The Republic of Belarus and its People.

Have you ever tried asking yourself a seemingly simple question, «Why and what for do I love my country? » I am sure you will find enormous difficulty trying to answer the question. There is hardly anyone who will be able to describe the blue of the sky or the peculiar flavour of the home wind, or the specific softness of the native soil, or the unusual beauty of the people around us. What we shall probably be able to say is that it all belongs to us and that it is where we belong. Belarus is my home country. I will try to tell you how I, the Belarusian, feel about it and will try to help you look at the things the way I see them.

Belarus is situated in the centre of Europe at the crossing of roads going from East to West and from North to South. Our land has been very attractive geopolitically for many foreign countries. It has been invaded by Mongols and Russians, Poles and Germans, Swedes and French. Belarus stood as a buffer state between the East and the West and got invariably involved in all the military conflicts waged by Europe and Asia.

Belarus borders Poland in the west, Lithuania in the northwest, Latvia and Russia in the north, Russia in the northeast and east, and Ukraine in the south. The total state border length is 2,969 km.

The republic's area is 207.600 square kilometers. It is just one fifth smaller than Great Britain in size, but it is larger than Denmark, Belgium and Greece taken together.

To describe our land one needs to be a poet. If you go north, you will see land of Braslav lakes with crystal-clear blue waters surrounded by pine groves. If you go West, you will find yourself in the Brest province — the land of immense fields and meadows. In the South you will be engulfed by infinite forests and marshes.

Broad plains and marshy lowlands occupy nearly three quarter's of the territory. They are called Belarusian Polesye. There are also some hills and elevations. They can be found in the northern and central parts of the country.

There are a lot of rivers and streams and more than 10.000 lakes in the republic. The largest rivers are the Dnieper, Western Dvina, Pripiat and Neman, while the largest lake is Narach.

Forests and bush cover more than a quarter of the area. The most famous is Belavezhskaya Puscha. Rare bisons — aurochses live there. They survived from glacial times.

The climate is temperately continental. The coldest month is January and the warmest month is July.

The population of Belarus is about 10 million. Belarus is a polyethnic and polyconfessional state in which over 130 nationalities reside with Belarusians (8,159 thousand people, 81.2% of the total population). All these nationalities live here in good neighbourhood and peace because they have something in common: they all love their country, their history, and their traditions.

Ethnic Russians have been residing in Belarus over its entire history. The Russian population started to increase more profoundly in Belarus over the period after the WWII when workers, specialists of different spheres of the national economy, science, art, party and Young Communist League functionaries moved to Belarus. The density of the Russian population varies in Belarus. Larger groups reside in the eastern regions (Vitebsk, Mogilev and Gomel Regions), in the Belarusian capital and large industrial centers where they make up nearly 20% and more of the population. The majority of Russians are substantially dispersed in the Belarusian ethnic surrounding, however, they keep their national self-consciousness, including the native name and language, and the believers practice their religion. In social/political and national terms, the Russian population enjoys broad opportunities and perspectives to meet their own ethno-confessional and cultural linguistic needs. The Russian language is the state language equally with the Belarusian language.

The Poles follow the Russians in size of the population in Belarus — 396 thousand people (3.9%). They have been inhabiting western areas of Belarus for several centuries. Their population varies in density, but Polish population is mostly concentrated in the western areas of Grodno, Brest, Vitebsk and Minsk Regions.

The Ukrainians rank fourth in the size of the resident population following Belarusians, Russians and Poles in Belarus (according to 1999 census, 237 thousand people or 2.4% of the population). The Ukrainian population with the distinctly expressed self-consciousness migrated to Belarus mainly in the 18-20th centuries. In the early 20th century, the most numerous Ukrainian groups resided in Pinsk, Kobrin, Brest, Gomel, Rechitsa, Bobruisk, and Bykhov districts. Mainly urban citizens — industrial specialists, clerks, and workers of art and culture — moved to Belarus after the WW II.

