Official Name:
Respublika Bielarus
int'l long form: Republic of Belarus
int'l short form: Belarus
formerly: Belorussia, Byelorussia
ISO Country Code: by
Time:
Time Zone: Eastern European Time
Local Time = UTC +2h (summer +3)
Actual Time: Tue-July-21 18:18
Capital City: Minsk
Other Cities: Baranovichi, Bobruysk, Brest,
Gomel, Grodno, Hrodna, Mogilev, Polotsk, Vitebsk.
Government:
Type: Republic
Independence: 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union).
Geography:
Location: Eastern Europe.
Area: 207 600 sq. km. (80 100 sq. mi.)
Terrain: Landlocked, generally flat with thick forests, much marshland and fields.
Climate: Cold winters, cool and moist summers, transitional between continental and maritime.
People:
Nationality: Belarusian
Population: 10 million; urban 72%; rural 28%.
Ethnic groups: Belarusian (81%), Russian (11%), Polish, Ukrainian, other (8%).
Religions: Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, Protestant, Autocephalous Orthodox, Jewish, and Muslim) 20%.
Language: Belarusian, Russian (official).
Literacy: 98%.
Natural resources: Forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay.
Agriculture products: Grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk.
Industries: Metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, televisions, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators.
Exports partners: Russia 47%, UK 8.3%, Netherlands 6.7%, Poland 5.3% (2004)
Imports partners: Russia 68.2%, Germany 6.6%, Ukraine 3.3% (2004)
Currency: Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR)
Capital: Minsk
Since ages the trade routes from North to South crossed Belarus.
Here met different cultural trends and religions, here East and West argued with a sword.
The borders and capitals, political orientation and even the name of the country itself changed. There were a lot of causalities in battles. But perhaps, the greatest loss was a practically century-long loss of the Belarusian statehood.
For a long time the world forgot Belarus, it was consigned to oblivion. Only nowadays it appears out of the mighty letters USSR like a green leaf on a world map. The Republic of Belarus has become a geographical centre of Europe.
In July 1990, Belarus was proclaimed an independent state. Many of people still regret the soviet past they have lost. They regret the former power of the multinational state, because for more than seventy years the Belarusian Soviet socialist Republic (the BSSR) had been part of the giant U.S.S.R.
Nevertheless, the Soviet Union disintegrated, and today, newly independent neighbouring countries look for new useful contacts, intergrate, applying the experience of the Western countries.
The Territory of Belarus may be regarded as close to the European standards. The area of Belarus is more than Greece or Bulgaria, but less than that of the neighbouring countries like Poland or the Ukraine.
Chernobyl Children Lifeline
Chernobyl Children Lifeline - letter of thanks
Chernobyl Children Lifeline April 2009 Newsletter
Chernobyl Disaster - Why are the consequences still observed? and
Why is the international assistance still critical?
письмо Виктору 22-02-2009
Belarussian Orphanage Project
List of Wales-Belarus charities
Aid Belarussian Children (ABC), Chepstow
Belarussian Orphanage Project, Caldicot
Chernobyl Children Orphanage, Swansea
Chernobyl Children Wales, Port Talbot
Chernobyl Children Cancer Care, Cardiff
Leaves of Hope for Belarussian Children, Cardiff
Chernobyl Children Lifeline Cardiff
Chernobyl Children Project Cardiff
Letter of thanks from the Ambassador of Belarus
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