History of Belarus
Belarus (1994 estimated population 10,405,000), c.80,150 square miles (207,600 square kilometers), Eastern central Europe, formerly a constituent republic of the USSR; it is sometimes called White Russia. It borders Poland (West); Russia (East); Ukraine (South); and Lithuania and Latvia (North). The majority of the people are Belarussians; Russians, Poles, and Ukrainians are among the minorities. The main religions are the Orthodox Eastern and Roman Catholic churches. Belarussian is the official language, but most people speak Russian.

Minsk city (1990 estimated population 1,610,000), capital of Belarus on the Svisloch River. Founded c.1067, it became the capital of the Minsk principality in 1101, and a major trade and craft center by c.1500. Annexed by Lithuania (1326) and Poland (1569), it passed to Russia in 1793 and developed industrially in the 1870s. During World War Ii Minsk was heavily damaged and most of its large Jewish population was exterminated by occupying Nazi forces. The city was rebuilt and industry reestablished after the war. In 1991, with the collapse of the USSR, Minsk was chosen as the ceremonial headquarters of the new Commonwealth of Independent States. Other large cities include Homyel (Gomel), Mahilyow (Mogilev), Vitsyebsk (Vitebsk), Hrodna (Grodno), and Brest.

Settled by East Slavic tribes (5th-8th century), the region became part of Kievan Russia (12th century), of the grand duchy of Lithuania (14th century), and of the Russian Empire (18th century) and was devastated by the Russian-Polish wars (16th-18th century), the Napoleonic invasion (1812), World War I (1914-18), and the Soviet-Polish war (1919-20).

The last ended with the western part of the region ceded to Poland and the eastern part becoming the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, or Belorussia. In 1939, the western portion was occupied by Soviet troops. During the German occupation (1941-44), Belorussia's large Jewish population (dating from the 14th century) was decimated. After 1945 most of Western Belorussia remained part of the Belorussian SSR. Following the failure of the hard-line coup (1991) against Soviet President Gorbachev, conservative Belorussian leaders were ousted. Stanislav Shushkevich became head of state, and the republic declared its independence and later joined Russia and Ukraine in initiating the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The official name of the new nation in English was changed to Belarus in 1991. In 1994 Alexander Lukashenko, a populist, became the nation's first popularly elected president. Since independence Belarus has moved slowly on market reforms, but Lukashenko has attempted to speed their implementation.

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