Belarus
nds:WittrusslandThe Republic of Belarus is a landlocked nation of Eastern Europe with the capital Minsk.
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| National motto: None | |||||
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| Official languages | Belarusian, Russian | ||||
| Capital | Minsk | ||||
| President | Aleksandr Lukashenko | ||||
| Prime Minister | Sergey Sidorsky | ||||
| President (in Exile) | Ivonka Survilla | ||||
| Area - Total - % water | Ranked 84th 207,600 km² Negligible | ||||
| Population
- Total (2002) - Density | Ranked 74th
10,350,194 50/km² | ||||
| Independence
- Declared - Recognised | (Event Xxxx)
1990 (Year) | ||||
| Currency | Belarusian Rouble | ||||
| Time zone | UTC +2 | ||||
| National anthem | My Bielarusy | ||||
| Internet TLD | .BY | ||||
| Calling Code | 375 | ||||
| Table of contents |
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2 History 3 Politics 4 Voblastsi 5 Geography 6 Economy 7 Demographics 8 Culture 9 Miscellaneous topics 10 External Links |
Belarus is also spelled Belorussia, Byelorussia, and in other variants in the English language but the present government prefers "Belarus". Historically, in English, Belarus was sometimes referred to as "White Russia", a literal translation of its name. This literal translation is also used in a number of other languages, e.g., "Weissrussland" in German and "Baltarusija" (Baltarus, today) in Lithuanian. Some Belarusians perceived the name "Byelorussia" as derogatory, as a vestige of Russian and Soviet imperialism and policies of russification. Therefore they spoke strongly in favor of the name "Belarus". (For example, the full title of the Russian tsar said "Emperor of the Whole Russia, Great, Minor, and White".) However, the names Russia Alba, Russija Alba, Wit Rusland, Weiss Reussen, White Russia, Weiss Russland, may be found on ancient maps predating the Russian Empire. In English, Belarus and Belarusian are the common terms: they refer to the historical connection with the people known as Ruś that predated Russians, Ukrainians or Belarusianss.
There are a number of speculative hypotheses explaining the name's origin. However no conclusive documentary evidence has been found for any of these theories. One such theory is based upon the accepted fact that the Belarusian ethnos is formed primarily by the historical interactions amongst slavic and baltic ethnicities. The root "balt-" means "white" in languages and dialects of Baltic group, e.g., in Lithuanian and Latvian. Hence "Baltic Sea" (Balta jura in Lithuanian) is literally "white sea". Thus "Balta Rusija" could have been the original name, rather than a later derivative of "Russia". Another theory is that Belorusians are named after the predominant colour of their traditional clothes. Similar examples in the Slavic ethnos are: White Serbs and White Croats; and in China: Red, Black and Green Miao.
Belarus is divided into 6 voblastsi (singular - voblasts') and one municipality (harady, singular - horad):
Belarusian language, Music of Belarus
Name
History
Main article: History of BelarusPolitics
Main article: Politics of BelarusVoblastsi
Main article: Voblastsi of Belarus
Note: voblasti have the administrative center name following in parentheses.Geography
Main article: Geography of Belarus
Economy
Main article: Economy of BelarusDemographics
Main article: Demographics of BelarusCulture
Main article: Culture of Belarus
| Date | English Name | Local Name | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 1 | New Year | Novy Hod | |
| January 7 | Orthodox Christmas | ||
| January 14 | Orthodox New Year | ||
| March 8 | International Women's Day | ||
| March 15 | Constitution Day | Adopted in 1994 | |
| May 1 | International Labor Day | ||
| May 9 | Victory Day | Denotes the victory against Germany in World War II | |
| July 3 | Independence Day | ||
| December 25 | Catholic Christmas | ||
| Movable | Catholic Easter | ||
| Movable | Orthodox Easter | ||
| 9 days after Orthodox Easter | Commemoration Day | Radunica | |
Miscellaneous topics
External Links
