Belarus

9/21/21, 8:20 PM Belarus - Wikipedia
Coordinates: 53°N 27°E
Belarus
Belarus,[a] officially the Republic of Belarus,[b] and

historically Byelorussia, is a landlocked country in Eastern Republic of Belarus
Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Рэспубліка
Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Беларусь (Belarusian)
Latvia to the northwest. Covering an area of 207,600 square
kilometres (80,200 sq mi) and with a population of 9.3 Республика
million, Belarus is the thirteenth-largest and the twentieth- Беларусь (Russian)
most populous country in Europe. The country is
administratively divided into seven regions. Minsk is the
capital and largest city.
Until the 20th century, different states at various times

controlled the lands of modern-day Belarus, including Flag
National emblem
Kievan Rus', the Principality of Polotsk, the Grand Duchy of
Lithuania, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Anthem:
Russian Empire. In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution Дзяржаўны Гімн Рэспублікі Беларусь
Dziaržaŭny Himn Respubliki Bielaruś
in 1917, different states arose competing for legitimacy (English: "State Anthem of Belarus")
amidst the Civil War, ultimately ending in the rise of the
0:00 MENU
Byelorussian SSR, which became a founding constituent
republic of the Soviet Union in 1922. After the Polish-Soviet
War, Belarus lost almost half of its territory to Poland. Much
of the borders of Belarus took their modern shape in 1939,
when some lands of the Second Polish Republic were
reintegrated into it after the Soviet invasion of Poland, and
were finalized after World War II.[11][12][13] During World
War II, military operations devastated Belarus, which lost
about a quarter of its population and half of its economic
resources.[14] The republic was redeveloped in the post-war
years. In 1945, the Byelorussian SSR became a founding
member of the United Nations, along with the Soviet Union.
The parliament of the republic proclaimed the sovereignty of Show globe

Belarus on 27 July 1990, and during the dissolution of the Show map of Europe
Show all
Soviet Union, Belarus declared independence on 25 August
Location of Belarus (green)
1991.[15] Following the adoption of a new constitution in in Europe (dark grey) – [Legend]
1994, Alexander Lukashenko was elected Belarus's first
president in the country's first and only free election post- Capital Minsk
and largest city 53°55′N 27°33′E

independence, serving as president ever since.[16]
Lukashenko's government is authoritarian with a poor Official languages Belarusian ·
human rights record due to widespread human rights Russiana
abuses.[17][18][19][20] Belarus is the only country in Europe Recognized Polish · Ukrainian
officially using the death penalty. Lukashenko has continued minority language · Yiddish
a number of Soviet-era policies, such as state ownership of Ethnic groups 84.9% Belarusians
(2019)[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belarus 1/37
large sections of the economy. In 2000, Belarus and Russia 7.5% Russians
signed a treaty for greater cooperation, forming the Union 3.1% Poles
State. 1.7% Ukrainians
2.8% Other
Belarus is a developing country, ranking 53rd in the Human
Development Index. It has been a member of the United Religion (2011)[2] 55.4% Christianity
Nations since its founding as well as joined the CIS, the —48.3% Eastern
CSTO, the EAEU, the OSCE and the Non-Aligned Orthodoxy
Movement. It has shown no aspirations for joining the —7.1% Other
European Union but nevertheless maintains a bilateral Christian
relationship with the bloc, and likewise participates in two 41.1% No religion
EU projects: the Eastern Partnership and the Baku 2.4% Other
Initiative. 1.1% Unspecified
Demonym(s) Belarusian
Government Unitary
Contents presidential
republic under a
Etymology dictatorship
History • President Alexander
Early history Lukashenko
(disputed)[3][4]
Kievan Rus' • Prime Minister Roman
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Golovchenko[5]
Russian Empire Legislature National Assembly
Early states and interwar period • Upper house Council of the
World War II Republic
Post-war • Lower house House of
Representatives
Independence
Formation
Geography
• Duchy of Polotsk 987
Governance • Principality of 10th century
Elections Turov
• Grand Duchy of 1236
Foreign relations Lithuania
Military • Belarusian 9 March 1918
Human rights and corruption People's
Republic
Administrative divisions
• Independence 25 March 1918
Economy from Russia
• Declaration of 27 July 1990
Demographics State
Religion and languages Sovereignty
• Independence 25 August 1991
Culture from USSR
Arts and literature • Current 15 March 1994
Dress constitution
Cuisine • Last 17 October 2004
amendments
Sport
Area
Telecommunications
• Total 207,595 km2
World Heritage Sites (80,153 sq mi)
See also (84th)
• Water (%)
References 1.4% (2.830 km2

or 1.093 sq mi)b
Bibliography
Population
Further reading
• 2021 estimate 9,349,645 (96th)
External links • 2019 census 9,413,446
• Density 45.8/km2
(118.6/sq mi)
Etymology (142nd)
GDP (PPP) 2020 estimate
The name Belarus is closely related with the term Belaya • Total
Rus', i.e., White Rus'. There are several claims to the origin $185.889 billion[6]
(69th)
of the name White Rus'.[21] An ethno-religious theory
• Per capita $19,758[6]
suggests that the name used to describe the part of old (66th)
Ruthenian lands within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that
had been populated mostly by Slavs who had been GDP (nominal) 2020 estimate
Christianized early, as opposed to Black Ruthenia, which • Total
was predominantly inhabited by pagan Balts.[22] An $57.708 billion[6]
(75th)
alternative explanation for the name comments on the white
• Per capita $6,133[6] (84th)
clothing worn by the local Slavic population.[21] A third
theory suggests that the old Rus' lands that were not Gini (2019) 25.3[7]
conquered by the Tatars (i.e., Polotsk, Vitebsk and Mogilev) low

had been referred to as White Rus'.[21] A fourth theory HDI (2019) 0.823[8]
suggests that the color white was associated with the west, very high · 53rd
and Belarus was the western part of Rus in the 9th-13th Currency Belarusian ruble
centuries.[23] (BYN)
The name Rus is often Time zone UTC+3 (MSK[9])

