External Links to:
Pictures from Belarus |
Using
this link to Belarus:
You Will Read About Her Culture: Religion, Architecture, Science Diversity Education,
Music, Fine Arts, Crafts, Clothing, Ceramics, Poetry Cinematography, Sports, Heraldry,
Game, Theatre, Recipes, Glorious Past and Her Present-Day Resources. Moreover, See
Pictures of Belarus, Map of Belarus and more.
Culture of Belarus
See Photos of many Churches
Pictures of Belarus
Photos from Belarus:
studentsoftheworld
Author Ira, 16 y.o., Volcovysk, Belarus
(2001)
Pictures of Belarus Villages:
www.exploitz.com |
External Links to: Belarussian History : |
Abridged
history of Belarus: White
Russia
One of the most informative sites on the Web. Timeline
of Belarussian History
One of the best Websites:
The Virtual guide to Belarus
Another Good Site
Permanent Mission of the Republic of Belarus to
the United Nations
The Polish-Lithuanian alliance exerted a profound
influence on the history of Eastern Europe (see fig. 3). Poland and Lithuania
would maintain joint statehood for more than 400 years, and over the first three centuries
of that span the "Commonwealth of Two Nations" ranked as one of the leading
powers of the continent."
Read about the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
depts.washington.edu
/baltic/papers
/grandduchy.htm
BSU Republic of Belarus Univesity |
Encyclopedia/Dictionary Online |
Belarus
Location: Eastern Europe, east of Poland
Map Reference: Commonwealth of Independent States
Boundaries: Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 407 km,
Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km km
Comparative Area: slightly smaller than Kansas
Area Land: 207,600.0 sq km, Area Water: 0.0 sq
km
Climate: cold winters, cool and moist summers;
transitional between continental and maritime
Terrain: generally flat and contains much marshland
Natural Resources: forests, peat deposits, small quantities
of oil and natural gas
Population: 10,366,719 (July 2000 est.)
Ethnic groups: Byelorussian 77.9%, Russian 13.2%, Polish
4.1%, Ukrainian 2.9%, other 1.9%
Religions: Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman
Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.)
Languages: Byelorussian, Russian, other
Government type: republic
Currency: Belarusian ruble (BR)
Economy
Belarus has seen little structural reform since 1995, when
President LUKASHENKO launched the country on the path of "market socialism." In
keeping with this policy, LUKASHENKO reimposed administrative controls over prices and
currency exchange rates and expanded the state's right to intervene in the management of
private enterprise. In addition to the burdens imposed by high inflation and persistent
trade deficits, businesses have been subject to pressure on the part of central and local
governments, e.g., arbitrary changes in regulations, numerous rigorous inspections,
retroactive application of new business regulations, and arrests of "disruptive"
businessmen and factory owners. A wide range of redistributive policies help those at the
bottom of the ladder. Close relations with Russia, possibly leading to reunion, color the
pattern of economic developments. For the time being, Belarus remains self-isolated from
the West and its open-market economies.
| GDP -- purchasing power parity --
$85 billion (2002 est.) |
| GDP -- composition by sector: --
agriculture 15%, industry 40%, services 45% (2002 est.) |
| Labor force: -- 4.8 million (2000) |
| Labor force - by occupation: --
industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA% |
| Industries: -- metal-cutting machine
tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers,
fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators |
Slavs
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Society > Ethnicity
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A Little of Belarussian & Slavic
History
Early Belarussian
History
"Belarus's origins can be traced from the emergence in
the late ninth century A.D. of Kievan Rus', the first East Slavic state. After the death
of its ruler, Prince Yaroslav the Wise, in 1054, Kievan Rus' split into a number of
principalities, each centered on a city. One, Polatsk (Polotsk, in Russian), became the
nucleus of modern-day Belarus.
In 1240, after the Tatar overthrow of
Kiev, the dominant principality of Kievan Rus', Belorussia and part of Ukraine came under
the control of Lithuania. The resulting state was called the Grand Duchy of Lithuania,
Rus', and Samogitia (see fig.
3). Because territories inhabited by East Slavs made up about 90 percent of the Grand
Duchy, they exerted a great cultural influence on the new state. Official business was
conducted in a Slavic language (a predecessor of both Belorussian and Ukrainian) based on Old Church Slavonic (see
Glossary), and the law code was based on that of Kievan Rus'."
Belarussia, Poland, and Catholicism
"The Union of Krevo (1385), which joined Poland and
the Grand Duchy in a confederation, hinged on Lithuanian Grand Duke Jogaila's conversion
from paganism to Roman Catholicism and his subsequent marriage to twelve-year-old Queen
Jadwiga of Poland. Thus he became Wladyslaw II Jagiello, king of Poland. Poland and
Lithuania were later united into a single state, the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth, by the
Union of Lublin (1569).
When Roman Catholicism became the
official religion of Lithuania shortly after Jagiello's conversion, the Lithuanian and
Belorussian nobilities began converting from Orthodoxy to Catholicism and assimilating
Polish culture (including the language), a process accelerated by the Union of Lublin. As
a result, the Belorussian peasantry was ruled by those who shared neither their language
nor its religion, Eastern Orthodoxy.
The Union of Brest (1596), which united the Roman Catholic Church with
the part of the Orthodox Church that was within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, was
viewed favorably by both the Polish king, Sigismund III, and a number of Orthodox bishops,
clergy, and faithful. The new Uniate Church (see
Glossary) acknowledged the supremacy of the Roman Catholic pope and accepted articles of
Roman Catholic religious doctrine. In return, the Uniate Church retained its traditional
Orthodox rites and customs as well as a measure of autonomy in nondoctrinal matters; it
was also given the same rights and privileges as the Roman Catholic Church. However, fear
of the new church's becoming Latinized and Polonized (see
Glossary) caused many of the Orthodox faithful to reject the union, and the Orthodox
Church continued to exist alongside the Uniate Church in an often bitter struggle.
In the aftermath of the Union of Brest, both civil and religious
authorities persecuted the Orthodox Church and supported the Uniates in their takeover of
Orthodox property. Social conditions deteriorated, there was a large-scale revolt against
Polish landowners in 1648-54 (coinciding with the Khmel'nyts'kyi rebellion in Ukraine),
and many Belorussians fled to the Ukrainian steppes to join the Cossacks (see
Glossary). There was little economic development in Belorussian lands, and the vast
majority of the Belorussian population lived on subsistence agriculture.
-- The Library
of Congress/Country Studies
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