Belarus Info

Belarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordering Russia to the east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk and other major cities include Brest, Grodno, Gomel, Mogilev and Vitebsk. One third of the country is forested, and industries such as agriculture and manufacturing are staples of the Belarusian economy.

History of the name Belarus Info:
Historically, the country was referred to in English as "White Russia", although this is not exactly correct. The correct translation is "White Rus'", which either describes the area of Eastern Europe populated by Slavic people or the various states that occupied the area. The first known use of the term "White Russia" to refer to Belarus was in the late sixteenth century by Englishman Sir Jerome Horsey. He used the term to describe areas of Ivan the Terrible's empire. During the seventeenth century, the Russian tsars used "White Rus'", asserting that they were trying to recapture their heritage from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Belarus was named "Belorussia" in the days of Imperial Russia, and the Russian tsar was usually styled "Emperor of All the Russias Great, Little, and White". This practice continued throughout the Soviet era, with the country taking the official name of the "Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic". Uses and spellings of the word Belarusian. Officially, the full name of the country is the Republic of Belarus........

Belarus History Info:
Between the sixth and the twelfth centuries, what is now known as Belarus was settled by the Slavs, who still dominate the country. The Early East Slavs gradually came into contact with the Varangians and were organized by them under the state of Kievan Rus'. In the thirteenth century, several of the separate Ruthenian principalities were badly affected by a Mongol invasion. Later, parts of Rus were swallowed up by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Most of its population was ethnically slavonic. Slavonic lands enjoyed limited autonomy within Lithuanian state. Sometimes it is wrongly supposed that Belarusian was the official language of the state, because Latin, Old Russian (Ruthenian) and Polish were used side by side in state affairs. Belarusian language was born only in a middle of 19th century when Russian speakers in modern day Belarusian territory were subject to a heavy Polish cultural influence. At the beginning of 17th century Old Russian language was banned in Lithuania and replaced by Polish which was dominant for centuries already. Therefore the use of Old Russian (Old Slavonic-Ruthenian) was allowed in Ruthenian autonomies (principalities). Belarusian lands were easily incorporated into the Duchy within the next one hundred years, because of the strength of Lithuania and the threat of Mongols on modern day Belarusian lands. During this time, the Duchy was involved with battles between different forces. One of the major battles was between the Duchy and the Teutonic Knights at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410. The Duchy won the battle and the victory allowed the Duchy to control the North-western borders of Eastern Europe. Other miltary battles took place between the Duchy and the Mongols and the Turks, resulting in military victories for the Duchy. By the fifteenth century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania stretched across much of Eastern Europe, spanning from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. On February 2, 1386, Grand Duke of Lithuania Jogaila was crowned King of Poland, and allied the Grand Duchy with Kingdom of Poland in a personal union. The union was formed between Jogaila and the daughter of King Luis of Poland, Jadwiga, by marriage. This was seen by the Polish as a move to end a union with Hungary. In the early parts of the This personal union eventually resulted in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, a federation created in 1569. The Muscovites, led by Tsar Ivan the III, began military conquests in 1486 to try and gain the Kievan Rus' lands, specifically Belarus and Ukraine. The union between Poland and Lithuania ended in 1795, with the commonwealth partitioned and annexed by Imperial Russia, Prussia, and Austria. Belarusian territories remained part of the Russian Empire until they were occupied by Germany during World War I. Belarus first declared independence on 25 March 1918, forming the Belarusian People's Republic. The Republic, however, was short-lived, and was overthrown soon after the German withdrawal. In 1919, Belarus became the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR). After Russian occupation of eastern and northern Lithuania, it was merged into the Lithuanian-Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. After the Polish-Soviet War ended in 1921, Byelorussian lands were split between Poland and the Bolsheviks, and the recreated Byelorussian SSR became a founding member of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922. In September 1939, as a result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet Union invaded Poland and annexed its eastern lands, including majority of Polish-held Byelorussian land. In 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Byelorussia was occupied soon after and remained in Nazi hands until 1944. Over one million buildings were destroyed and the human losses totaled over two million Belarusians. The population of Belarus did not regain its pre-war level until 1971. After the war ended, Byelorussia was among the fifty-one signatories to the founding of the United Nations Charter in 1945. After the war, Belarus began a process of rebuilding, with help from Moscow. There appears to be a movement in Belarus towards reuniting with Russia.



Geography of Belarus Info:
Belarus is landlocked, relatively flat, and contains large tracts of marshy land. Lakes and rivers punctuate the country. The largest marsh territory is Polesie, which is among the largest marshes in Europe. There are 11,000 lakes in Belarus, but the majority of the lakes are smaller than 0.5 square kilometres (124 acres). Three major rivers run through the country; the Neman River, the Pripyat River, and the Dnepr River. Belarus' highest point is Dzyarzhynskaya Hara (Dzyarzhynsk Hill), 345 metres (1,132 ft), and its lowest point is on the Neman River, 90 metres (295 ft). Forest covers about 34% of the total landscape, making forestry products one of the most abundant natural resources in Belarus. Other natural resources found in Belarus include peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomite (limestone), marl, chalk, sand, gravel, and clay.

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