conflated with its Latin forms Date format dd.mm.yyyy
Russia and Ruthenia, thus
Belarus is often referred to as Driving side right
White Russia or White Calling code +375
Ruthenia. The name first
ISO 3166 code BY
appeared in German and
Latin medieval literature; the Internet TLD .by
chronicles of Jan of Czarnków .бел[10]
mention the imprisonment of
Lithuanian grand duke Website
belarus.by (http://belarus.by/)
Jogaila and his mother at
"Albae Russiae, Poloczk dicto" a. ^ Constitution of the Republic of
in 1381.[24] The first known Belarus of 1994 (http://law.by/docume
Stamp with the Cross of St. use of White Russia to refer to nt/?guid=3871&p0=V19402875e)
Euphrosyne by Lazar Bohsha Belarus was in the late-16th Section 1, Article 17
from 1992 b. ^ "FAO's Information System on Water
century by Englishman Sir
Jerome Horsey, who was and Agriculture" (https://web.archive.or
g/web/20120126112459/http://www.fa
known for his close contacts
o.org/nr/water/aquastat/countries/belar
with the Russian Royal Court.[25] During the 17th century, us/index.stm). FAO. Archived from the
the Russian tsars used White Rus to describe the lands original (http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aq
added from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.[26] uastat/countries/belarus/index.stm) on
26 January 2012. Retrieved
16 February 2013.
The term Belorussia (Russian: Белору́ссия, the latter part similar but spelled and stressed
differently from Росси́я, Russia) first rose in the days of the Russian Empire, and the Russian Tsar
was usually styled "the Tsar of All the Russias", as Russia or the Russian Empire was formed by three
parts of Russia—the Great, Little, and White.[27] This asserted that the territories are all Russian and
all the peoples are also Russian; in the case of the Belarusians, they were variants of the Russian
people.[28]
After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, the term White Russia caused some confusion, as it was also
the name of the military force that opposed the red Bolsheviks.[29] During the period of the
Byelorussian SSR, the term Byelorussia was embraced as part of a national consciousness. In western
Belarus under Polish control, Byelorussia became commonly used in the regions of Białystok and
Grodno during the interwar period.[30]
The term Byelorussia (its names in other languages such as English being based on the Russian form)
was only used officially until 1991. Officially, the full name of the country is Republic of Belarus
(Рэспубліка Беларусь, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus listen ).[31][32] In Russia, the
usage of Belorussia still is very common.[33] In Lithuanian, besides Baltarusija (White Russia),
Belarus is also called Gudija.[34][35] The etymology of the word Gudija is not clear. By one of the
hypothesis the word derives from the Old Prussian name Gudwa, which, in turn, is related to the form
Żudwa, which is a distorted version of Sudwa, Sudovia. Sudovia, in its turn, is one of the names of
Yotvingians. Another hypothesis connects the word with Gothic Kingdom that occupied parts of
territory of modern Belarus and Ukraine in 4th and 5th centuries. The self-naming of Goths was
Gutans and Gytos that is close to Gudija. Yet another hypothesis is based that Gudija in Lithuanian
means the other and may refer to any people who do not speak common Lithuanian language.[36]
History
Early history
From 5000 to 2000 BC, Bandkeramik cultures predominated. In addition, remains from the
Dnieper–Donets culture were found in Belarus and parts of Ukraine.[37] Cimmerians and other
pastoralists roamed through the area by 1,000 BC, and by 500 AD, Slavs had taken up residence,
which was circumscribed by the Scythians who roamed its outskirts. Invaders from Asia, among
whom were the Huns and Avars, swept through c. 400–600 AD, but were unable to dislodge the
Slavic presence.[38]
The region that is now Belarus was first settled by Baltic tribes in the 3rd century. The Przeworsk
culture was discovered in what is today Poland, and the Zarubintsy culture further east in what is
today Ukraine. Around the 5th century, the area was taken over by Slavic tribes. The takeover was
partially due to the lack of military coordination of the Balts but the gradual assimilation of the Balts
into Slavic culture was peaceful in nature.[39]
Kievan Rus'
In the 9th century the territory of modern Belarus became part of Kievan Rus', a vast East Slavic state
ruled by the Rurikid dynasty. Upon the death of Kievan Rus' ruler Yaroslav I the Wise in 1054, the
state split into independent principalities.[40] The Battle on the Nemiga River in 1067 was one of the
more notable events of the period, the date of which is considered the founding date of Minsk.
Many early Rus' principalities were virtually razed or severely affected by

a major Mongol invasion in the 13th century, but the lands of modern-
day Belarus avoided the brunt of the invasion and eventually joined the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania.[41] There are no sources of military seizure,
but the annals affirm the alliance and united foreign policy of Polotsk
and Lithuania for decades.[42] Trying to avoid the Tatar Yoke, the
Principality of Minsk sought protection from Lithuanian princes further
north and in 1242, the Principality of Minsk became a part of the
expanding Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Incorporation into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania resulted in an

economic, political and ethno-cultural unification of Belarusian
lands.[43] Of the principalities held by the Duchy, nine of them were Rus' principalities before
settled by a population that would eventually become the the Mongol and Lithuanian
Belarusians. [44] During this time, the Duchy was involved in several invasions
military campaigns, including fighting on the side of Poland against the
Teutonic Knights at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410; the joint victory
allowed the Duchy to control the northwestern borderlands of Eastern Europe.[45]
The Muscovites, led by Ivan III of Moscow, began military campaigns in 1486 in an attempt to
incorporate the former lands of Kievan Rus', specifically the territories of modern-day Belarus, Russia
and Ukraine.[46]
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
On 2 February 1386, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the

Kingdom of Poland were joined in a personal union through a
marriage of their rulers.[47] This union set in motion the
developments that eventually resulted in the formation of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, created in 1569 by the Union
of Lublin.[48][49]
The Lithuanian nobles were forced to go for rapprochement

because of the threat coming from Muscovy.
To strengthen the
independence in the format of the union, three editions of the A map of the Grand Duchy of
Statutes of Lithuania were issued in the 16th century.
The third Lithuania in the 15th century.
Article of the Statute establishes that all lands of the Grand Duchy Belarus was fully within its borders.
of Lithuania will be eternally in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
and never enter as a part of other states. It allowed the right to
own land within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to only its own families. Anyone from outside the
Duchy gaining rights to a property would actually own it only after swearing allegiance to the Grand
Duke of Lithuania. These articles were aimed to defend the rights of the nobility of the Grand Duchy
of Lithuania nobility against Polish, Prussian and other aristocracies of Polish–Lithuanian
Commonwealth.
In the years following the union, the process of gradual Polonization of both Lithuanians and
Ruthenians gained steady momentum. In culture and social life, both the Polish language and
Catholicism became dominant, and in 1696, Polish replaced Ruthenian as the official language—with
the Ruthenian language being banned from administrative use.[50] At the same time, the Ruthenian
peasants continued to speak their own language and were part of the Belarusian Greek Catholic
Church, which was formed by the Poles after the Union of Brest. The church entered full communion
with the See of Rome while keeping their Byzantine liturgy in the Church Slavonic language,
Statutes were initially issued in the Ruthenian language alone and later also in Polish. Around 1840
the Statutes were banned by the Russian tsar following the November Uprising. Modern Ukrainian
lands used it until 1860s.
Russian Empire
The union between Poland and Lithuania ended in 1795 with the
Third Partition of Poland by Imperial Russia, Prussia, and
Austria.[51] The Belarusian territories acquired by the Russian
Empire under the reign of Catherine II[52] were included into the
Belarusian Governorate (Russian: Белорусское генерал-
губернаторство) in 1796 and held until their occupation by the
German Empire during World War I.[53]
Under Nicholas I and Alexander III the national cultures were Napoleon's Grande Armée
repressed. Policies of Polonization[54] changed by retreating after his invasion of
[55] Russia and crossing the Berezina
Russification, which included the return to Orthodox
river (near Barysaw, Belarus)
Christianity of Belarusian Uniates. Belarusian language was
banned in schools while in neighboring Samogitia primary school
education with Samogitian literacy was allowed.[56]
In a Russification drive in the 1840s, Nicholas I prohibited use of the Belarusian language in public
schools, campaigned against Belarusian publications and tried to pressure those who had converted
to Catholicism under the Poles to reconvert to the Orthodox faith. In 1863, economic and cultural
pressure exploded in a revolt, led by Konstanty Kalinowski (also known as Kastus). After the failed
revolt, the Russian government reintroduced the use of Cyrillic to Belarusian in 1864 and no
documents in Belarusian were permitted by the Russian government until 1905.[57]
During the negotiations of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Belarus first declared independence under
German occupation on 25 March 1918, forming the Belarusian People's Republic.[58][59] Immediately
afterwards, the Polish–Soviet War ignited, and the territory of Belarus was divided between Poland
and Soviet Russia.[60] The Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic exists as a government in exile
ever since then; in fact, it is currently the world's longest serving government in exile.[61]
Early states and interwar period
The Belarusian People's Republic was the first attempt to create an independent Belarusian state
under the name "Belarus". Despite significant efforts, the state ceased to exist, primarily because the
territory was continually dominated by the German Imperial Army and the Imperial Russian Army in
World War I, and then the Bolshevik Red Army. It existed from only 1918 to 1919 but created
prerequisites for the formation of the state idea around the name "Belarus". The choice of the name
was probably based on the fact that the educated core of the newly formed government was educated
in the tsardom universities, with a corresponding education around the ideology of West-
Russianism.[62]
The Republic of Central Lithuania was a short-lived political

entity, which was the last attempt to restore Lithuania in the
historical confederacy state (it was also supposed to create
Lithuania Upper and Lithuania Lower). The republic was created
in 1920 following the staged rebellion of soldiers of the 1st
Lithuanian–Belarusian Division of the Polish Army under Lucjan
Żeligowski. Centered on the historical capital of the Grand Duchy
of Lithuania, Vilna (Lithuanian: Vilnius, Polish: Wilno), for 18
months the entity served as a buffer state between Poland, upon
The first government of the People's
which it depended, and Lithuania, which claimed the area.[63]
Republic,
After a variety of delays, a disputed election took place on 8 Sitting left to right:
January 1922, and the territory was annexed to Poland. Aliaksandar Burbis, Jan Sierada,
Żeligowski later in his memoir which was published in London in Jazep Varonka, Vasil Zacharka
1943 condemned the annexation of the Republic by Poland, as Standing, left to right:
well as the policy of closing Belarusian schools and general Arkadz Smolich, Pyotra Krecheuski,
disregard of Marshal Józef Piłsudski's confederation plans by Kastus Jezavitau, Anton Ausianik,
Polish ally.[64] Years earlier interrogation report of 19-year-old Liavon Zayats
revolutionary Pilsudski of 10 March 1887 indicated that he called
himself a "Belarusian nobleman".[65]
In 1919 a part of Belarus under Russian rule emerged as the

Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (Byelorussian SSR). Soon
thereafter it merged to form the Lithuanian-Byelorussian SSR.
The contested lands were divided between Poland and the Soviet
Union after the war ended in 1921, and the Byelorussian SSR
became a founding member of the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics in 1922.[58][66] In the 1920s and 1930s, Soviet
agricultural and economic policies, including collectivization and
five-year plans for the national economy, led to famine and Meeting in the Kurapaty woods,
political repression.[67] 1989, where between 1937 and
1941 from 30,000 to 250,000
The western part of modern Belarus remained part of the Second people, including Belarusian
Polish Republic.[68][69] After an early period of liberalization, intelligentsia members, were
tensions between increasingly nationalistic Polish government murdered by the NKVD during the
and various increasingly separatist ethnic minorities started to Great Purge.
grow, and the Belarusian minority was no exception.[70][71] The
polonization drive was inspired and influenced by the Polish
National Democracy, led by Roman Dmowski, who advocated refusing Belarusians and Ukrainians
the right for a free national development.[72] A Belarusian organization, the Belarusian Peasants' and
Workers' Union, was banned in 1927, and opposition to Polish government was met with state
repressions.[70][71] Nonetheless, compared to the (larger) Ukrainian minority, Belarusians were much
less politically aware and active, and thus suffered fewer repressions than the Ukrainians.[70][71] In
1935, after the death of Józef Piłsudski, a new wave of repressions was released upon the minorities,
with many Orthodox churches and Belarusian schools being closed.[70][71] Use of the Belarusian
language was discouraged.[73] Belarusian leadership was sent to Bereza Kartuska prison.[74]
World War II
In 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union invaded and

occupied Poland, marking the beginning of World War II. The
Soviets invaded and annexed much of eastern Poland, which had
been part of the country since the Peace of Riga two decades
earlier. Much of the northern section of this area was added to the
Byelorussian SSR, and now constitutes West Belarus.[11][12][13][75]
The Soviet-controlled Byelorussian People's Council officially
took control of the territories, whose populations consisted of a
mixture of Poles, Ukrainians, Belarusians and Jews, on 28
October 1939 in Białystok. Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet
Union in 1941. The defense of Brest Fortress was the first major
battle of Operation Barbarossa.
A young man straddles the gun on a
The Byelorussian SSR was the hardest-hit Soviet republic in Soviet KV-2 tank in Vitebsk in 1941.
World War II; it remained in Nazi hands until 1944. The German
Generalplan Ost called for the extermination, expulsion, or
enslavement of most or all Belarusians for the purpose of providing more living space in the East for
Germans.[76] Most of Western Belarus became part of the Reichskommissariat Ostland in 1941, but in
1943 the German authorities allowed local collaborators to set up a client state, the Belarusian Central
Council.[77]
The German occupation in 1941–1944 and war on the Eastern Front devastated Belarus. During that
time, 209 out of 290 towns and cities were destroyed, 85% of the republic's industry, and more than
one million buildings. After the war, it was estimated that 2.2 million local inhabitants had died and
of those some 810,000 were combatants—some foreign. This figure represented a staggering quarter
of the prewar population. In the 1990s some raised the estimate even higher, to 2.7 million.[78] The
Jewish population of Belarus was devastated during the Holocaust and never recovered.[14][79][80]
The population of Belarus did not regain its pre-war level until 1971.[79]
Post-war
After the war, Belarus was among the 51 founding member states
of the United Nations Charter and as such it was allowed an
additional vote at the UN, on top of the Soviet Union's vote.
Vigorous postwar reconstruction promptly followed the end of the
war and the Byelorussian SSR became a major center of
manufacturing in the western USSR, creating jobs and attracting
ethnic Russians. The borders of the Byelorussian SSR and Poland
were redrawn, in accord with the 1919-proposed Curzon Line.[53]
Khatyn Memorial; during World War
II the Germans murdered civilians in
Joseph Stalin implemented a policy of Sovietization to isolate the
5,295 different localities in occupied
Byelorussian SSR from Western influences.[79] This policy
Soviet Belarus.
involved sending Russians from various parts of the Soviet Union
and placing them in key positions in the Byelorussian SSR
government. After Stalin's death in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev
continued his predecessor's cultural hegemony program, stating, "The sooner we all start speaking
Russian, the faster we shall build communism."[79]
Soviet Belarusian communist politician Andrei Gromyko, who served as Soviet foreign minister
(1957–1985) and as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (1985–1988), was responsible
for many top decisions on Soviet foreign policy until he was replaced by Eduard Shevardnadze.[81] In
1986, the Byelorussian SSR was contaminated with most (70%) of the nuclear fallout from the
explosion at the Chernobyl power plant located 16 km beyond the border in the neighboring
Ukrainian SSR.[82][83]
By the late 1980s, political liberalization led to a national revival, with the Belarusian Popular Front
becoming a major pro-independence force.[84][85]
Independence
In March 1990, elections for seats in the Supreme Soviet of the

Byelorussian SSR took place. Though the opposition candidates,
mostly associated with the pro-independence Belarusian Popular
Front, took only 10% of the seats.[86] Belarus declared itself
sovereign on 27 July 1990 by issuing the Declaration of State
Sovereignty of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic.[87]
Mass protests erupted in spring 1991 and became known as the