The Jews rank fifth in size of the ethno-confessional group in Belarus (28 thousand). Since 1980s, their size substantially diminished due to emigration to Israel and other countries. Over the recent years, the

migration flow significantly reduced. They are not densely grouped, but mainly reside in towns and urban settlements. They communicate predominantly in Russian.

Lithuanians have been residing generally in dispersed groups in Belarus for a long time; however, their dense population characterizes some villages (Ostrovetsk and Voronov Districts of Grodno Region and Braslav District of Vitebsk Region).

Some other nationalities inhabit Belarus: Tatars, Azerbaijani, Armenians, Latvians, Koreans, Germans, Georgians, Ossets, Gypsies, Moldavians and others. Migration processes that substantially intensified over the last decade somewhat change the general pattern of ethnic minorities in Belarus. Some groups, for example, reduced (Jews, Latvians, Germans and Estonians), while the others increased in size mainly due to the inflow from “hot spots” (Armenians, Georgians, Azerbaijani, Ossets, Tadjiks and so forth).

3 million Belarusians and their descendants reside outside Belarus, mostly in Russia, Ukraine, USA, and Poland, as well as in Latvia, Lithuania, Australia, Canada and Argentina.

Towns are the most densely inhabited. People speak Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian here though the official language is Belarusian.

The most important centres are Minsk, the capital, Grodno, Gomel, Brest, Mogilev and Vitebsk. They are not only administrative, but also industrial and cultural centres of the six territorial regions of Belarus.

About 30 types of minerals have been explored in Belarus (over 4,000 deposits and fields of mineral resources). The main mineral resources of the country are: peat, oil, underground fresh and mineral waters, construction materials and ores, which can be used for the production of fertilizers. Those raw materials make up practically all of its mineral wealth.

Agriculture, manufacturing industry and commerce are the most developed branches of the economy. Agriculture is the chief occupation of the greater part of the population. It fully satisfies the need of the country for basic agricultural products, such as milk, meat, potatoes, vegetables, fruit and eggs.

The most developed branches of manufacturing industry are machine-building, instrument-making, radio-electronics, wood-working, oil-refining and a number of chemical, light, construction and food industries.

Belarus has to import oil, gas, coal, metal, chemicals and cotton. Together with grain, sugar, vegetable oil, fish products, citrics, tea, coffee and wine they are the main items of Belarusian imports.

Our country exports heavy lorries, tractors, motorcycles, bicycles, TV and radio-sets, data processing equipment and gas stoves, refrigerators and furniture, carpets and knitted goods, chemical fibers and fertilizers, agricultural products.

Belarus has good trade relations with Russia, the Ukraine, Bulgaria, Austria, Germany, China and Poland. The country is connected with its neighbours by its wide network of rail-, high- and waterways, not to mention air routes.

Belarus is a presidential republic. The main law of the country is the Constitution. The highest executive power is vested in a President elected for a five-year term. The Parliament — National Assembly is a representative and legislative body of the Republic of Belarus. The Parliament consists of two chambers: the House of Representatives and the Council of the Republic. The executive power is performed by a Council of Ministers headed by a premier. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President.

The history of Belarus is full of dramatic events and great losses. International economic and cultural activities of Belarus today are becoming more and more intensive. It contributes to the world peace, friendship and cooperation among nations.

That is how I see my Motherland, young and old, beautiful and full of pride, independent and neutral, a country that is situated in the heart of Europe where all roads meet.

II. Questions for discussion:

1. Why is Belarus loved by its people so much?

2. What countries does it border on?

3. How many parts does it consist of?

4. What territory does it occupy?

5. Is it a large country if compared to European states?

6. What is its landscape?

7. What do you know about its climate?

8. How many people live here?

9. What nationalities reside in Belarus?

10.What are trade partners of Belarus?

11.What are your country's natural resources?