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What is Belarus |
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This page differs from the Russian version. To feel the realities from the other edge of life, please, read Russian text.
 
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A little general info about Belarus
Belarus is situated in Central Europe.
The territory of the republic is 207 thousand square kilometers (which just about the territory of Great Britain or Romania) populated by 10.2 mln. citizens, 70% of them are urban.
About one fifth of the population live in the city of Minsk - the capital of Belarus.
Distance from Minsk to Warsaw is 500 km, to Moskow - 700 km.
Length of Belarus: 560 kilometres from North to South, 650 kilometres from East to West.
The surface is mainly flat; the average altitude is about 160 m.
The climate in Belarus is moderate continental. The average temperatures in Minsk in January are -6 degrees centigrade, in July +17 degrees centigrade.
Belarus is known as a river- and lakeland. There are nature reserves (Berezina's bioenviromental) and three national parks (Belvezhskaja puscha, Braslav lakes, Pripijat's).
Coniferous, leaf-bearing and mixed forests cover about one third of the territory. Common trees of forests are pinetrees, birch, oaktree, aspen, alder. The animals are swine, elk, beaver, wolf, hare, deer, bear.
People speak mainly Russian, but there are people who speak Belarussian (similar to Polish). Mostly the religions of Belarussians are Orthodox and Catholic, but there also are Uniats, Protestants, Muslims, Judaists.
Culture interests are theatres, cinemas, politics, immigration :|, fishing, tours in the forests for mushrooms and berries (blueberries, raspberries and wild strawberries), gardening near own bungalows.
Places to see are churches, cathedrals, monasteries and nunneries, castles, ancient buildings and ruins of them, provincial towns, majestic hills and deep blue lakes. Just try driving through the our country!
Average monthly salary is $40 - $100.
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She is a happy Belarusian mother from the Peramont village with three infants. She has already had three children. Thus she is mother of six.
Can she happy be with us? Does it depend on society?
This photo was taken from
"The Star" Belarussian newspaper.
July, 20. 1999
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The history
of the Byelorussian people is complex. This complexity
demonstrates a discrepancy between the ethnographic
area settled by the Byelorussians and the present-day
political borders of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist
Republic.
The BSSR was established on January 1I,
1919, and in 1945 became one of the founding members
of the United Nations.
The formation of the Byelorussian ethnos began
as early as the 6th century when Slavic tribes moved
into the area and merged peacefully with the Baltic
inhabitants. This process of ethnic interaction lasted
well into the 19th century.
The area known today as Belarus (Byelorussia,
also spelled Belorussia, in earlier translation White
Russia) had been called in part Byelaya (white) Rus.
Chornaya (black) Rus, and Litva (Lithuania).
The first political entity on Byelorussian teritory
goes back to the 9th century when the Polatsak (Polotsk) principality was a powerful state in Eastern
Europe. In the 13th century a new polity emerged
on the territories of what today is western Byelorussia
and eastern Lithuania — the Grand Duchy of Litva,
Rus, and Samogitia, currently known as the Grand
Duchy of Lithuania.
As the Grand Duchy grew territorially, Byelorussia
became its central part with the Byelorussian language
being established as the language of chancellary,
courts, and of a vast literature. The 16th century is
described today as the Golden Age of Byelorussian
history. In 1517 the Bible was translated into Old
Byelorussian by Francysk Skaryna. One of the greatest
monuments of the Byelorussian language and jurisprudence is the code of laws of that time, the Statute
of the Grand Duchy of Litva, Rus and Samogitia. Byelorussian history of the times of the GDL (14th-
18th cc.) is rich in achievements and drama. Many Byelorussian cities and towns prospered
under self-government (the Magdeburgian Law), trade and commerce
thrived, printing shops were numerous, the arts and
literature enjoyed wide popularity. The population
of the city of Vilnia (Vilnius), the capital of the GDL,
was largely Orthodox and settled in the majority by
Byelorussians. However, because of the geopolitical
situation, Byelorussia suffered much from the age-long
Russo-Polish conflict and, in fact, became hostage in
this historic clash, suffering many territorial setbacks
and extensive cultural destruction.
Although the name, Byelaya Rus (Byelorussia)
is of an ancient origin, it was itinerant for a number
of centuries and until the end of the 19th century
considerable territories did not coincide terminologically with those settled by the Byelorussian people.
The latter were most commonly known, in the period
of the 14th-18th cc. as litsviny or litovtsy ("Lithuanians").
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Write me what you want to know about Belarus and I will answer your questions. Eugene Kardash
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