Belarus
Geography - People - Economy - Government - Communications - Transportation - Military - Transnational IssuesCountry name - conventional long form : Republic of Belarus
Country name - conventional short form : Belarus
Country name - local long form : Respublika Byelarus'
Country name - local short form : Byelarus'
Country name - former : Belorussian (Byelorussian) Soviet Socialist Republic
Government type : republic in name, although in fact a dictatorship
Capital - name : Minsk
Capital - time difference : UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
National holiday : Independence Day, 3 July (1944); note - 3 July 1944 was the date Minsk was liberated from German troops, 25 August 1991 was the date of independence from the Soviet Union
Population : 9,685,768 (July 2008 est.)
Nationality - noun : Belarusian(s)
Nationality - adjective : Belarusian
Languages : Belarusian, Russian, other
Currency (code) : Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR)
Currency code : BYB/BYR
Belarus is located Eastern Europe, east of Poland. The climate is cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime. The terrain is generally flat and contains much marshland.
Background
This entry usually highlights major historic events and current issues and may include a statement about one or two key future trends.Background : After seven decades as a constituent republic of the USSR, Belarus attained its independence in 1991. It has retained closer political and economic ties to Russia than any of the other former Soviet republics. Belarus and Russia signed a treaty on a two-state union on 8 December 1999 envisioning greater political and economic integration. Although Belarus agreed to a framework to carry out the accord, serious implementation has yet to take place. Since his election in July 1994 as the country's first president, Alexandr LUKASHENKO has steadily consolidated his power through authoritarian means. Government restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, peaceful assembly, and religion continue.
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