Leaders of Russia, Ukraine and
Belarusian revolution. With the support of the Communist Party,
Belarus signed the Belavezha
the country's name was changed to the Republic of Belarus on
Accords, dissolving the Soviet
25 August 1991.[86] Stanislau Shushkevich, the chairman of the Union, 8 December 1991
Supreme Soviet of Belarus, met with Boris Yeltsin of Russia and
Leonid Kravchuk of Ukraine on 8 December 1991 in Białowieża
Forest to formally declare the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the formation of the
Commonwealth of Independent States.[86]
A national constitution was adopted in March 1994 in which the functions of prime minister were
given to the President of Belarus. Two-round elections for the presidency on (24 June 1994 and
10 July 1994)[88] catapulted the formerly unknown Alexander Lukashenko into national prominence.
He garnered 45% of the vote in the first round and 80%[86] in the second, defeating Vyacheslav
Kebich who received 14% of the vote. Lukashenko was re-elected in 2001, in 2006, in 2010 and again
in 2015.
The 2000s saw a number of economic disputes between Belarus and its primary economic partner,
Russia. The first one was the 2004 Russia–Belarus energy dispute when Russian energy giant
Gazprom ceased the import of gas into Belarus because of price disagreements. The 2007 Russia–
Belarus energy dispute centered around accusations by Gazprom that Belarus was siphoning oil off of
the Druzhba pipeline that runs through Belarus. Two years later the so-called Milk War, a trade
dispute, started when Russia wanted Belarus to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South
Ossetia and through a series of events ended up banning the import of dairy products from Belarus.
In 2011, Belarus suffered a severe economic crisis attributed to Lukashenko's government's

centralised control of the economy.[89] Inflation reached 108.7% and a currency black market was
created, recovery was difficult.[89] Around the same time the 2011 Minsk Metro bombing occurred in
which 15 people were killed and 204 were injured. Two suspects, who were arrested within two days,
confessed to being the perpetrators and were executed by shooting in 2012. The official version of
events as publicised by the Belarusian government was questioned in the unprecedented wording of
the UN Security Council statement condemning "the apparent terrorist attack" intimating the
possibility that the Belarusian government itself was behind the bombing.[90]
Mass protests erupted across the country following the disputed

2020 Belarusian presidential election,[91] in which Lukashenko
sought a sixth term in office.[92] Neighbouring countries Poland
and Lithuania do not recognize Lukashenko as the legitimate
president of Belarus and the Lithuanian government has allotted
a residence for main opposition candidate Sviatlana
Tsikhanouskaya and other members of the Belarusian opposition
in Vilnius.[93][94][95][96][97] Neither is Lukashenko recognized as
the legitimate president of Belarus by the European Union,
Canada, the United Kingdom nor United States.[98][99][100][101]
The European Union, Canada, the United Kingdom and the Alexander Lukashenko has ruled
United States have all imposed sanctions against Belarus because Belarus since 1994.
of the rigged election and political oppression during the ongoing
protests in the country.[102][103]
Geography
Belarus lies between latitudes 51° and 57° N, and longitudes 23° and 33° E. Its extension from north
to south is 560 km (350 mi), from west to east is 650 km (400 mi).[104] It is landlocked, relatively flat,
and contains large tracts of marshy land.[105] About 40% of Belarus is covered by forests.[106][107] The
country lies within two ecoregions: Sarmatic mixed forests and Central European mixed forests.[108]
Many streams and 11,000 lakes are found in Belarus.[105] Three major rivers run through the country:
the Neman, the Pripyat, and the Dnieper. The Neman flows westward towards the Baltic sea and the
Pripyat flows eastward to the Dnieper; the Dnieper flows southward towards the Black Sea.[109]
The highest point is Dzyarzhynskaya Hara (Dzyarzhynsk Hill) at

345 metres (1,132 ft), and the lowest point is on the Neman River
at 90 m (295 ft).[105] The average elevation of Belarus is 160 m
(525 ft) above sea level.[110] The climate features mild to cold
winters, with January minimum temperatures ranging from
−4 °C (24.8 °F) in southwest (Brest) to −8 °C (17.6 °F) in
northeast (Vitebsk), and cool and moist summers with an average Strusta Lake in the Vitebsk Region
temperature of 18 °C (64.4 °F). [111] Belarus has an average annual
rainfall of 550 to 700 mm (21.7 to 27.6 in).[111] The country is in
the transitional zone between continental climates and maritime climates.[105]
Natural resources include peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomite
(limestone), marl, chalk, sand, gravel, and clay.[105] About 70% of the radiation from neighboring
Ukraine's 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster entered Belarusian territory, and about a fifth of
Belarusian land (principally farmland and forests in the southeastern regions) was affected by
radiation fallout.[112] The United Nations and other agencies have aimed to reduce the level of
radiation in affected areas, especially through the use of caesium binders and rapeseed cultivation,
which are meant to decrease soil levels of caesium-137.[113][114]
Belarus borders five countries: Latvia to the north, Lithuania to the northwest, Poland to the west,
Russia to the north and the east, and Ukraine to the south. Treaties in 1995 and 1996 demarcated
Belarus's borders with Latvia and Lithuania, and Belarus ratified a 1997 treaty establishing the
Belarus-Ukraine border in 2009.[115] Belarus and Lithuania ratified final border demarcation
documents in February 2007.[116]
Governance
In a formal sense Belarus is a presidential republic enjoying a
separation of powers, governed by a president and the National
Assembly. In reality Belarus is an autocracy where power is
concentrated in the hands of the president, elections are not free
and judicial independence is weak.[117]
The term for each presidency is five years. Under the 1994
constitution, the president could serve for only two terms as
president, but a change in the constitution in 2004 eliminated Government House, Minsk
term limits.[118] Alexander Lukashenko has been the president of
Belarus since 1994. In 1996, Lukashenko called for a controversial
vote to extend the presidential term from five to seven years, and as a result the election that was
supposed to occur in 1999 was pushed back to 2001. The referendum on the extension was denounced
as a "fantastic" fake by the chief electoral officer, Viktar Hanchar, who was removed from the office
for official matters only during the campaign.[119] The National Assembly is a bicameral parliament
comprising the 110-member House of Representatives (the lower house) and the 64-member Council
of the Republic (the upper house).[120]
The House of Representatives has the power to appoint the prime

minister, make constitutional amendments, call for a vote of
confidence on the prime minister, and make suggestions on
foreign and domestic policy.[121] The Council of the Republic has
the power to select various government officials, conduct an
impeachment trial of the president, and accept or reject the bills
passed by the House of Representatives. Each chamber has the
ability to veto any law passed by local officials if it is contrary to
the constitution.[122] Victory Square in Minsk
The government includes a Council of Ministers, headed by the

prime minister and five deputy prime ministers.[123] The
members of this council need not be members of the legislature and are appointed by the president.
The judiciary comprises the Supreme Court and specialized courts such as the Constitutional Court,
which deals with specific issues related to constitutional and business law. The judges of national
courts are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Council of the Republic. For criminal
cases, the highest court of appeal is the Supreme Court. The Belarusian Constitution forbids the use of
special extrajudicial courts.[122]
In the 2012 parliamentary election, 105 of the 110 members elected to the House of Representatives
were not affiliated with any political party. The Communist Party of Belarus won 3 seats, and the
Agrarian Party and Republican Party of Labour and Justice, one each.[124] Most non-partisans
represent a wide scope of social organizations such as workers' collectives, public associations, and
civil society organizations, similar to the composition of the Soviet legislature.[125]
Elections
Belarus has often been described as "Europe's last dictatorship"

by some media outlets, politicians and authors due to its
authoritarian government.[126][127][128][129] The Council of
Europe removed Belarus from its observer status since 1997 as a
response for election irregularities in the November 1996
constitutional referendum and parliament by-elections.[130][131]
Re-admission of the country into the council is dependent on the
completion of benchmarks set by the council, including the
The former flag of Belarus, used in
improvement of human rights, rule of law, and democracy.[132] 1918, then in 1943–44 and then
between 1991 and 1995, is widely
Neither the pro-Lukashenko parties, such as the Belarusian
used as a symbol of opposition to
Socialist Sporting Party and the Republican Party of Labour and the government of Alexander
Justice nor the People's Coalition 5 Plus opposition parties, such Lukashenko.
as the Belarusian People's Front and the United Civil Party of
Belarus, won any seats in the 2004 elections. The Organization
for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) ruled that the elections were unfair because
opposition candidates were arbitrarily denied registration and the election process was designed to
favor the ruling party.[133]
In the 2006 presidential election, Lukashenko was opposed by

