belarus

BELARUS

National name:

Respublika Belarus

Area:

207,600 sq km/80,154 sq mi

Capital:

Minsk

Major towns/cities:

Gomel, Vitebsk, Mogilev, Bobruisk, Grodno, Brest

Physical features:

more than 25% forested; rivers Dvina, Dnepr and its tributaries, including the Pripet and Beresina; the Pripet Marshes in the east; mild and damp climate

Currency:

rouble and zaichik

Population:

10,275,000 (1999 est)

Political system:

emergent democracy

Language:

Russian, Belorussian (official);Polish

Dr. Francysk Skaryna
(1486-1540)

A great scholar and Doctor of Medicine at the University of Padua (Italy). He founded the first Belorussian publishing house (in Prague), where he commented and edited 23 books in Belorussian, including the Bible (at the time this was the first edition of the Bible in a Slavonic language and the second one in Europe).


Mark Chagall - world-famous painter born in the town of Liozna near Vitebsk. He studied in St. Petersburg, Russia, and after 1922 lived most of his life in France. His paintings were largely inspired by Jewish life and landscapes of the city of Vitebsk, where he spent his childhood and early adulthood. During the Soviet period, his art was banned and his name never mentioned. The house Chagall was born in was restored in the 1990s and transformed into a museum in 1997.

Mark Chagall stamps


mark chagall - i and the village

Natasha Zvereva OVERVIEW
Wimbledon Championships Played:	14
Best Singles Performance:	Semi Finalist (1998)
Best Doubles Performance:	Winner (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997)
Events Entered:	Ladies' Singles
Ladies' Doubles	(with Martina Navratilova)
Mixed Doubles	(with Jeff Tarango)

Vladimir Voltchkov OVERVIEW
Wimbledon Championships Played:	4
Best Singles Performance:	Semi Finalist (2000)
Best Doubles Performance:	Semi Finalist (2001)
Events Entered:
Gentlemen's Doubles	(with Neville Godwin)
Gentlemen's Qual.	Singles

The Sukhoi Construction Bureau is the second main supplier of jet fighters in the USSR besides MiG. It was formed by Pavel Sukhoi (Belorussian born 1895, died September 15, 1975) and became well known when it developed several aircraft with astonishing aerodynamic performances in the last years of the USSR.

Today the Su-27 air superiority fighter is the best known development of the Sukhoi Design Bureau, and based on this model a whole spectrum of aircraft for the Russian Air Force, Air Defense and Naval Aviation is currently being developed and implemented, for example the Su-27UB, Su-27KUB, Su-30, Su-30MK, Su-33 and Su-35.

Su-37

Su-44 (artist's impression)

		Belorussians in Britain & Ireland (religious and cultural centre in North London with a library etc.)
		The National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (in English, Russian, Belorussian and links to Website on Belarus in other world languages)
		Up-to-date Information Guide (emotionally charged Website on Belarus)
		Vera Rich - Poet, Translator, Author, Compiler, Editor, etc. (closely connected with the religious/cultural centre in North London - a lot of text and useful links on Belarus, its culture, literature, science etc.)
		The Virtual Guide to Belarus (some useful links)

During one of the battles with German knights (Grunwald) a white bandage with a stripe of a blood stain across its center was used as a victorious banner. Since that time our flag is white-red-white. But this is a legend. Historically White-Red-white flag first appeared as the national flag of Belarus in Belarusan Democratic Republic (1918-1920).

The national symbol of Belarus - "Pahonia" ("Chase") - has many centuries of history. At first territorial, it has later become a national and state emblem. The creation and establishment of "Pahonia" in Belorussian lands as well as its transformation into a national emblem was not a single act, but rather a chain of historical events.