About 5,523 km (3,432 mi) of railways traverse Belarus, connecting it to Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Poland, and Latvia. Of the 98,200 km (61,021 mi) of highways in 2002, 66,100 km (41,075 mi) were hard-surfaced.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) initiated a study of railways and roads in 1993 to help determine location advantages for future development in Belarus. The focus of the EBRD study also included the development of the trucking industry.
Because Belarus is landlocked, there are no ports or merchant fleet. However, the canals and rivers are extensive and widely used. In 1995, Belarus claimed to have retained 5% of the merchant fleet of the former Soviet Union. There are 136 airports in the country, 33 of which have paved runways. In 2001, scheduled airline traffic carried 221,700 domestic and international passengers.
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