The total land area of the Gomelskaya Oblast is 4036.2 thousand hectares, of them 1450.3 thousand hectares are agrarian lands. Arable fields cover 61%, 37% is under hayfields and pastures.

The land area of the Oblast's Forestry Fund is 1653 thousand hectares, of which 1472.9 thousand hectares are covered with woods. Young growth makes 40% of the total area covered with forests.

Among mineral deposits of special value for the people's economy are fuel and energy raw materials. About 1500 deposits of peat have been investigated which covers up to 30% of the fuel balance, it is used also as construction material and fertilizer.

In 1964 the first commercial oil was extracted from a well near the town of Rechitsa. Over a hundred million tons thereof have been obtained since then. In Mozyr an oil refinery and a chemical plant are operating. Every ton of extracted "black gold" is accompanied by up to 95 cubic meters of gas which is a precious chemical raw material and a nice fuel. An oil refinery plant was built in the Rechitsky district for receipt of the accompanying gas.

Coal deposits have been investigated in the south- eastern part of the Pripyatskaya depression, fuel slates were found in the Yelsky district. The stock of brown coals is estimated to be one hundred million tons, concentrated in Zhitkovichskoye and Brinevskoye deposits.

Clay needed for manufacture of bricks and roofing tiles is available in 17 districts of the Oblast. Bricks are manufactured by 11 plants.

The investigated deposits of rock salt exceed 22 billion tons. The "Extra" ("Mozyrsol" OJSC) salt production, the greatest in the Republic, was established on the oasis of the Mozyrskoye deposit.

The Oblast has resources of potassium salts, chalk, construction stones, glass and formwork sands.

A sanatorium-prophylactorium is functioning on the basis of mineral waters which are in abundance in the entrails of the Gomel region.

Searching and assessment works are on in the Oblast with diamond deposits. Preparation is planned to commercial operation of the "Diabazovoye" deposits, the ores thereof being a complex raw material for producing beryllium and rare-earth elements. Based on this deposit, construction of a mine is possible with annual rate of 100-200 thousand tons of ore mineral.

The Oblast has prerequisites for detecting and preparing for commercial use of some new sources of raw materials - gypsum, basalt fibers, mineral sorbents, iodine-bromine broth.