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Genetik/Peoples/Belarusians

Belarusians

Белорусы · Q483569

language area per Glottologcensus counts
7,990,719
Belarus, census 2019 (ethnicity / nationality)
8,652,667
sum of censuses in 10 countries, 2001-2026
Indo-European
language family (Glottolog)

In brief

The largest documented number lives in Belarus: 7,990,719 people in the 2019 census.

Official figures exist for 10 countries; together they add up to 8,652,667. This is not an estimate of the world total: the censuses were held in different years (2001-2026) and define belonging differently, and countries without such data are not counted.

In Russia's 2020 census (reference date 1 October 2021), 208,046 people identified with the nationality "Белорусы" (Belarusians)1. That is 0.16% of the 130,587,364 residents who stated a nationality.

Rosstat also assigns 13 other self-designations to this nationality (listed in Russian in the source table).

Main language: Belarusian. Glottolog classifies it in the Indo-European family.

Where they live: census figures

Each figure comes from the country's official census. Censuses define belonging differently (self-identification, citizenship, mother tongue, ancestry); the type is given on each row.

Belarus2019 · ethnicity / nationality · «Белорусы» · [2]
7,990,719
Ukraine2001 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Belarus» · [3]
275,763
Russia2021 · ethnicity / nationality · «Белорусы» · [1]
208,046
Kazakhstan2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Belarus» · [4]
76,484
Latvia2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Belarus» · [5]
58,632
Lithuania2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Belarus» · [6]
28,183
Estonia2026 · ethnicity / nationality · «Belarusian» · [7]
11,477
Moldova, Republic of2014 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Byelorussian» · [8]
2,828
Georgia2014 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Belarus» · [9]
431
Tajikistan2010 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Belarus» · [10]
104
Sum across 10 countries8,652,667

In detail: Russia, 2021 census

Sex, urban and rural, Russian regions

Sex

Men 95,442 · 45.9%Women 112,604 · 54.1%

Urban and rural

Urban 160,999 · 77.4%Rural 47,047 · 22.6%

Where: the 10 regions with the largest numbers

Moscow (city)
17,632
Moscow Oblast
15,673
Saint Petersburg (city)
15,545
Kaliningrad Oblast
11,360
Republic of Karelia
9,372
Republic of Crimea (as listed by Rosstat)
8,672
Leningrad Oblast
7,527
Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug - Yugra
6,156
Krasnodar Krai
5,923
Smolensk Oblast
5,311

Source [1]: Rosstat, 2020 census, vol. 5, table 1

Languages and their lineage

Belarusian

  1. Indo-Europeanindo1319
  2. Classical Indo-Europeanclas1257
  3. Balto-Slavicbalt1263
  4. Slavicslav1255
  5. East Slaviceast1426
  6. Belarusianbela1254

People-to-language links: Wikidata (properties P103 and P2936), checked against ISO 639-3 codes. Language classification: Glottolog 5.3.

Peoples of the same language family

PakistanisRussiansMarathiGermansSpaniardsMexicansUkrainiansEnglishIrishAmericansItaliansRomaniansNepali (Khas-Arya)DutchTajiksCzechsScotsSerbsBulgariansSlovaksArmeniansCubansLithuaniansAlbanians

Sources

  1. Rosstat. National composition of the population of the Russian Federation. Results of the 2020 All-Russian Population Census (reference date 1 October 2021), vol. 5, table 1. Tom5_tab1_VPN-2020.xlsx (archived copy)
  2. Национальный статистический комитет Республики Беларусь (Belstat). Статистический обзор ко Всемирному дню народонаселения (2019 census counts), 07.07.2023. https://www.belstat.gov.by/upload-belstat/upload-belstat-pdf/oficial_statistika/statobzor_…
  3. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Ukraine, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  4. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Kazakhstan, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  5. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Latvia, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  6. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Lithuania, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  7. Statistics Estonia (Statistikaamet). There are people of 224 different ethnic nationalities living in Estonia (Statistics Estonia news; population-register based, NOT the 2021 census). https://stat.ee/en/news/there-are-people-of-224-different-ethnic-nationalities-living-in-e…
  8. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Republic of Moldova, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  9. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Georgia, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  10. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Tajikistan, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  11. Hammarström H., Forkel R., Haspelmath M., Bank S. (2026). Glottolog 5.3. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. glottolog.org (CC BY 4.0)