Line #9 UsefulNotes/Belarus


1	[[quoteright:328:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bo-map.gif]]
2
3	->''What am I, from Minsk-a-Pinsk?''
4	-->--[[YiddishAsASecondLanguage Every Jewish comedian ever]].
5
6	Belarus (Belarusian: ''Беларусь''; Russian: ''Белоруссия''), officially known as the '''Republic of Belarus''' (Belarusian: ''Рэспубліка Беларусь''; Russian: ''Республика Беларусь''), is a landlocked Slavic country that was formerly part of the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]]. Located in Eastern UsefulNotes/{{Europe}}, it is bordered by UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} to the east, UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}} to the south, UsefulNotes/{{Poland}} to the west, and UsefulNotes/{{Latvia}} and UsefulNotes/{{Lithuania}} to the north. Its capital is Minsk.
7
8	Like other East Slavs: Russians and Ukrainians, Belarusians claim descent from the medieval state of UsefulNotes/KievanRus, the first major East Slavic polity that managed to unite the region. It was also responsible for the prominence of UsefulNotes/OrthodoxChristianity in the region. "Belarus" itself means "White Rus'" in East Slavic.
9
10	After nearly four centuries, the Kievan Rus' fell in the 1200s to CivilWar, giving rise to independent principalities vying for dominance. By the late 14th century, the land that would become Belarus was ruled by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, centered in Vilnius, the capital of today's Lithuania. In 1569, the Grand Duchy officially united with the Kingdom of Poland to form the multiethnic UsefulNotes/PolishLithuanianCommonwealth. Belarus remained a part of Lithuania until 1791, when the last of the Partitions of Poland finally finished off the Commonwealth and transferred the lands of the former Grand Duchy to the [[UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia Russian Empire]].
11
12	Now this is where it gets confusing. As you see, Belarus was for most of the TheLateMiddleAges and the [[UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance early modern period]] ostensibly ruled by a foreign power, namely Lithuania. However, things were more complicated back then. Although centered in modern-day Lithuania, the population of the Grand Duchy were overwhelmingly Eastern Orthodox in religion and spoke Ruthenian, descendant of the Old East Slavic tongue spoken during the times of Kievan Rus' that later gave rise to modern-day Belarusian and Ukrainian. While the king spoke Lithuanian and was Catholic, he had to contend with pleasing the Ruthenian and Eastern Orthodox nobles that formed the vast majority of the nobility. For a long time, Belarusians were also known as "Litvin", which literally means "Lithuanian" in Ruthenian.
13
14	After the Third Partition of Poland, however, the lands of Grand Duchy were absorbed by Russia. Russia, which had an ambition to recreate the glory of the old Kievan Rus', claimed that all East Slavs, including Russians, Belarusians, and Ukrainians, were the same nation, long separated by borders, and that Belarusian and Ukrainian were merely rustic dialects of Russian. Russia was the "Great Russia", Ukraine "Little Russia", and Belarus "White Russia", appropriating local terms sometimes used to refer to these regions. The Baltic-speaking minority population of the Grand Duchy were the only people who still claimed the old heritage of the Grand Duchy, which is why to this day they are the only people popularly known as "Lithuanians", even though Belarusians hold the same claim to the name. The Soviets would later become delighted by this turn of events, as they could play this into the narrative of "poor Slavic peasants versus foreign feudal oppressors". Since independence from the Soviet Union, the idea that it is ''Belarus'' which is the heir to the Grand Duchy has steadily grown in popularity, particularly among nationalists and those who wish to distance Belarus from Russia. [[note]]This view of Belarusian history is entertainingly presented by this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXlagbg9qkM "History of Belarus in 5 minutes"]] video.[[/note]]
15
16	In the havoc of the [[UsefulNotes/RedOctober Russian Civil War]], the [[UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany German Empire]] backed a group of Belarusian separatists called the Belarusian National Republic (actually called the People's Republic but idiomatically translated here as it was decidedly un-Bolshevik) flying a new white-red-white flag. When Germany left, the BNR found itself with about as much credibility as their German backers, and lasted only as long as it took the [[UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets Red Army]] to arrive. The USSR fought and lost against the newly-created Polish Republic. In 1920, Belarus was partitioned between the USSR (who commified it, creating the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic in Eastern Belarus) and Poland (which denied its existence, considering it Poland but swampier).
17
18	The Belarusians were not happy and as in Ukraine and the Baltic nations (and indeed Russia) some nationalists briefly co-operated with the UsefulNotes/NaziGermany during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII before they realised that the whole "Slavic untermensch" thing [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khatyn_massacre hadn't just been a campaign promise]]. The Belarus Central Council, or ''Rada'', as the Nazi puppet government was called, co-opted all the symbols of the ''previous'' German puppet government, the BNR (with unfortunate implications). Unlike Russia's imperial army and Ukraine's independent UsefulNotes/{{Cossacks}}, Belarus (per se) did not have a celebrated military history before the 20th century, after which, they had the fierce struggle of the Belarusian partisans (guerillas frequently in service of the Red Army), against the Nazis. Likewise, because of the BNR in part, the Belarusian nationalist movement lacked credibility -- something that would doom their effort to take over after the Soviet breakup.
19
20	The Soviets, of course, won and took over Poland's bit, dumping the substantial Polish population into eastern Germany, now conveniently part of Poland, in order to straighten up the borders. Post-war Soviet Byelorussia had to be rebuilt largely from scratch (as did much of the USSR), and little resembled the pre-war nation: huge urban projects turned Minsk into a modern Soviet [[MegaCity metropolis]], and industry (traditionally concentrated in certain parts of Russia and Ukraine) was brought to the republic. State planning meant that Belarus would have an emphasis largely on ''light'' industry, not heavy or military industry, producing a disproportionate part of the country's larger consumer products (refrigerators, televisions, washing machines, etc.) Consequently, with some modern industry, a large agricultural base, and not being invaded by Poland, Germany, or the Tsars, the BSSR was considered to have one of the highest standards of living in the USSR. Since independence, though, Belarus' pre-war image as {{Ruritania}} has come back into vogue--outside the USSR, where Belarus was largely unknown, that has always been the image. It still has a higher HDI and IHDI than Russia, however.
21
22	With the break-up of the Soviet Union, Belarus found itself a little adrift - the country had never really had a chance to form its own national identity, and it wasn't long before an authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, took power and began to undo some of the trappings of independence. The country's flag was changed back to the Soviet-era flag (minus hammer and sickle and a reversal to the red-white pattern on the left side), the economy was taken back into state control and greater ties with Russia have been sought. The local StateSec, called KDB in Belarussian or [[UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre KGB]] in Russian, also regained much of its influence.
23
24	An official union between Russia and Belarus was agreed in 1999 and came into effect in 2000 with talk of the two being officially unified under one flag, citizenship, currency and so on. However, enthusiasm seems to have waned again, with customs controls being re-introduced and no joint "national" symbols having been agreed. It seems the leaders of Belarus and Russia just can't agree on the details (most likely the dictator of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, prefers being leader of his own country rather than some bureaucrat in UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin's cabinet). Since the late 2010s, relations between Belarus and Russia have been gradually straining, as Belarus moved closer to the West, which annoyed Russia greatly. Belarus also supported the Ukrainian side during the Crimean Crisis and the subsequent War in Donbas and President Lukashenko has called for a Belarusian national awakening, largely shedding his previous position as a Russophile - only to reverse course in 2020, [[GoneHorriblyRight when the opposition protest movement did just that]].
25
26	Now to acknowledge the biggest elephant in the room - in 2020, following a rigged Presidential election where Lukashenko claims to have won a sixth term in, Belarus has become absolutely engulfed in pro-Democracy protests. Outsider pundits are characterizing it as the last stage of the USSR's dissolution. Part of it stems from the fact the Leading opposition candidate du jour, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, abandoned the traditional schtick of advocating for an explicitly pro-[[UsefulNotes/TheEuropeanUnion European Union]] and -{{UsefulNotes/NATO}} policy and instead focused on the Lukashenko government's nonexistent handling of the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic and fear of being swallowed up by Russia under the auspices of the Russian-Belarusian union[[note]]Turns out that, since the balance of power in the union would be heavily lopsided towards Russia, the Belarusian population is just as averse to the union as Lukashenko is.[[/note]]. This allowed her to successfully rally even Lukashenko's traditional base to her side - which itself means a) she probably would have won had the elections been free and fair and b) most of the country cared enough about her loss to take their grievance to the streets. Lukahensko, in his turn, responded by heavy-handed repression against the mostly-peaceful protestors and [[CharacterCheck snapping back to his old Russophilia]], knowing full well that the Western governments he was previously trying to court would rather see Tsikhanouskaya in charge[[note]]The Kremlin has been having a field trip with this - not only does it allow it to frame the protest movement as pro-Western despite Tsikhanouskaya's assurances that she has no hard feelings against Russia and just wants to democratize the country (the fact one the countries most sympathetic to the protestor's cause is Lithuania, which is not only tied to Belarus via the Grand Duchy of Lithuania but is also one of the most pro-American nations in Europe, doesn't help), but also because Lukashenko, now embattered and hated by his people, would be much more open to actually following through on the promised Russian-Belarusian union.[[/note]]. Only time will tell what lies next for Belarus.
27
28	Belarus is the country hardest hit by the UsefulNotes/{{Chernobyl}} disaster, even though it actually occurred in Ukrainian territory. It's estimated that 60% of the fallout alone hit Belarusian lands and almost 5% of the country is contaminated (compare this with Ukraine, where barely 1% is affected); one Belarusian village folk described that there was a year where funerals due to radiation were held everyday. The nuclear exclusion zone is also mostly located in Belarus.
29
30	Tropewise, most of what applies to Russia will apply to Belarus as well, and you'd be hard-pressed to find many westerners who would have been able to tell you anything about the country before 2020. This may actually be a bit TruthInTelevision; Belarus has never managed to form a steady identity like Ukraine did. Historically, this is particularly prevalent in language: in particular, after a few years of attempting to find a compromise between competing languages alongside political representation in newly-annexed Western Byelorussia, the Polish government made speaking languages other than Polish a major crime, often resulting in hanging (on the charges of [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters committing treason against the new authorities]]). Every Belarusian language school in the country was shuttered, with Polish becoming the educational standard in the fight against irrendentism in what is generally called ''Polonization'' today. In Soviet East Belarus, a revival of the language was the cornerstone of a short-lived Golden Age of Belarusian-ness (with Russian itself being temporarily banned in civil use as a concession from Moscow!). This came to an abrupt end under UsefulNotes/JosephStalin's overriding "Socialism in One Country" policy, with a heavy ''Russification'' campaign coinciding with a bloody [[ThePurge purge]] of the old Belarusian revolutionaries (and their language), going as far as to even liquidate revolutionaries who'd fled from Poland, in favor of their younger offspring, conditioned for orthodoxy in the Soviet mixer. A similar process, on a smaller scale, occurred with Belarusian Jews: the 1939 unification of the country saw the old, isolated Jewish communities of Western Belarus replaced with the Soviet ideal of the cosmopolitan Belarusian Jew: [[YiddishAsASecondLanguage Yiddish]] rather than Hebrew speaking, possessing citizenship, more secular and anti-Zionist.[[note]]The cultural transformation of a divided Belarusian people is a very rare topic in English, with some of the earliest English sources only appearing in the 1950s from Harvard Professor Nicholas Vakar, who goes as far as to even detail the anti-communist Belarusians who exclusively spoke then-forbidden Russian![[/note]]
31
32	Take the combination of temporary Polish military rule and Soviet Russification, and you get a country where most of the population speak Russian as a main language. Belarus ''has'' a distinct Slavic language that's actually quite a bit different from Russian, but only the really rural people speak it as a mother language, and speaking the language today automatically marks you as a hillbilly. Since independence, however, there has been a small Belarusian language movement that promotes a distinct Belarusian identity, which during breakdowns of Belarus-Russia relations had been promoted by the Lukashenko government.
33
34	Meanwhile, the main Russian stereotype about Belarus is that they all [[TrademarkFavoriteFood eat lots of potatoes]]. Russian media tends to portray Belarus as a [[SwampsAreEvil swampy]] {{Ruritania}} where everyone speaks [[JustAStupidAccent Russian with a funny accent]] and is constantly short on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Russia–Belarus_energy_dispute (Russian) gas]]. Russians generally treat Belarusians like brothers, maybe strange and rustic but still beloved (unlike people from that certain [[UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}} other former Soviet republic]] with a history of bad blood with Russia); Belarusian citizens are even exempt from most laws limiting migration to Russia. A nationalistic minority in Belarus does not like Russians, but most of the people in the country are glad to reciprocate the friendship. Also, quite a lot of Soviet films that are set in Belarus are about UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and the [[LaResistance Belarusian partisans]].
35
36	Belarus was also famous for its Jewish community, which before UsefulNotes/WorldWarII numbered up to a million[[note]]counting both the parts of Belarus partitioned after the Polish-Soviet War[[/note]]. All of Belarus was part of the Pale of Settlement, the only territory in the Russian Empire that Jews were allowed to settle. 90% of the Jewish population was decimated during UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust and the survivors left the country afterwards. Before then, many Jews had emigrated en-masse, like Chaim Weizmann, who became the first President of UsefulNotes/{{Israel}}. Most of the so-called "Litvak/Lithuanian Jews" actually came from modern-day Belarus, not Lithuania.