Alaksandar Milinkievič, who represented a coalition of opposition
parties, and by Alaksandar Kazulin of the Social Democrats.
Kazulin was detained and beaten by police during protests
surrounding the All Belarusian People's Assembly. Lukashenko
won the election with 80% of the vote; the Russian Federation
and the CIS deemed the vote open and fair[134] while the OSCE
and other organizations called the election unfair.[135]
After the December completion of the 2010 presidential election,

Protests at October Square in Minsk
Lukashenko was elected to a fourth straight term with nearly 80% in 2006 after the 2006 Belarusian
of the vote in elections. The runner-up opposition leader Andrei presidential election.
Sannikov received less than 3% of the vote; independent
observers criticized the election as fraudulent. When opposition
protesters took to the streets in Minsk, many people, including most rival presidential candidates,
were beaten and arrested by the state militia.[136] Many of the candidates, including Sannikov, were
sentenced to prison or house arrest for terms which are mainly and typically over four years.[137][138]
Six months later amid an unprecedented economic crisis, activists utilized social networking to
initiate a fresh round of protests characterized by wordless hand-clapping.[139]
In the 2020 presidential election, Lukashenko won again with official results giving him 80% of the
vote, leading to mass protests and numerous countries not recognizing the result, with the EU
imposing sanctions.[140]
Foreign relations
The Byelorussian SSR was one of the two Soviet republics that joined the United Nations along with
the Ukrainian SSR as one of the original 51 members in 1945.[141] Belarus and Russia have been close
trading partners and diplomatic allies since the breakup of the Soviet Union. Belarus is dependent on
Russia for imports of raw materials and for its export market.[142]
The union of Russia and Belarus, a supranational confederation,

was established in a 1996–99 series of treaties that called for
monetary union, equal rights, single citizenship, and a common
foreign and defense policy. However, the future of the union has
been placed in doubt because of Belarus's repeated delays of
monetary union, the lack of a referendum date for the draft
constitution, and a dispute over the petroleum trade.[142][143] President Alexander Lukashenko,
Belarus was a founding member of the Commonwealth of shaking hands with Russian
Independent States (CIS). [144] Belarus has trade agreements with President Vladimir Putin, 2015
several European Union member states (despite other member
states' travel ban on Lukashenko and top officials),[145] including
neighboring Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.[146] Travel bans imposed by the European Union have
been lifted in the past in order to allow Lukashenko to attend diplomatic meetings and also to engage
his government and opposition groups in dialogue.[147]
Bilateral relations with the United States are strained; the United
States had not had an ambassador in Minsk since 2007 and
Belarus never had an ambassador in Washington since
2008.[148][149] Diplomatic relations remained tense, and in 2004,
the United States passed the Belarus Democracy Act, which
authorized funding for anti-government Belarusian NGOs, and
prohibited loans to the Belarusian government, except for
humanitarian purposes.[150] Sino-Belarusian relations have
Leaders of Belarus, Russia, improved,[151] strengthened by the visit of President Lukashenko
Germany, France, and Ukraine at to China in October 2005.[152] Belarus also has strong ties with
the summit in Minsk, 11–12 Syria,[153] considered a key partner in the Middle East.[154] In
February 2015 addition to the CIS, Belarus is a member of the Eurasian
Economic Union (previously the Eurasian Economic
Community), the Collective Security Treaty Organisation,[146] the
international Non-Aligned Movement since 1998,[155] and the Organization on Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). As an OSCE member state, Belarus's international commitments are
subject to monitoring under the mandate of the U.S. Helsinki Commission.[156] Belarus is included in
the European Union's European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) which aims at bringing the EU and its
neighbours closer in economic and geopolitical terms.[157]
Military
Major General Andrei Ravkov heads the Ministry of Defence,[158]

and Alexander Lukashenko (as president) serves as Commander-
in-Chief.[122] The armed forces were formed in 1992 using parts
of the former Soviet Armed Forces on the new republic's territory.
The transformation of the ex-Soviet forces into the Armed Forces
of Belarus, which was completed in 1997, reduced the number of
its soldiers by 30,000 and restructured its leadership and military Soldiers patrol in the Białowieża
formations.[159] Forest on the Belarusian border with
Poland.
Most of Belarus's service members are conscripts, who serve for 12 months if they have higher
education or 18 months if they do not.[160] Demographic decreases in the Belarusians of conscription
age have increased the importance of contract soldiers, who numbered 12,000 in 2001.[161] In 2005,
about 1.4% of Belarus's gross domestic product was devoted to military expenditure.[162]
Belarus has not expressed a desire to join NATO but has participated in the Individual Partnership
Program since 1997,[163] and Belarus provides refueling and airspace support for the ISAF mission in
Afghanistan.[164] Belarus first began to cooperate with NATO upon signing documents to participate
in their Partnership for Peace Program in 1995.[165] However, Belarus cannot join NATO because it is
a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation. Tensions between NATO and Belarus
peaked after the March 2006 presidential election in Belarus.[166]
Human rights and corruption
Belarus's Democracy Index rating is the lowest in Europe, the

country is labelled as "not free" by Freedom House, as
"repressed" in the Index of Economic Freedom, and is rated as
the worst country for press freedom in Europe in the 2013–2014
Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders,
which ranks Belarus 157th out of 180 nations.[167] The Belarusian
government is also criticized for human rights violations and its
persecution of non-governmental organisations, independent
journalists, national minorities, and opposition
Graffiti depicting Belarusian human
politicians.[18][168] Lukashenko announced a new law in 2014 that rights activist Ales Bialiatski.
will prohibit kolkhoz workers (around 9% of total work force)
from leaving their jobs at will—a change of job and living location
will require permission from governors. The law was compared with serfdom by Lukashenko
himself.[169][170] Similar regulations were introduced for the forestry industry in 2012.[171] Belarus is
the only European country still using capital punishment having carried out executions in 2011.[172]
The judicial system in Belarus lacks independence and is subject to political interference.[173] Corrupt
practices such as bribery often took place during tender processes, and whistleblower protection and
national ombudsman are lacking in Belarus's anti-corruption system.[174]
On September 1, 2020, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
declared that its experts received reports of 450 documented cases of torture and ill-treatment of
people who were arrested during the protests following the presidential election. The experts also
received reports of violence against women and children, including sexual abuse and rape with rubber
batons.[175] At least three detainees suffered injuries indicative of sexual violence in Okrestino prison
in Minsk or on the way there. The victims were hospitalized with intramuscular bleeding of the
rectum, anal fissure and bleeding, and damage to the mucous membrane of the rectum.[176] In an
interview from September 2020 Lukashenko claimed that detainees faked their bruises, saying,
"Some of the girls there had their butts painted in blue".[177]
On 23 May 2021, Belarusian authorities forcibly diverted a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius in
order to detain opposition activist and journalist Roman Protasevich along with his girlfriend; in
response, the European Union imposed stricter sanctions on Belarus.[178] In May 2021, Lukashenko
threatened that he will flood the European Union with migrants and drugs as a response to the
sanctions.[179] In July 2021, Belarusian authorities launched a hybrid warfare by human trafficking of
migrants to the European Union.[180] Lithuanian authorities and top European officials Ursula von
der Leyen, Josep Borrell condemned the usage of migrants as a weapon and suggested that Belarus
could be subject to further sanctions.[181] In August 2021, Belarusian officials, wearing uniforms, riot
shields and helmets, were recorded on camera near the Belarus–Lithuania border pushing and urging
the migrants to cross the European Union border.[182] Following the granting of humanitarian visas
to an Olympic athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya and her husband, Poland also accused Belarus for
organizing a hybrid warfare as the number of migrants crossing the Belarus–Poland border sharply
increased multiple times when compared to the 2020 statistics.[183][184] Illegal migrants numbers
also exceeded the previous annual numbers in Latvia.[185]
Administrative divisions
Belarus is divided into six regions called oblasts (Belarusian:

