Belarus

Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, formerly known by its Russian name Byelorussia or Belorussia, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Since a referendum in 1995, the country has had two official languages: Belarusian and Russian.

Russian (русский язык, tr. rússkiy yazýk) is an East Slavic language, which is an official language in the Russian Federation, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as being widely used throughout Eastern Europe, the Baltic states, the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, formerly known by its Russian name Byelorussia or Belorussia, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest.

It is bordered by Russia to the north-east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west; and Romania, Moldova, and the Black Sea to the south.

Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, formerly known by its Russian name Byelorussia or Belorussia, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest.

From northwest to southeast, Russia shares land borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both with Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and North Korea.

Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, formerly known by its Russian name Byelorussia or Belorussia, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest.

It is bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and Kaliningrad Oblast (a Russian exclave) to the southwest.

Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, formerly known by its Russian name Byelorussia or Belorussia, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest.

Poland is bordered by the Baltic Sea, Lithuania, and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast to the north, Belarus and Ukraine to the east, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to the south, and Germany to the west.

Its capital and most populous city is Minsk.

Minsk (Мінск, traditionally Менск, ; Минск, Mińsk) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, situated on the Svislač and the Nyamiha Rivers.

Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, formerly known by its Russian name Byelorussia or Belorussia, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest.

It is bordered by Estonia to the north, Lithuania to the south, Russia to the east, and Belarus to the southeast, and shares a maritime border with Sweden to the west.

In the aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution, Belarus declared independence as the Belarusian People's Republic, which was conquered by Soviet Russia.

The Belarusian People's Republic (Белару́ская Наро́дная Рэспу́бліка, transliterated as, BNR; Белору́сская Наро́дная Респу́блика), historically referred to as the White Ruthenian Democratic Republic (Weißruthenische Volksrepublik ) was a failed attempt to create a Belarusian state on the territory controlled by the German Imperial Army during World War I.

Until the 20th century, different states at various times controlled the lands of modern-day Belarus, including the Principality of Polotsk (11th to 14th centuries), the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Russian Empire.

The Grand Duchy expanded to include large portions of the former Kievan Rus' and other Slavic lands, including what is now Belarus and parts of Ukraine, Poland and Russia.

Belarus lost almost half of its territory to Poland after the Polish–Soviet War of 1919–1921.

The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 October 1920) was fought by the Second Polish Republic, the Ukrainian People's Republic and the proto-Soviet Union (Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine) over a region comparable to today's westernmost Ukraine and parts of modern Belarus.

Alexander Lukashenko has served as the country's first president since 1994.

Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (Алякса́ндар Рыго́равіч Лукашэ́нка, ;, ; born 30 August 1954) is a Belarusian politician serving as President of Belarus since the office was created on 20 July 1994.

The Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia became a founding constituent republic of the Soviet Union in 1922 and was renamed as the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (Byelorussian SSR).

The Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia or Soviet Socialist Republic of Belarus (SSRB; Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка Беларусь, Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika Biełaruś; Социалистическая Советская Республика Белоруссия / ССРБ, Socialističeskaja Sovetskaja Respublika Belorussija / SSRB) was an early republic in the historical territory of Belarus after the collapse of the Russian Empire as a result of the October Revolution.

The Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia became a founding constituent republic of the Soviet Union in 1922 and was renamed as the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (Byelorussian SSR).

Ten days later on 25 August 1991, Byelorussian SSR declared its independence and renamed to the Republic of Belarus.

Until the 20th century, different states at various times controlled the lands of modern-day Belarus, including the Principality of Polotsk (11th to 14th centuries), the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Russian Empire.

The Principality was supposedly established around the ancient town of Polotsk (modern Polatsk, Belarus) by the tribal union of Krivichs.

Belarus is also the last country in Europe using the death penalty.

]]Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Belarus.

Since a referendum in 1995, the country has had two official languages: Belarusian and Russian.

It is the official language of Belarus, along with the Russian language.

The Constitution of Belarus does not declare any official religion, although the primary religion in the country is Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

The Constitution of the Republic of Belarus is the ultimate law of Belarus.

Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, formerly known by its Russian name Byelorussia or Belorussia, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest.

Eastern Europe is formed by countries with dominant Eastern Orthodox churches, like Belarus, Bulgaria, Greece, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Serbia, and Ukraine for instance.

More than 80% of the population is ethnic Belarusian, with sizable minorities of Russians, Poles and Ukrainians.

Belarusians ; also Byelorussians (from the Byelorussian SSR), are an East Slavic ethnic group who are native to modern-day Belarus and the immediate region.

Belarus is a member of the United Nations since its founding, the Commonwealth of Independent States, CSTO, EEU, and the Non-Aligned Movement.

The Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union was signed on 29 May 2014 by the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, and came into force on 1 January 2015.

The Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia became a founding constituent republic of the Soviet Union in 1922 and was renamed as the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (Byelorussian SSR).

Throughout the Cold War, this right was widely considered to be meaningless; however, the corresponding Article 72 of the 1977 Constitution was used in December 1991 to effectively dissolve the Soviet Union, when Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus seceded from the Union.

Belarus has shown no aspirations for joining the European Union but nevertheless maintains a bilateral relationship with the organisation, and likewise participates in two EU projects: the Eastern Partnership and the Baku Initiative.

Euro-Belarusian relations refers to relations between the Republic of Belarus and the European Union (EU).

More than 80% of the population is ethnic Belarusian, with sizable minorities of Russians, Poles and Ukrainians.

There are also Polish minorities in the surrounding countries including (Germany), and indigenous minorities in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, northern and eastern Lithuania, western Ukraine, and western Belarus.

The second-most widespread religion, Roman Catholicism, has a much smaller following; nevertheless, Belarus celebrates both Orthodox and Catholic versions of Christmas and Easter as national holidays.

National holidays in Belarus are classified into state holidays and other holidays and commemorative days, including religious holidays.

Belarus has shown no aspirations for joining the European Union but nevertheless maintains a bilateral relationship with the organisation, and likewise participates in two EU projects: the Eastern Partnership and the Baku Initiative.

The Eastern Partnership (EaP) is a joint initiative of the European External Action Service of the European Union (EU) together with EU, its Member States, and six Eastern European Partners governing its relationship with the post-Soviet states of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine.