrolment | 70.1% | 2024 | 75.6% | 2024 | ## Technology | Metric | Belarus | Observed | Lithuania | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | R&D spending | 0.6% | 2024 | 1.0% | 2023 | | Researchers (per million) | 1,568 | 2024 | 3,704 | 2023 | | Internet users | 94.3% | 2024 | 89.2% | 2024 | | Mobile subscriptions | 131 | 2024 | 139 | 2024 | | High-tech exports | 6.0% | 2021 | 17.3% | 2024 | ## Geography | Metric | Belarus | Observed | Lithuania | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Land area | 202,983 km² | 2023 | 62,600 km² | 2023 | | Forest area | 43.4% | 2023 | 35.2% | 2023 | | Agricultural land | 39.6% | 2023 | 45.9% | 2023 | | CO₂ per capita (t) | 5.9 | 2024 | 4.5 | 2024 | | Renewable energy | 8.2% | 2021 | 33.2% | 2021 | ## Resources | Metric | Belarus | Observed | Lithuania | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Resource rents | 1.9% | 2021 | 0.3% | 2021 | | Oil rents | 0.8% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 | | Mineral rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 | | Forest rents | 1.0% | 2021 | 0.3% | 2021 | | Electricity access | 100.0% | 2023 | 100.0% | 2023 | ## Military | Metric | Belarus | Observed | Lithuania | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Military burden | 2.1% | 2024 | 3.1% | 2024 | | Defense spending | $1.5 B | 2024 | $2.6 B | 2024 | | Armed forces | 158,000 | 2020 | 37,000 | 2020 | Each metric is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/.md). Full dossiers: https://terralore.co/country/BLR.md and https://terralore.co/country/LTU.md. ## Entangled histories (4 events) Events in which either nation's sourced chronicle names the other — including under earlier names of the same state. Each is the record exactly as its own chronicle carries it, with that chronicle's sources. - 1237-1240: **The Mongol invasion of Rus** — The Mongol onslaught destroyed Kievan Rus and shattered the old federation of principalities; the western Belarusian lands, comparatively sheltered, were soon drawn into the orbit of rising Lithuania. (from the Belarus chronicle; sources: History of Belarus; Grand Duchy of Lithuania) - 14th c.: **Belarusian lands within the Grand Duchy** — Over the 150 years after the Mongol invasion the Grand Duchy of Lithuania expanded to absorb the Belarusian lands, whose Ruthenian (Old Belarusian) tongue became the chancery language of the state. (from the Belarus chronicle; sources: Grand Duchy of Lithuania; History of Belarus) - c. 1520-1522: **A printing press in Vilnius** — Moving his workshop to Vilnius, capital of the Grand Duchy, Skaryna produced the Little Travel Book and later The Apostle, the first books printed within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania itself. (from the Belarus chronicle; sources: Francysk Skaryna and the First Printed Books in the GDL) - 1569: **Union of Lublin and the Commonwealth** — The Union of Lublin merged Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, placing the Belarusian lands at the heart of a vast federal state and accelerating the Polonisation of their elites. (from the Belarus chronicle; sources: Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth; History of Belarus) ## Sources - World Development Indicators — World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://data.worldbank.org - Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) — Worldwide Governance Indicators / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators - Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) — WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.who.int/data/gho - Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) — UNICEF and WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://childmortality.org - R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) — UNESCO Institute for Statistics / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://uis.unesco.org - ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) — ITU / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics - Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) — SIPRI / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex Chronicle references are cited inline above and resolve in full at https://terralore.co/country/BLR/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/LTU/chronicle.md. Citation template: Terralore, "Belarus and Lithuania compared", terralore.co/compare/blr-vs-ltu, retrieved .