Belarus, a country of about 9.5 million people which gained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, has a troubled record on human rights that has complicated its relationships with the U.S. and the EU for almost all its independence. Belarusian language was banned in schools while in neighboring Samogitia primary school education with Samogitian literacy was allowed. [242] Minority groups include: Russians (7.5%), Poles (3.1%), and Ukrainians (1.7%). Putin and Xi by the Numbers - CEPA . [190], The judicial system in Belarus lacks independence and is subject to political interference. Belarus is dependent on Russia for imports of raw materials and for its export market. The Neman flows westward towards the Baltic sea and the Pripyat flows eastward to the Dnieper; the Dnieper flows southward towards the Black Sea. Stalin's purges 1930s - Belarus. Opposition parties are permitted, but they have had little electoral success. People with old Belarusian national flags shout during an opposition rally in August in Minsk, Belarus. East Germany & the True Test of a Civilization Since 2004, Belarus has been sending artists to the Eurovision Song Contest. [223] [65], The Belarusian People's Republic was the first attempt to create an independent Belarusian state under the name "Belarus". Beltelecom owns all the backbone channels that linked to the Lattelecom, TEO LT, Tata Communications (former Teleglobe), Synterra, Rostelecom, Transtelekom and MTS ISPs. [70], The western part of modern Belarus remained part of the Second Polish Republic. [219], The currency of Belarus is the Belarusian ruble. [157], In the 2020 presidential election, Lukashenko won again with official results giving him 80% of the vote, leading to mass protests. The self-naming of Goths was Gutans and Gytos, which are close to Gudija. Is Belarus in the EU? He was named by Svetlana Alexievich, the Belarusian winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature 2015, as "her main teacher, who helped her to find a path of her own". China is one of the few remaining Communist countries. USD. [155][156] Six months later amid an unprecedented economic crisis, activists utilized social networking to initiate a fresh round of protests characterized by wordless hand-clapping. Angela Davis, 79, was . The European Union and the United Kingdom did not recognise the result and the EU imposed sanctions. Much of the northern section of this area was added to the Byelorussian SSR, and now constitutes West Belarus. Vietnam. (ed. [198] Lithuanian authorities and top European officials Ursula von der Leyen, Josep Borrell condemned the usage of migrants as a weapon and suggested that Belarus could be subject to further sanctions. Belarus claim another medal at Children of Asia Games 10 Most Censored Countries - Committee to Protect Journalists Angela Davis discovers her ancestor came to the US on Mayflower Geopolitically, Belarus. [164] Travel bans imposed by the European Union have been lifted in the past in order to allow Lukashenko to attend diplomatic meetings and also to engage his government and opposition groups in dialogue. "We wish you success . It is one of the most equal countries in the world,[215] with one of the lowest Gini-coefficient measures of national resource distribution, and its ranks 82nd in GDP per capita .Belarus has trade relations with over 180 countries. [79] Most of Western Belarus became part of the Reichskommissariat Ostland in 1941, but in 1943 the German authorities allowed local collaborators to set up a client state, the Belarusian Central Council. Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. At the talks in Beijing Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko congratulated Xi Jinping on the great trust demonstrated by the Chinese people at the National Congress of the Chinese Communist . The first coins of the Republic of Belarus were issued on 27 December 1996. The first one was the 2004 RussiaBelarus energy dispute when Russian energy giant Gazprom ceased the import of gas into Belarus because of price disagreements. Current Communist Countries: China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam. [232] The ruble was reintroduced with new values in 2000 and has been in use ever since. The Byelorussian SSR was the hardest-hit Soviet republic in World War II; it remained in Nazi hands until 1944. After seven decades as a constituent republic of the USSR, Belarus attained its independence in 1991. The present borders of Belarus were established during the turmoil of the World War Two. Since then, it has maintained close economic and political ties with Russia. The biggest of these was the Soviet Union (The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) which was made up of countries such as Russia, Belarus, Latvia, Ukraine, Georgia and a number of other countries. The unemployment rate, according to government statistics, was 1.5% in 2005. . .., 1939. [122] About 70% of the radiation from neighboring Ukraine's 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster entered Belarusian territory, and about a fifth of Belarusian land (principally farmland and forests in the southeastern regions) was affected by radiation fallout. [47] Of the principalities held by the duchy, nine of them were settled by a population that would eventually become the Belarusians. By one hypothesis the word derives from the Old Prussian name Gudwa, which, in turn, is related to the form udwa, which is a distorted version of Sudwa, Sudovia. According to Article 16 of the Constitution, Belarus has no official religion. While the world has just five truly communist countries, socialist countries (countries whose constitutions include statements about the protection and rule of the working class) are relatively common Examples include Portugal, Sri Lanka, India, Guinea-Bissau, and Tanzania. As of 2015[update], 69.9% of Belarus's population is aged 14 to 64; 15.5% is under 14, and 14.6% is 65 or older. [107][108][109][110][111] Neither is Lukashenko recognized as the legitimate president of Belarus by the European Union, Canada, the United Kingdom nor the United States. [200] Following the granting of humanitarian visas to an Olympic athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya and her husband, Poland also accused Belarus for organizing a hybrid warfare as the number of migrants crossing the BelarusPoland border sharply increased multiple times when compared to the 2020 statistics. Belarus overthrow campaign aims to destroy last traces of Soviet To show hospitality, a host traditionally presents an offering of bread and salt when greeting a guest or visitor.[273]. Countries Sanctioned by the U.S. and Why - Investopedia The depreciation was even steeper on the black market and financial collapse seemed imminent as citizens rushed to exchange their rubles for dollars, euros, durable goods, and canned goods. While the freedom of worship is granted in the same article, religious organizations deemed harmful to the government or social order can be prohibited. [134], The term for each presidency is five years. Religious Belief and National Belonging in Central and Eastern Europe Lukashenko won the election with 80% of the vote; the Russian Federation and the CIS deemed the vote open and fair[152] while the OSCE and other organizations called the election unfair. [139] The armed forces were formed in 1992 using parts of the former Soviet Armed Forces on the new republic's territory. [122], Natural resources include peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomite (limestone), marl, chalk, sand, gravel, and clay. This is only a partial archive of certain expired general licenses likely to be of interest -- it is not an exhaustive list of every general license that may relate to OFAC sanctions programs. The takeover was partially due to the lack of military coordination of the Balts, but their gradual assimilation into Slavic culture was peaceful in nature. Belarus is a presidential republic. From 1 July until 31 December 2016, the old and new currencies were in parallel circulation and series 2000 notes and coins can be exchanged for series 2009 from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2021. Belarusian Culture - The Culture Of Belarus - WorldAtlas [269][270], The traditional Belarusian dress originates from the Kievan Rus' period. Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe.It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. [248], Belarus's Catholic minority is concentrated in the western part of the country, especially around Grodno, consisting in a mixture of Belarusians and the country's Polish and Lithuanian minorities. [274] Tennis player Victoria Azarenka became the first Belarusian to win a Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open in 2012. [60], In a Russification drive in the 1840s, Nicholas I prohibited use of the Belarusian language in public schools, campaigned against Belarusian publications and tried to pressure those who had converted to Catholicism under the Poles to reconvert to the Orthodox faith. [132] Belarus and Lithuania ratified final border demarcation documents in February 2007.[133]. [189] Belarus is the only European country still using capital punishment having carried out executions in 2011. [210][211] The councils are elected by their residents, and have executive committees appointed by their executive committee chairs. Communism - National Geographic Society [128] Belarus has an average annual rainfall of 550 to 700mm (21.7 to 27.6in). [206] The Regions are further subdivided into 118 raions, commonly translated as districts (Belarusian: ; Russian: ). [41] The region was first permanently settled by Baltic tribes in the 3rd century. Users of this site are cautioned that new general licenses may be enacted, revoked or amended at any time; accordingly, the list and attachments made . ", "The Russo-Polish Historical Confrontation", "Belarusian": UCLA Language Materials Project, , "Europe's Last Dictatorship Is Opposed by the Oldest Exiled Government in the World", "War, Population Displacement and State Formation in the Russian Borderlands 19141924", "Stosunki polsko-biaoruskie pod okupacj sowieck (19391941)", Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin, "Andrei Gromyko Dies, Was Soviet Diplomat for 50 Years", "Belarus: Five things you may not know about the country", Republic of Belarus Presidential Election 19 March 2006: OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission Report, "Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions", "Standing up for Free and Fair Elections in Belarus", Belarus election 'neither free nor fair,' says UN human rights expert, "Belarus poll workers describe fraud in Aug. 9 election", "Lukashenka vs. democracy: Where is Belarus heading? Its population is also aging; the median age of 3034 is estimated to rise to between 60 and 64 in 2050. [84] In 1986, the Byelorussian SSR was contaminated with most (70%) of the nuclear fallout from the explosion at the Chernobyl power plant located 16km beyond the border in the neighboring Ukrainian SSR. Since