вобласць; Russian: область), which are named after the cities
that serve as their administrative centers: Brest, Gomel, Grodno,
Mogilev, Minsk, and Vitebsk.[186] Each region has a provincial
legislative authority, called a region council (Belarusian: абласны
Савет Дэпутатаў; Russian: Областной Совет депутатов), which
is elected by its residents, and a provincial executive authority
called a region administration (Belarusian: абласны выканаўчы
камітэт; Russian: областной исполнительный комитет), whose
chairman is appointed by the president.[187] Regions are further
subdivided into raions, commonly translated as districts Administrative divisions of Belarus
(Belarusian: раён; Russian: район).[186] Each raion has its own
legislative authority, or raion council, (Belarusian: раённы Савет
Дэпутатаў; Russian: районный Совет депутатов) elected by its residents, and an executive authority
or raion administration appointed by higher executive powers. The six regions are divided into 118
raions.[106] The city of Minsk is split into nine districts and enjoys special status as the nation's
capital.[188] It is run by an executive committee and has been granted a charter of self-rule.[189]
Economy
Belarus has trade relations with over 180 countries. The main trading partners are Russia, which
accounts for about 45% of Belarusian exports and 55% of imports, and the EU countries, which
account for 25% of exports and 20% of imports.[190]
In 2019 the share of manufacturing in GDP was 31%, over two-thirds of this amount falls on
manufacturing industries. The number of people employed in the industry is 34.7% of the working
population.[191] The growth rate is much lower than for the economy as a whole—about 2.2% in 2021.
At the time of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Belarus was one of the world's most
industrially developed states by percentage of GDP as well as the richest CIS member-state.[192]
In
2015, 39.3% of Belarusians were employed by state-controlled companies, 57.2% were employed by
private companies (in which the government has a 21.1% stake) and 3.5% were employed by foreign
companies.[193] The country relies on Russia for various imports, including petroleum.[194][195]
Important agricultural products include potatoes and cattle byproducts, including meat.[196] In 1994,
Belarus's main exports included heavy machinery (especially tractors), agricultural products, and
energy products.[197]
Economically, Belarus involved itself in the CIS, Eurasian Economic
Community, and Union with Russia.[198]
In the 1990s, however, industrial production

plunged due to decreases in imports, investment,
and demand for Belarusian products from its trading
partners.[199] GDP only began to rise in 1996;[200]
the country was the fastest-recovering former Soviet
republic in the terms of its economy.[201] In 2006,
GDP amounted to US$83.1 billion in purchasing
power parity (PPP) dollars (estimate), or about
$8,100 per capita.[196] In 2005, GDP increased by
9.9%; the inflation rate averaged 9.5%.[196]
Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, under

Lukashenko's leadership, Belarus has maintained
government control over key industries and A graphical depiction of Belarus's product exports
eschewed the large-scale privatizations seen in other in 28 colour-coded categories
former Soviet republics.[202]
Due to its failure to protect labor rights, including

passing laws forbidding unemployment or working
outside of state-controlled sectors,[203] Belarus lost
its EU Generalized System of Preferences status on
21 June 2007, which raised tariff rates to their prior
most favored nation levels.[204] Belarus applied to
become a member of the World Trade Organization
in 1993.[205]
The labor force consists of more than four million

people, among whom women hold slightly more jobs
than men.[193] In 2005, nearly a quarter of the Belarusian annual GDP and CPI rates 2001–2013
population was employed by industrial factories.
Employment is also high in agriculture,
manufacturing sales, trading goods, and education. The unemployment rate, according to government
statistics, was 1.5% in 2005. There were 679,000 unemployed Belarusians, two-thirds of whom were
women. The unemployment rate has been in decline since 2003, and the overall rate of employment
is the highest since statistics were first compiled in 1995.[193]
The currency of Belarus is the Belarusian ruble. The currency was introduced in May 1992 to replace
the Soviet ruble and it has undergone redenomination twice since then. The first coins of the Republic
of Belarus were issued on 27 December 1996.[206] The ruble was reintroduced with new values in
2000 and has been in use ever since.[207] As part of the Union of Russia and Belarus, both states have
discussed using a single currency along the same lines as the Euro. This led to a proposal that the
Belarusian ruble be discontinued in favor of the Russian ruble (RUB), starting as early as 1 January
2008. The National Bank of Belarus abandoned pegging the Belarusian ruble to the Russian ruble in
August 2007.[208]
A new currency, the new Belarusian ruble (ISO 4217 code: BYN)[209] was introduced in July 2016,
replacing the Belarusian ruble in a rate of 1:10,000 (10,000 old rubles = 1 new ruble). From 1 July
until 31 December 2016, the old and new currencies were in parallel circulation and series 2000 notes
and coins can be exchanged for series 2009 from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2021.[209] This
redenomination can be considered an effort to fight the high inflation rate.[210][211]
The banking system of Belarus consists of two levels: Central Bank (National Bank of the Republic of
Belarus) and 25 commercial banks.[212] On 23 May 2011, the Belarusian ruble depreciated 56%
against the United States dollar. The depreciation was even steeper on the black market and financial
collapse seemed imminent as citizens rushed to exchange their rubles for dollars, euros, durable
goods, and canned goods.[213] On 1 June 2011, Belarus requested an economic rescue package from
the International Monetary Fund.[214][215]
Demographics
According to the 2019 census the population was 9.41 million[216] with ethnic Belarusians constituting
84.9% of Belarus's total population.[216] Minority groups include: Russians (7.5%), Poles (3.1%), and
Ukrainians (1.7%).[216]
Belarus has a population density of about 50 people per square kilometer (127
per sq mi); 70% of its total population is concentrated in urban areas.[217] Minsk, the nation's capital
and largest city, was home to 1,937,900 residents in 2015.[218] Gomel, with a population of 481,000, is
the second-largest city and serves as the capital of the Homiel Voblast. Other large cities are Mogilev
(365,100), Vitebsk (342,400), Hrodna (314,800) and Brest (298,300).[219]
Like many other Eastern European countries, Belarus has a negative population growth rate and a
negative natural growth rate. In 2007, Belarus's population declined by 0.41% and its fertility rate was
1.22,[220] well below the replacement rate. Its net migration rate is +0.38 per 1,000, indicating that
Belarus experiences slightly more immigration than emigration. As of 2015, 69.9% of Belarus's
population is aged 14 to 64; 15.5% is under 14, and 14.6% is 65 or older. Its population is also aging;
the median age of 30–34 is estimated to rise to between 60 and 64 in 2050.[221] There are about 0.87
males per female in Belarus.[220] The average life expectancy is 72.15 (66.53 years for men and 78.1
years for women).[220] Over 99% of Belarusians aged 15 and older are literate.[220]
Religion and languages
According to the census of November 2011, 58.9% of all

Belarusians adhered to some kind of religion; out of those,
Eastern Orthodoxy (Belarusian Exarchate of the Russian
Orthodox Church) made up about 82%.[2] Roman Catholicism is
practiced mostly in the western regions, and there are also
different denominations of Protestantism.[222][223] Minorities
also practice Greek Catholicism, Judaism, Islam and
Neopaganism. Overall, 48.3% of the population is Orthodox
Christian, 41.1% is not religious, 7.1% is Catholic and 3.3% follows
Saint Sophia Cathedral in Polotsk is
other religions.[2] one of the oldest churches in
Belarus. Its current style is an ideal
Belarus's Catholic minority is concentrated in the western part of example of baroque architecture in
the country, especially around Hrodna, is made up of a mixture of the former Polish–Lithuanian
Belarusians and the country's Polish and Lithuanian Commonwealth
minorities.[224] President Lukashenko has stated that Orthodox
and Catholic believers are the "two main confessions in our
country".[225]
Belarus was once a major center of European Jews, with 10% of the population being Jewish. But
since the mid-20th century, the number of Jews has been reduced by the Holocaust, deportation, and
emigration, so that today it is a very small minority of less than one percent.[226] The Lipka Tatars,
numbering over 15,000, are predominantly Muslims. According to Article 16 of the Constitution,
Belarus has no official religion. While the freedom of worship is granted in the same article, religious
organizations deemed harmful to the government or social order can be prohibited.[186]
Belarus's two official languages are Russian and Belarusian;[227] Russian is the most common
language used at home, used by 70% of the population, while Belarusian, the official first language, is
spoken at home by 23%.[228] Minorities also speak Polish, Ukrainian and Eastern Yiddish.[229]
Belarusian, although not as widely used as Russian, is the mother tongue of 53.2% of the population,
whereas Russian is the mother tongue of only 41.5%.[228]
Culture
Arts and literature
The Belarusian government sponsors annual cultural festivals

such as the Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk,[230] which showcases
Belarusian performers, artists, writers, musicians, and actors.
Several state holidays, such as Independence Day and Victory
Day, draw big crowds and often include displays such as fireworks
and military parades, especially in Vitebsk and Minsk.[231] The
government's Ministry of Culture finances events promoting
Belarusian arts and culture both inside and outside the country.
Belarusian literature[232] began with 11th- to 13th-century The Opera and Ballet Theater in
religious scripture, such as the 12th-century poetry of Cyril of Minsk
Turaw.[233]
By the 16th century, Polotsk resident Francysk Skaryna translated the Bible into Belarusian. It was
published in Prague and Vilnius sometime between 1517 and 1525, making it the first book printed in
Belarus or anywhere in Eastern Europe.[234] The modern era of Belarusian literature began in the late
19th century; one prominent writer was Yanka Kupala. Many Belarusian writers of the time, such as
Uładzimir Žyłka, Kazimir Svayak, Yakub Kolas, Źmitrok Biadula, and Maksim Haretski, wrote for
Nasha Niva, a Belarusian-language paper published that was previously published in Vilnius but now
is published in Minsk.[235]
After Belarus was incorporated into the Soviet Union, the Soviet government took control of the
Republic's cultural affairs. At first, a policy of "Belarusianization" was followed in the newly formed
Byelorussian SSR. This policy was reversed in the 1930s, and the majority of prominent Belarusian
intellectuals and nationalist advocates were either exiled or killed in Stalinist purges.[236] The free
development of literature occurred only in Polish-held territory until Soviet occupation in 1939.
Several poets and authors went into exile after the Nazi occupation of Belarus and would not return
until the 1960s.[234]
The last major revival of Belarusian literature occurred in the 1960s with novels published by Vasil
Bykaŭ and Uladzimir Karatkievich. An influential author who devoted his work to awakening the
awareness of the catastrophes the country has suffered, was Ales Adamovich. He was named by
Svetlana Alexievich, the Belarusian winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature 2015, as "her main teacher,
who helped her to find a path of her own".[237]
Music in Belarus largely comprises a rich tradition of folk and religious

music. The country's folk music traditions can be traced back to the
times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the 19th century, Polish
composer Stanisław Moniuszko composed operas and chamber music
pieces while living in Minsk. During his stay, he worked with Belarusian
poet Vintsent Dunin-Martsinkyevich and created the opera Sialanka
(Peasant Woman). At the end of the 19th century, major Belarusian
cities formed their own opera and ballet companies. The ballet
Nightingale by M. Kroshner was composed during the Soviet era and
became the first Belarusian ballet showcased at the National Academic
Vialiki Ballet Theatre in Minsk.[238]
After the Second World War, music focused on the hardships of the
Belarusian people or on those who took up arms in defense of the
homeland. During this period, Anatoly Bogatyrev, creator of the opera In
Polesye Virgin Forest, served as the "tutor" of Belarusian
Poet and librettist Vintsent
composers.[239] The National Academic Theatre of Ballet in Minsk was
Dunin-Martsinkyevich
awarded the Benois de la Dance Prize in 1996 as the top ballet company
in the world.[239] Rock music has become increasingly popular in recent
years, though the Belarusian government has attempted to limit the
amount of foreign music aired on the radio in favor of traditional Belarusian music. Since 2004,
Belarus has been sending artists to the Eurovision Song Contest.[240][241]
Marc Chagall was born in Liozna (near Vitebsk) in 1887. He spent the World War I years in Soviet
Belarus, becoming one of the country's most distinguished artists and a member of the modernist
avant-garde and was a founder of the Vitebsk Arts College.[242][243]
Dress
The traditional Belarusian dress originates from the Kievan Rus' period. Due to the cool climate,
clothes were designed to conserve body heat and were usually made from flax or wool. They were
decorated with ornate patterns influenced by the neighboring cultures: Poles, Lithuanians, Latvians,
Russians, and other European nations. Each region of Belarus has developed specific design
patterns.[244] One ornamental pattern common in early dresses currently decorates the hoist of the
Belarusian national flag, adopted in a disputed referendum in 1995.[245]
Cuisine
Belarusian cuisine consists mainly of vegetables, meat

(particularly pork), and bread. Foods are usually either slowly
cooked or stewed. Typically, Belarusians eat a light breakfast and
two hearty meals later in the day. Wheat and rye bread are
consumed in Belarus, but rye is more plentiful because conditions
are too harsh for growing wheat. To show hospitality, a host
traditionally presents an offering of bread and salt when greeting
a guest or visitor.[246]
Draniki, the national dish
Sport
Belarus has competed in the Olympic Games since the 1994 Winter Olympics as an independent
nation. Receiving heavy sponsorship from the government, ice hockey is the nation's second most
popular sport after football. The national football team has never qualified for a major tournament;
however, BATE Borisov has played in the Champions League. The national hockey team finished
fourth at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics following a memorable upset win over Sweden in the
quarterfinals and regularly competes in the World Championships, often making the quarterfinals.
Numerous Belarusian players are present in the Kontinental Hockey League in Eurasia, particularly
for Belarusian club HC Dinamo Minsk, and several have also played in the National Hockey League in
North America. The 2014 IIHF World Championship was hosted in Belarus and the 2021 IIHF World
Championship was supposed to be co-hosted in Latvia and Belarus but it was cancelled due to
widespread protests and security concerns. The 2021 UEC European Track Championships in cycling
was also cancelled because Belarus was not considered a safe host.
Darya Domracheva is a leading biathlete whose honours include

three gold medals at the 2014 Winter Olympics.[247] Tennis
player Victoria Azarenka became the first Belarusian to win a
Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open in 2012.[248] She
also won the gold medal in mixed doubles at the 2012 Summer
Olympics with Max Mirnyi, who holds ten Grand Slam titles in
doubles.
Other notable Belarusian sportspeople include cyclist Vasil

