thumb|450px|right|belarus: population and rural population 1913-2008 (beginning of year). source: official statistics from belstat. the demographics of belarus is about the demographic features of the population of belarus, including population growth, population density, ethnicity, education level, health, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population. the ethnic majority in belarus are called belarusians. ==demographic trends== the population of belarus suffered a dramatic decline during world war ii, dropping from more than 9 million in 1940 to 7.7 million in 1951. it then resumed its long-term growth, rising to 10 million in 1999. after that the population began a steady decline, dropping to 9.7 million in 2006-2007.population estimates 1995-2007, belstat originally a highly agrarian country with nearly 80% of its population in rural areas, belarus has been undergoing a process of continuous urbanization. the share of its rural population decreased from 70% in 1959 to less than 30% in the 2000s.statistical yearbook of the republic of belarus 2007, belstat, minsk, 2007 {|class="whitetable" style="text-align:center" |+ population change in belarus, 1970 - 2010http://pop-stat.mashke.org/belarus-division.htm | width="32%"|center|250px | width="2%"| | width="32%"|center|250px | width="2%"| | width="32%"|center|250px |- |1970â1989 | |1970â2010 | |1999â2010 |} ==ethnic groups== 350px|right|thumb : belarusians 81.2%, russians 11.4%, poles 3.9%, ukrainians 2.4%, jews 0.3%, armenians 0.1%, lipka tatars 0.1%, ruska roma 0.1%, lithuanians 0.1%, azerbaijanis 0.1%, others 0.3% (1999 census). ===prior to the second world war=== prior to world war ii, jews were the second largest ethnic group in belarus, and at 400,000 in the 1926 and 1939 censuses they even exceeded the number of russians (although admittedly by a small margin).ethnic composition of belarus: 1926 and 1939 censuses jews accounted for 7%-8% of the total population at that time, comprising more than 40% of the population in cities and towns, where jews and poles were the majority, while belarusians mostly lived in rural areas. the poles were the fourth largest ethnic group in belarussian ssr (current eastern portion of belarus), before world war ii, comprising 1-2% of the population in the pre-war censuses (less than 100,000). {| class="wikitable" |+ population of the byelorussian ssr according to ethnic group 1926â1939 |-bgcolor="#e0e0
Demographics_of_Belarus