37
38	When it was first independent, English-speaking media couldn't quite decide what to call it - Byelorussia or Bielorussia was popular at first but we seem to have settled on Belarus (pronounced "Bella-'''roos'''", or "byella-'''roosh''' if you're trying to impress someone[[note]]the last consonant is actually not a sh-sound, but a palatalized s, sometimes transliterated with an apostrophe. The distinction is important in Belarusian, where the word Belarus' means the country and the word Belarus means a Belarusian man[[/note]]). The problem is because everyone generally agreed on "Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic" when it was a part of the Soviet Union, Russian then being the main language for even the separate republics, but since the breakup there's much more debate on that (to this day, Russia still refers to the country as "Byelorussia"). Actually, the problem extends to place names and even people's names, too, since to this day outsiders use the Russian translation for famous figures, yet they use the Belarusian translation (using the Russian translit scheme) for place names, and that's not mentioning the Belarusian latin alphabet, or Łacinka, which is another beast entirely.[[note]]The Belarusian government uses a modified version of Łacinka as a transliteration schemes, mostly for geographical names.[[/note]] So it's like the whole Kiev/Kyiv thing, except much worse. Some of the difference in spellings are listed here:
39	* Grodno (Russian) / Hrodna (Belarusian)
40	* Gomel (Russian) / Homyel' (Belarusian translit.) / Homiel (Belarusian Łacinka)
41	* Mogilev (Russian) / Mahilyow (Belarusian translit.) / Mahilioǔ (Belarusian Łacinka)
42	* Vitebsk (Russian) / Vitsyebsk (Belarusian translit.) / Viciebsk (Belarusian Łacinka)
43	* The name of the president: Svetlana Georgievna Tikahnovskaya (Russian) / Sviatlana Heorhiyeuna Tsikhanouskaya (Belarusian) / Śviatłana Hieorhijeŭna Cichanoŭskaja (Belarusian gov.)
44
45	Probably Europe's most authoritarian state and the only UsefulNotes/UnitedNations member on the continent still to use the death penalty.
46
47	For their military forces, see UsefulNotes/BelarusiansWithBTRs.
48
49	Famous Belarusians include:
50	* Creator/IsaacAsimov, the famous, groundbreaking American ScienceFiction author. He was born in 1920 in the village of Petrovichi in the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic, which was later absorbed by Russia.
51	* Victoria Azarenka, currently the World No. 1 tennis player (in women's tennis). She won the 2012 Australian Open singles title, becoming the first Belarusian player to win a Grand Slam in singles.
52	* Andrei Gromyko (''Andrej Hramyka'' in Belarusian), Soviet Minister for Foreign Affairs, a member of UsefulNotes/LeonidBrezhnev's inner circle and the face of Soviet diplomacy for nearly thirty years. His obstinate negotiating style earned him the nickname "Comrade Nyet" in the West.
53	* Pavel Sukhoi (''Pavieł Suchi''), Soviet aircraft constructor and designer and the founder of the Sukhoi Design Bureau. All Soviet planes whose names start with "Su" (e.g. Su-17 and Su-24) were designed by his bureau.
54	* Vladimir Mulyavin (''Uładzimir Muliavin''), Russian-Belarusian rock musician and founder of the folk-rock band ''Pesniary'', one of the most popular bands in the Soviet Union. They were even given permission to tour the US in 1976.
55	* Zhores Alferov (''Žares Ałfioraŭ''), Belarusian-Russian Nobel Prize winning physicist, inventor of the heterotransistor and one of the most prominent Communist politicians in [[UsefulNotes/TheNewRussia modern Russia]].
56	* Music/AlexanderRybak (''Aliaksandar Rybak''), Belarusian-Norwegian musician and the record-breaking winner of the 2009 Series/EurovisionSongContest.
57	* Marc Chagall (''Mark Šahał''), modernist Belarusian-French artist and a member of the once sizeable Belarusian Jewish community that is now almost entirely gone, thanks to the Holocaust and emigration.
58	* Chiang Fang-liang (born ''Faina Ipat'evna Vakhreva''), the first lady of Taiwan from 1978 to 1988, as wife of President Chiang Ching-kuo (the two met in the Ural Machine Plant in the USSR).
59	* Evgeny Morozov, writer, scholar and blogger. Born in Belarus, his experiences prior to settling down in America has influenced his opinions on various topics, including a skepticism of technology's potential.
