Belarus en-us-Belarus.ogg /ˈbɛləruːs/ (help·info) (Belarusian: Беларусь, Russian: Беларусь or Белоруссия) is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno (Hrodna), Gomel (Homiel), Mahilyow (Mahiloŭ) and Vitebsk (Viciebsk). Forty percent of the country is forested, and its strongest economic sectors are agriculture and manufacturing.
Until the 20th century, the Belarusians lacked the opportunity to create a distinctive national identity because for centuries the lands of modern-day Belarus belonged to several ethnically different countries, including the Duchy of Polatsk, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. After the short-lived Belarusian People's Republic (1918–19), Belarus became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Byelorussian SSR.
The final unification of Belarusian lands within its modern borders took place in 1939, when the ethnically Belarusian-Russian lands held by the Second Polish Republic (interwar Poland) were annexed into the USSR under the terms of the Nazi-Soviet pact, and attached to Soviet Belarus. The territory and its nation were devastated in World War II, during which Belarus lost about a third of its population and more than half of its economic resources; the republic was redeveloped in the post-war years. The parliament of the republic declared the sovereignty of Belarus on 27 July 1990, and following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Belarus declared independence on 25 August 1991. Alexander Lukashenko has been the country's president since 1994. During his presidency, Lukashenko has implemented Soviet-era policies, such as state ownership of the economy, despite objections from Western governments. Since 2000, Belarus and Russia signed a treaty for greater cooperation, with some hints of forming a Union State.
Most of Belarus's population of 9.85 million reside in the urban areas surrounding Minsk and other oblast (regional) capitals. More than 80% of the population are native Belarusians, with sizable minorities of Russians, Poles and Ukrainians. Since a referendum in 1995, the country has had two official languages: Belarusian and Russian. The Constitution of Belarus does not declare an official religion, although the primary religion in the country is Russian Orthodox Christianity and the second most popular is Roman Catholicism. Both Orthodox and Catholic Christmas and Easter are officially respected as national holidays.
Landlocked country in Eastern Europe. Area 20 76 million square kilometers. Population 1031 31 million (1995). The capital Minsk. Most of the plain, low-lying marshes, peatlands widespread. Temperate continental climate. Than those of developed industry and agriculture. Industrial mechanical manufacturing. Agricultural and livestock products of milk, meat, flax is most important.
Translated by Google
No. 3
Country name: Republic of Belarus (the republic of belarus), referred to Belarus. Independence Day: August 25 (1991) Union Day: April 2 (1996) Homeland defense and the armed forces of Belarus Date: 23 February (1994, former Soviet Army Day). Flag: horizontal rectangle, the length and width ratio of about 2:1. Wide upper surface is red, lower half green narrow, near the flagpole at the national characteristics of the red and white vertical bar pattern. Belarus had in 1922 become one of the former Soviet republic, the flag adopted in 1951 for the design: red and white patterns for the vertical bar on the left; right side of the upper half is a yellow five-pointed star and the sickle, the red hammer pattern wide face, narrow lower half is green. Declared independence in 1991, the first top-down by the white, red, white rectangular three equal horizontal parallel composition of three-color flag, national flag after the switch to the present. National Emblem: rounded. Two beams by the national colors of ribbon around the circle surrounded by ears of wheat, etc., in the middle ascending order for the earth, the radiant sun and the contours of the land of Belarus. Round the top is a red five-pointed star, the bottom of the sash with the words "the Republic of Belarus." Population: 10.15 million (early 2000). 77.9% of the Belarusian nation, in addition to the Russian group (13.2%), Polish (4.1%), Ukrainians (2.9%) and Jews (1.1%). The official language is Belarusian and Russian. Residents are Orthodox, Catholic and some areas in northwestern Orthodox and Catholic denominations combined. Capital: Minsk (minsk), located in the upper reaches of the Dnieper River tributaries 斯维斯洛奇. Brief history: the history of Belarus is an East Slavic. 9th century and now with the Russians and Ukrainians into the Kievan Rus, the establishment of Polotsk, Tuluo Fu - Pinsk and other feudal principality. 13-14 century, its territory is a Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Since 1569 under the Polish-Lithuanian Kingdom. Into the late 18th century Czarist Russia. November 1917 establishment of Soviet power. February 1918 -11 February, most of the territory of Belarus was occupied by German troops. January 1, 1919, the establishment of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. December 3, 1922 to join as founding members of the Soviet Union. 1941 Belarus was occupied by German fascist troops, in June 1944 the Soviet liberation of Belarus. Since 1945, Belarus became the Soviet Union joined the United Nations organizations, one of the three member countries. July 27, 1990, the Supreme Soviet of Belarus through the "Declaration of Sovereignty", 25 August 1991, Belarus declared its independence. December 19 the same year, was renamed the Republic of Belarus. Diplomacy: adherence to multi-directional, focused, centered on the economic interests of the pragmatic foreign policy and opposes NATO's eastward expansion. Relations with China: January 20, 1992, Belarus established diplomatic relations with China.
Brèsckaja