his election as president in 1994, Alexander Lukashenko has consolidated his rule over all institutions and undermined the rule of law through . Each chamber has the ability to veto any law passed by local officials if it is contrary to the constitution. In my message of congratulations that reflected the position of me as the President of Belarus and my family, I honestly admitted that we were really worried about the outcomes of the congress of the Chinese Communist Party. Why Belarus is so involved in Russia's invasion of Ukraine Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. has ruled the ex-Soviet country with an iron fist . On January 31, 1992, the U.S. Embassy . [103] Around the same time the 2011 Minsk Metro bombing occurred in which 15 people were killed and 204 were injured. "People in these countries are virtually isolated from the rest of the world by authoritarian rulers who muzzle the media and keep a chokehold on information through restrictive laws, fear, and intimidation," said CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper. As of March 2022, countries or regions subject to U.S. sanctions (either unilaterally or in part) include Afghanistan, the Balkans, Belarus, Burma, Central African Republic, Cuba, Democratic. [220][221] Important agricultural products include potatoes and cattle byproducts, including meat. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is in the midst of a three-day visit to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping . [205] Each region has a provincial legislative authority, called a region council (Belarusian: ; Russian: ), which is elected by its residents, and a provincial executive authority called a region administration (Belarusian: ; Russian: ), whose chairman is appointed by the president. [168] Belarus, country of eastern Europe. [37], In Lithuanian, besides Baltarusija (White Russia), Belarus is also called Gudija. [158], The Byelorussian SSR was one of the two Soviet republics that joined the United Nations along with the Ukrainian SSR as one of the original 51 members in 1945. [170] Belarus also has strong ties with Syria,[171] considered a key partner in the Middle East. However, its 60th place ranking in the United Nations' Human Development Index places it in the category of states with; "very high" human development. [243] Minsk, the nation's capital and largest city, was home to 1,937,900 residents in 2015[update]. [247] There are about 0.87 males per female in Belarus. But since the mid-20th century, the number of Jews has been reduced by the Holocaust, deportation, and emigration, so that today it is a very small minority of less than one percent. Its net migration rate is +0.38 per 1,000, indicating that Belarus experiences slightly more immigration than emigration. (Eng. Dallas, TX: SIL International. Settlements without their own local council and executive committee are called territorial units (Belarusian: ; Russian: ). The official version of events as publicised by the Belarusian government was questioned in the unprecedented wording of the UN Security Council statement condemning "the apparent terrorist attack" intimating the possibility that the Belarusian government itself was behind the bombing. Alice Neel's Communist Manifesto - ArtReview [180], Belarus has not expressed a desire to join NATO but has participated in the Individual Partnership Program since 1997,[181] and Belarus provided refueling and airspace support for the ISAF mission in Afghanistan. [51] This union set in motion the developments that eventually resulted in the formation of the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth, created in 1569 by the Union of Lublin. [81] The Jewish population of Belarus was devastated during the Holocaust and never recovered. [139], In the 2012 parliamentary election, 105 of the 110 members elected to the House of Representatives were not affiliated with any political party. [253] The Lipka Tatars, numbering over 15,000, are predominantly Muslims. Belarus - Countries - Office of the Historian [218] [130][131], Belarus borders five countries: Latvia to the north, Lithuania to the northwest, Poland to the west, Russia to the north and the east, and Ukraine to the south. From manipulated elections, to a centrally planned economy, 275-316) The Romanian Patronal System of Public Corruption (pp. A national constitution was adopted in March 1994 in which the functions of prime minister were given to the President of Belarus. During that time, 209 out of 290 towns and cities were destroyed, 85% of the republic's industry, and more than one million buildings. [194] In an interview from September 2020 Lukashenko claimed that detainees faked their bruises, saying, "Some of the girls there had their butts painted in blue". State structure of the Republic of Belarus | Official Internet Portal ", "Belarus Economic Crisis Deepens as Currency Plunges", "Security Council Press Statement on Minsk Bombing | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases", "Belarus's Protests Aren't Particularly Anti-Putin", "Protests in Belarus continue despite challenger's departure", "Belarus asks Lithuania to extradite opposition leader Tsikhanouskaya", "Lithuania to Belarus: 'Rather watch hell freeze over' than deliver Tsikhanouskaya", "Headquarters of Tsikhanouskaya, Coordination Council and National Anti-Crisis Management", "Belarus protests: Why Poland is backing the opposition", "Belarus opposition leader: Foreign mediation may be needed", "El Pais interview with HR/VP Borrell: "Lukashenko is like Maduro.