Belarus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Flag National emblem
Anthem: Мы, беларусы  (Belarusian)
My, Belarusy  (transliteration)
We Belarusians


Capital
(and largest city) Minsk
27°33′E / 53.917°N 27.55°E / 53.917; 27.55
Official language(s) Belarusian
Russian
Demonym Belarusian
Government Presidential republic
 -  President Alexander Lukashenko
 -  Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky
Independence from the Soviet Union 
 -  Declared 27 July 1990 
 -  Established 25 August 1991 
 -  Completed 25 December 1991 
Area
 -  Total 207,600 km² (85th)
80,155 sq mi 
 -  Water (%) negligible (2.830 km²)¹
Population
 -  2009 estimate 9,648,533[1] (86th)
 -  1999 census 10,045,200 
 -  Density 46.7/km² (142nd)
120.8/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2008 estimate
 -  Total $119.096 billion[2] (59th)
 -  Per capita $12,313[2] (67th)
GDP (nominal) 2008 estimate
 -  Total $60.302 billion[2] (65th)
 -  Per capita $6,234[2] (74th)
Gini (2002) 29.7 (low) 
HDI (2006) ▲ 0.817 (high) (67th)
Currency Belarusian ruble (BYR)
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 -  Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Drives on the right
Internet TLD .by
Calling code 375
¹ "FAO's Information System on Water and Agriculture". FAO. http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/countries/belarus/index.stm. Retrieved 2008-04-04. 

Belarus, pronounced /ˈbɛləruːs/ ( listen) bel-ə-ROOS (Belarusian: Беларусь, Russian: Беларусь or Белоруссия), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe,[3] 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), Mogilev (Mahilyow) and Vitebsk (Viciebsk). Forty percent of the country is forested,[4] 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 Principality of Polotsk, 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 Soviet Union under the terms of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact,[5] 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;[6] 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.[7] 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. The second most popular, Roman Catholicism, has a much smaller following by comparison, but both Orthodox and Catholic Christmas and Easter are officially respected as national holidays.

Etymology

The name Belarus derives from the term White Rus, which first appeared in German and Latin medieval literature. The Latin term for the area was Alba Ruthenia. Historically, the country was referred to in English as White Ruthenia. It is also claimed that White Ruthenia describes the area of Eastern Europe populated by Slavic people or the states that occupied the area.[8] The first known use of White Russia to refer to Belarus was in the late-16th century by Englishman Sir Jerome Horsey.[9] During the 17th century, Russian tsars used White Rus', asserting that they were trying to recapture their heritage from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.[9]

Belarus was named Byelorussia (Russian: Белоруссия) in the days of Russian Empire, and the Russian tsar was usually styled Tsar of All the Russias—Great, Little, and White. Byelorussia was the only Russian language name of the country (its names in other languages such as English being based on the Russian form) until 1991, when the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic decreed by law that the new independent republic should be called Belarus (Беларусь) in Russian and in all other language transcriptions of its name. The change was made to reflect adequately the Belarusian language form of the name.[10]

Accordingly, the name Byelorussia was replaced by Belarus in English,[11] and, to some extent, in Russian (although the traditional name still persists in that language as well); likewise, the adjective Belorussian or Byelorussian was replaced by Belarusian in English (though Russian has not developed a new adjective). Belarusian intelligentsia in the Stalin era attempted to change the name from Byelorussia to a form of Krivia because of the supposed connection with Russia.[12] Some nationalists also object to the name for the same reason.[13][14] However, several popular newspapers published locally still retain the old name of the country in Russian in their names, for example Komsomolskaya Pravda v Byelorussii, which is the localized publication of a popular Russian tabloid. Also, those who wish for Belarus to be reunited with Russia continue to use Byelorussia.[14] Officially, the full name of the country is Republic of Belarus (Рэспубліка Беларусь, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Byelarus').[15] listen (help·info)