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• Belarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe that shares its borders with Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. A third of the country is forested, and agriculture and manufacturing are its strongest economic sectors.

• Fast Facts:

  1. Capital: Minsk
  2. Government: Presidential Republic
  3. Population: 9,724,723
  4. Currency: Belarusian ruble
  5. 2,144.50 Exchange Rate
  6. Official Language: Belarusian

• History

  Until the 20th Century the area of modern-day Belarus belonged to several countries, including the Duchy of Polatsk, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Russian Empire. In 1939, modern borders of the ethnically Belarusian lands were created after being annexed by the USSR and attached to Soviet Belarus. The territory and its nation were devastated in World War II, during which Belarus lost about a quarter of its population and more than half of its economic resources.

  After seven decades Belarus gained its independence on August 25, 1991. Nevertheless it has retained closer political and economic ties with Russia than any other former soviet states. Alexandr Lukashenko, the country's first president, has steadily consolidated his power through authoritarian means since his election in 1994.

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Belarusian | Russia | Soviet Union | Ukraine | Poland | Latvia | Minsk | Brest | Gomel | Chernobyl | Germany | Lithuania | Azerbaijan | Latvian

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