The Republic of Belarus is a landlocked nation of Eastern Europe with the capital Minsk.
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National motto: None | |||||
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 |
2 History 3 Politics 4 Administrative subdivision 5 Geography 6 Economy 7 Demographics 8 Symbols from earlier history 9 Culture 10 Miscellaneous topics 11 External Links |
The spellings Belorussia and Byelorussia are transliterations of the name of the country in Russian and should be considered obsolete.
Historically, in English, Belarus was sometimes referred to as "White Russia" or "White Ruthenia", 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 perceive the name "Byelorussia" as derogatory, as a vestige of Russian and Soviet imperialism and policies of russification. Therefore they speak 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".)
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.
The names, Russia Alba, Russija Alba, Wit Rusland, Weiss Reussen, White Russia, Weiss Russland, may be found on ancient maps predating the Russian Empire. Not less often could be found Ruthenia Alba, Ruthenie Blanche and Weiss Ruthenien for example. However there is much confusion as to the location of this territory: in addition to the approximate territory of modern Belarus quite a few ancient maps put "Ruthenia Alba" over the territory of Muscovy! The explanation may be found in Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii by Sigismund von Herberstein First Muscovian tsars wore white robes -- to distinguish themselves from Byzantine emperors that wore purple and Persian rulers that wore red -- in accordance with the Third Rome doctrine of Russian tsars. So, the Muscovian ruler was called "White Tsar": Sunt qui principem Moscovuiae Album Regem nuncupant. Ego quidem causam diligenter quaerebam, cur Regis Albi nomine appellaretur, or Weisse Reyssen oder weissen Khünig nennen etliche unnd wöllen damit ain underscheid der Reyssen machen (from Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii). This appellation, together with the solemn wording "White Tsardom", was in use till the very end of the Russian Empire. Ultimately, this color was transferred onto the name of White Army, that fought against the Red Army.
It still remains unclear how the name "White Russia" has ultimately become applied to Belarusans. There are a number of speculative hypotheses, however no conclusive documentary evidence has been found for any of them. 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 self-denotation, rather than a later secondary derivative from "Russia".
Another theory suggests that Belarusan ethnos is of blond hair, being close to the Baltic and Scandinavian ones. Still another one is that Belorusians are named after the predominant colour of their traditional (uncolored linen) clothes.
Similar examples of "colored" names in the Slavic ethnos are: White Serbs and White Croats; and in China: Red, Black and Green Miao.
At the higher administrative level, Belarus is divided into 6 voblasts (usually translated as regions or provinces) and one municipality (horad, i.e., "city"); the latter one is a special status of the capial of Belarus.
Belarusian language, Music of Belarus
Name
History
Main article: History of BelarusPolitics
Main article: Politics of BelarusAdministrative subdivision
Voblasts are further subdivided into rayons (usually translated as districts).Geography
Main article: Geography of BelarusEconomy
Main article: Economy of BelarusDemographics
Main article: Demographics of BelarusSymbols from earlier history
Culture
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