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The Republic of Belarus (be:
Белару́сь, ru: Белору́ссия) is a landlocked
nation of Eastern Europe with the capital Minsk.
Name
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. The name "Byelorussia" is considered derogatory by some,
as it is perceived as remnant of Russian and Soviet imperialism and policies of russification (the full title of the Russian tsar was "Emperor of All the Russias - Great, Minor, and White"). The name "Belarus" is now favoured by these
individuals for this reason.
In English, Belarus and Belarusian are the common terms: they refer to the historical connection with the people known as
Rus' that predated Russians, Ukrainians
or Belarusians.
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 colour 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.
History
Main article: History of Belarus
Politics
Main article: Politics of Belarus
Administrative subdivision
Main article: Subdivisions of Belarus
At the higher administrative level, Belarus is divided into 6 voblasts
and one municipality (horad, i.e., "city"); the latter one is the capial of Belarus.
Voblasts are further subdivided into rayons (usually translated as districts).
Geography
Main article: Geography of Belarus
Belarus is an independent country in Eastern Europe. It borders
Poland and Lithuania on the west,
Russia on the east, Ukraine on the south
and Latvia on the north. Belarus has an area of 207,600 sq km. Although landlocked, it
has 11,000 lakes. Three major rivers run through it: the Neman River, the
Pripyat River, and the Dnepr River. Belarus is relatively flat and marsh-rich. The largest march territory is Palesse. Its highest point at Dzyarzhynskaya Hara (Dzyarzhynsk Hill), 346 m, and its lowest point on the
Neman river, 90 m. The natural resources of Belarus are forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite,
dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, and clay.
List of cities in Belarus
Economy
Main article: Economy of Belarus
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Belarus
Symbols from earlier history
Culture
Main article: Culture of Belarus
Belarusian language, Music of Belarus
Miscellaneous topics
- Communications in Belarus
- Transportation in Belarus
- Military of Belarus
- Foreign relations of Belarus
- Belarusian media
- Public holidays in Belarus
- Chernobyl accident
- Belarus (tractor)
- List of Belarusians
External Links
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