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Belarus - GENERAL INFORMATION
 
Population - Local time - Languages - Religion - Political system - Climate - Tourism - Food



Population



Main Cities Population
Minsk   1,700,000  
Gomel   506  
Vitebsk   361,5  
Brest   269  
Grodna   277  
Maguilev   363  



Total population (millions): 9.8
Source: World Bank 2004

Urban population: 71%
Source: World Bank 2004

Average annual population growth: -0.5%
Source: World Bank 2004

Surface area (km²) : 207,6


Population origin

Origin of the population% Of the population
Byelorussian78
Russian13
Polish4
Ukrainian3
Other2


Local time


It is %T:%M %A in Minsk


GMT+2 in winter, GMT+3 in summer


Languages


Official languages: Belarusian, Russian
Business language: Russian, fluently spoken, and English, well spoken within companies having an international activity.

Free translation tools in Belarus :
English-Belarusian Dictionaries
Free Belarusian-English-Belarusian dictionary

Systran
Free English-Russian-English translator of texts and web pages



Religion


Religious practises : Orthodox 86%
Catholics 5%
Jews 5%
Others 4%.


Political system


Byelorussia only has a Constitution since 1994. The President is elected by universal suffrage for a five-year term. Except from the presidency, the main organs of the Republic are the Supreme Soviet, the Cabinet and the Constitutional Court and their headquarters are in Minsk. So far, this institution has not managed to structure the economic and fiscal legislation in order to strengthen the confidence of investors. The Supreme Soviet still forms the legislative organ of the Republic and is elected every five years.
The Nacionalnoje Sabranie (National Assembly) has two chambers. The Palata Predstaviteley (House of Representatives) has 110 members elected in single-seat constituencies elected for a four-year term. The Soviet Respubliki (Council of the Republic) has 64 members, 56 members indirectly elected and 8 members appointed by the president
Capital: Minsk
Head of State: President Alyaksandr Rigoravich Loukashenko


Climate

 


Tourism

Number of visitors in Belarus 2002 2003 2004 World rank
Number of visitors (1000) 63   64   67   n.a.
Source : World Tourisme Organization, data available in November 2005

 

Tourist sites


-Minsk, the capital, rebuilt right after the war with all its big monuments could be a historic museum. An artificial lake, up the hills in the North, makes the city more attractive since 1956.
-Bereste's archaeological museum houses relics of the XIIIth century
-The national park of Bieloviejskaia Pouchtcha, located 60 km North of Brest.
-Polotsk which was the capital of the Kievian principality. The Saint Sophia cathedral is one of the three Russian cathedrals that have been inspired by the one in Constantinople.

For more information about tourism in Belarus , check out the following web site(s) :
Informations portal on tourism in Belarus


Food


Traditional dishes


Blinis, "sure" cream, caviar and vodka: these traditional ingredients are the perfect marriage of the time of the Lords of the Great Russia, who brought on the tables of France, and elsewhere, these lumpfish roes, that fishermen were used to collect while sturgeons were going back up the rivers of Russia.
Blinis are black wheat pancakes: blinis are also served with starters or with smoked fish. They are piled on a very hot terracotta plate.

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Last modified in October 2005
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