Resources and infrastructure

Gomel is the administrative center of the Gomel region, the second most populous city in the Republic of Belarus. It is located in the south-east of the country on the Sozh River.

Climate
The climate of Gomel is moderately continental. It is characterized by warm summers and mild winters due to the frequent bringing of warm sea air masses from the Atlantic.
The average annual air temperature in Gomel is +7.4 °C. The absolute minimum of January is -35.0 °C (January 31, 1970), the absolute maximum is +9.6 °C (January 11, 2007). The month with the highest average temperature is July 2010 (+24.5 °C), the month with the lowest average temperature is February 1929 (-17.1 °C). During the winter, there are up to 40 thaw days, when during the daytime the air temperature rises above 0 °C, and about 30 days with an average daily temperature below -10 °C. The average temperature in July is +19.9 °C. The absolute maximum is +38.9 °C (August 8, 2010), the absolute minimum is +6.0 °C (July 18, 1978). During the summer, there are more than 30 hot days with an average daily temperature above +20 °C. The growing season lasts on average 205 days from April 3 to October 26 (when the air temperature is over +5 °C).
The average annual precipitation is 626 mm. About 70 % of precipitation falls during the warm period from April to October.

Population
The population of the city as of January 1, 2023 was 501,802 people. The number of employees in the national economy is 223 467. National composition: Belarusians — 83.42 % of the total number, Russians-10.85 %, Ukrainians-3.11 %.

Economy
There are 4.3 thousand legal entities and 13.4 thousand individual entrepreneurs in Gomel.
There are 90 large and medium-sized industrial enterprises, more than 30 building companies in the city of Gomel. The main enterprises of the city are RUE "Gomelenergo", RUE " PO "Belorusneft", JSC "Gomselmash", JSC "Gomel Chemical Plant", JSC "Gomelsteklo", JSC "Milkavita", JV JSC "Spartak".
Foreign trade operations in 2022 were carried out with 77 countries of the world. The main trading partner of the city is the Russian Federation (68.4%).
In 2022, 894,5 million rubles were invested in the city's economy.
The nominal accrued average monthly salary in the city as a whole for 2022 amounted to 1505,8 rubles (growth rate of 113.1%), including 1746.9 rubles for December 2022 (growth rate of 114,3%).
The unemployment rate as of January 1, 2023 was 0.1% of the economically active population.

Trading
The retail trade network of the city has more than 3.8 thousand objects with a retail area of more than 407 thousand square meters, the network of public catering facilities is represented by 648 objects for 37.7 thousand places (including 573 public catering facilities for 22.2 thousand places). There are 16 markets with 5.3 thousand retail outlets operating in the city.

Transport
The Gomel transport hub, located in the south-eastern part of the republic on the border with Russia and Ukraine, operates at the intersection of developed transport communications formed by main railway lines, highways of national and local significance.
Passenger transport on route road transport performed by the rolling stock of "Bus Park № 1", "Bus Park № 6" JSC "Gomeloblavtotrans".

Social sphere
The city's education system includes 126 institutions of preschool education, 71 institutions of general secondary education, including 9 gymnasiums, 1 lyceum, 1 sanatorium boarding school.
There are 7 institutions of higher education, 11 institutions of secondary special education, 12 institutions of vocational education, 1 orphanage in the city. The education system also includes 3 institutions of special education (an auxiliary boarding school, a special general education school for students with hearing impairment, a center for correctional and developmental training and rehabilitation), 11 institutions of additional education, 1 city social and pedagogical center.
There are more than 30 cultural institutions operating in the city, including 4 museums, 3 theaters, 2 concert organizations, 7 palaces of culture, a library network and others. More than 1 million people visit cultural institutions every year.
Medical services for the population are provided by: Gomel Central city clinical polyclinic, including 2 branches, central city children's clinical polyclinic and 6 branches, central city dental polyclinic and 5 branches, Gomel city polyclinic No. 1, Gomel city polyclinic No. 13, 10 city clinical polyclinicы, Polyclinic No. 7", 5 city clinical hospitals, city ambulance station.
There are 21 city diagnostic centers in the city, including public consultation rooms.
For the organization of physical culture and recreation work in the city of Gomel there are 176 sports halls and 110 adapted rooms for physical culture and sports, 1 ice palace, 1 track and field arena, 1 equestrian arena, 7 shooting ranges, 6 stadiums, 13 football fields, 65 swimming pools, 4 rowing bases, 1 roller ski track.