Kiryienka, who won the 2015 Road World Time Trial
Championship, and middle-distance runner Maryna Arzamasava,
who won the gold medal in the 800m at the 2015 World Victoria Azarenka, professional
Championships in Athletics. Andrei Arlovski, who was born in tennis player and a former world No.
Babruysk, Byelorussian SSR, is a current UFC fighter and the 1 in singles
former UFC heavyweight champion of the world.
Belarus is also known for its strong rhythmic gymnasts. Noticeable gymnasts include Inna Zhukova,
who earned silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Liubov Charkashyna, who earned bronze at the 2012
London Olympics and Melitina Staniouta, Bronze All-Around Medalist of the 2015 World
Championships. The Belorussian senior group earned bronze at the 2012 London Olympics.
Telecommunications
Country code: .by
The state telecom monopoly, Beltelecom, holds the exclusive interconnection with Internet providers
outside of Belarus. Beltelecom owns all the backbone channels that linked to the Lattelecom, TEO LT,
Tata Communications (former Teleglobe), Synterra, Rostelecom, Transtelekom and MTS ISPs.
Beltelecom is the only operator licensed to provide commercial VoIP services in Belarus.[249]
World Heritage Sites
Belarus has four UNESCO-designated World Heritage Sites: the Mir Castle Complex, the Nesvizh
Castle, the Belovezhskaya Pushcha (shared with Poland), and the Struve Geodetic Arc (shared with
nine other countries).[250]
See also
List of Belarus-related topics
Outline of Belarus
References
1. "Belarus in figures 2021" (https://www.belstat.gov.by/upload/iblock/b49/b49a6306ec95b5c2d851e
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Bibliography
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Routledge. ISBN 1-57958-282-6.
Zaprudnik, Jan (1993). Belarus: At a Crossroads in History (https://web.archive.org/web/2016050
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#v=onepage). Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-1794-0. Archived from the original (https://books.goo
gle.com/books?id=qtnTh3-2Ki8C&q=Belarusia+name&pg=PA1) on 2 May 2016.
Further reading
Bennett, Brian M. The Last Dictatorship in Europe: Belarus under Lukashenko (Columbia
University Press, 2011)
Frear, Matthew. Belarus Under Lukashenka: Adaptive Authoritarianism (Routledge, 2015)
Korosteleva, Elena A. (June 2016). "The European Union and Belarus: Democracy Promotion by
Technocratic Means?" (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13510347.2015.1005009)
Democratization 23: 4 pp. 678–698. doi:10.1080/13510347.2015.1005009 (https://doi.org/10.108
0%2F13510347.2015.1005009).
Levy, Patricia; Spilling, Michael (2009). Belarus (https://books.google.com/books?id=KTwkKhg1B
bsC&q=Belarusian+name&pg=PA95). New York: Benchmark Books. ISBN 978-0-7614-3411-5.
Kropotkin, Peter Alexeivitch; Bealby, John Thomas (1911). "Minsk (government)" (https://en.wikis
ource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Minsk_(government)). In Chisholm, Hugh
(ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 555, 556.
Marples, David. 'Our Glorious Past': Lukashenka's Belarus and the Great Patriotic War (Columbia
University Press, 2014)
Parker, Stewart. The Last Soviet Republic: Alexander Lukashenko's Belarus (Trafford Publishing,
2007)
Rudling, Pers Anders. The Rise and Fall of Belarusian Nationalism, 1906–1931 (University of
Pittsburgh Press; 2014) 436 pages
Ryder, Andrew (1998). Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (https://bo
oks.google.com/books?id=qmN95fFocsMC&q=Belarus+name+law+1991&pg=PA183). Routledge.
ISBN 1-85743-058-1.
Silitski, Vitali & Jan Zaprudnik (2010). The A to Z of Belarus (https://books.google.com/books?id=
bQXyAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1). Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9781461731740.
Snyder, Timothy (2004). The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus,
1569–1999 (https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Reconstruction_of_Nations/xSpEynLxJ1
MC?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover)
Szporluk, Roman (2000). Russia, Ukraine, and the Breakup of the Soviet Union (https://books.goo
gle.com/books?id=oLWeUoWEAGgC&q=Belorussia&pg=PA113). Hoover Institution Press.
ISBN 0-8179-9542-0.
Treadgold, Donald; Ellison, Herbert J. (1999). Twentieth Century Russia (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=Xs8sYy1vIS0C&q=belorussia+nationalists+name&pg=PA230). Westview Press.
ISBN 0-8133-3672-4.
Vakar, Nicholas Platonovich. Belorussia: The Making of a Nation: A Case Study (Harvard UP,
1956).
Vakar, Nicholas Platonovich. A Bibliographical Guide to Belorussia (Harvard UP, 1956)
External links
Website of the Republic of Belarus (http://www.belarus.by/en/) by BelTA news agency
Belarus (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/belarus/). The World Factbook. Central
Intelligence Agency.
Belarus (https://curlie.org/Regional/Europe/Belarus) at Curlie
FAO Country Profiles: Belarus (http://www.fao.org/countryprofiles/index.asp?lang=en&iso3=BLR&
subj=1&paia=)
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9/21/21, 8:20 PM Belarus - Wikipedia

Coordinates: 53°N 27°E

Belarus,[a] officially the Republic of Belarus,[b] and

Until the 20th century, different states at various times

Dziaržaŭny Himn Respubliki Bielaruś

The parliament of the republic proclaimed the sovereignty of Show globe

and largest city 53°55′N 27°33′E

References 1.4% (2.830 km2

conquered by the Tatars (i.e., Polotsk, Vitebsk and Mogilev) low

The name Rus is often Time zone UTC+3 (MSK[9])

Many early Rus' principalities were virtually razed or severely affected by

Incorporation into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania resulted in an

On 2 February 1386, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the

The Lithuanian nobles were forced to go for rapprochement

Early states and interwar period

The Republic of Central Lithuania was a short-lived political

In 1919 a part of Belarus under Russian rule emerged as the

In 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union invaded and

In March 1990, elections for seats in the Supreme Soviet of the

Mass protests erupted in spring 1991 and became known as the

In 2011, Belarus suffered a severe economic crisis attributed to Lukashenko's government's

Mass protests erupted across the country following the disputed

The highest point is Dzyarzhynskaya Hara (Dzyarzhynsk Hill) at

The House of Representatives has the power to appoint the prime

The government includes a Council of Ministers, headed by the

Belarus has often been described as "Europe's last dictatorship"

In the 2006 presidential election, Lukashenko was opposed by

After the December completion of the 2010 presidential election,

The union of Russia and Belarus, a supranational confederation,

Major General Andrei Ravkov heads the Ministry of Defence,[158]

Human rights and corruption

Belarus's Democracy Index rating is the lowest in Europe, the

Belarus is divided into six regions called oblasts (Belarusian:

In the 1990s, however, industrial production

Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, under

Due to its failure to protect labor rights, including

The labor force consists of more than four million

Religion and languages

According to the census of November 2011, 58.9% of all

Arts and literature

The Belarusian government sponsors annual cultural festivals

Music in Belarus largely comprises a rich tradition of folk and religious

Belarusian cuisine consists mainly of vegetables, meat

Darya Domracheva is a leading biathlete whose honours include

Other notable Belarusian sportspeople include cyclist Vasil

World Heritage Sites

14. Axell, Albert (2002). Russia's Heroes, 1941–45 (https://archive.org/details/russiasheroes19400alb

35. "Lithuania Refuses to Call Belarus as "Belarusia" " (https://telegraf.by/arhiv/lithuania_refuses_to_c

110. Zaprudnik 1993, p. xix

127. "Belarus's Lukashenko: 'Better a dictator than gay' " (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-belarus-di

142. United States Government (2007). "Background Note: Belarus" (https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/

159. "History" (https://web.archive.org/web/20071217010640/http://www.mod.mil.by/7okrugarmia.html)

176. "Das verprügelte Minsk" (https://www.boell.de/de/2020/10/29/das-verpruegelte-minsk). Heinrich-

210. "Международное обозначение белорусского рубля меняется на BYN после деноминации –

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Belarus&oldid=1045583100"

This page was last edited on 21 September 2021, at 09:43 (UTC).

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License;

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