Location: Eastern Europe, east
of Poland
Lowest point: Nyoman River
90 m
Highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya
Hara 346 m
Capital: Minsk
Religion: Eastern Orthodox
80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20%
Languages Spoken in Belarus:
See also: Languages
spoken in Europe, Languages of
the world
Introducation & Brief History
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 1995 as
the country's first president, Alexander LUKASHENKO (2006) 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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Belarus