60	* Svetlana Boguinskaya (''Svyatlana Baginskaya''), artistic gymnast and three-time Olympian (for the Soviet Union in 1988, Unified Team in 1992, and Belarus in 1996). She was called "the goddess of gymnastics" and "the Belarussian Swan" for her balletic, flowing style and dominance in the sport.
61	* [[KosherNostra Meyer Lansky]], born Meyer Suchowljansky (in then-Grodno-now-Belarus), immigrated to the U.S. in 1911. The "Mob's Accountant," friend and partner of Charlie "Lucky" Luciano and Bugsy Siegel, largely responsible for the "organized" part of "organized crime."
62	* The PostPunk / DarkWave band Music/MolchatDoma was formed in Minsk in 2017.
63
64	And it's often said that Belarus produced many famous Lithuanians, Russians and Poles...
65
66	'''Belarus and its locals in fiction'''
67	* ''Series/{{Chernobyl}}'': The fictional nuclear physicist Ulana Khomyuk works at the Belarusian Institute for Nuclear Energy in Minsk, where she detects the radiations emitted by Reactor #4 of the UsefulNotes/{{Chernobyl}} nuclear power plant, which convinces her to go there and provide additionnal knowledge to help the DamageControl.
68	* An episode of ''Series/TheUnit'' is set in Belarus.
69	* ''Literature/TheThirdWorldWar'' has [[spoiler: Minsk get nuked by the US and UK in response to the Soviet Union nuking the British city of Birmingham. It doesn't feature at all in the rest of the two books.]]
70	* The MoeAnthropomorphism of Belarus in ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' is an ElegantGothicLolita girl named Nathalia Arlovskaya, [[{{Yandere}} who wants VERY badly to become one with Russia]]. Russia is much less enthusiastic about the prospect (not to mention ''terrified'' of her - and y'know, she's also [[BrotherSisterIncest his SISTER.]])
71	* ''Film/ComeAndSee'', a 1985 film by the Russian director Elem Klimov. Probably the most famous war film set in Belarus, it averts DoNotDoThisCoolThing [[WarIsHell so hard]] that some see it as less of a war movie and more of a psychological horror movie. Notable for being one of the few Soviet films to not just mention, but to actually show the Nazis ''massacring an entire village'', as well as one of the first Soviet films to seriously deal with the topics of [[LesCollaborateurs collaboration with the occupiers]] and [[HeWhoFightsMonsters cruelty coming from both sides]].
72	* ''Film/{{Defiance}}'', a 2008 film directed by Edward Zwick, details the actions of the Bielski Brothers and their attempts to save Jews from extermination at the hands of the German occupation. It's notable in that it's an American film set in Belarus, though it tends to make the same assumptions of most US films about Russia--'Byelorussia' is only mentioned less than a half-dozen times. It also doesn't mention the historical anomaly that non-Jewish Belarusian partisans were willing to work with Jews, and lacked their own strong nationalist partisan group, instead rallying to the remains of the Red Army and taking on a distinct pro-Soviet stance (very much unlike their neighbors) as the Bielski Brothers did.
73	* ''Film/FortressOfWar'', also known as ''The Brest Fortress'', is a 2010 joint Russian/Belarusian film about the defense and surrender of the Fortress of Brest immediately after the German Invasion, with several well-known Russian actors, including Pavel Derevyanko.
74	* Minsk is the terminus of a young girl's strange, erotic journey in ''Rochelle, Rochelle'', the fictional movie (later a stage musical, starring Creator/BetteMidler) within the ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' universe.
75	* The ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' episode "Eye Spy" takes place in Belarus.
76	* In the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' 'verse, the Klingon orphan Worf is adopted by Starfleet Chief Petty Officer Sergei Rozhenko and his wife Helena, who raise him in Minsk. Minsk is thus Worf's adopted Earth hometown, as firmly established in the finale of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''.
77	* The opening of ''Film/MissionImpossibleRogueNation'' takes place in Minsk.
78	* Also features in the ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' episode "[[Recap/SherlockS01E03TheGreatGame The Great Game]]", where an English murderer is about to be hung. Sorry, [[InsistentTerminology hanged]].
79	* In ''Film/TheHitmansBodyguard'', Creator/GaryOldman stars as [[BigBad Vladislav Dukhovich]], Belarus' brutal but now deposed dictator who's on trial before the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Since neither Russia nor Belarus were particularly happy with this scenario, their respective dubs turned him into a Bosnian instead.
80	* OVA 2 of ''Anime/CodeGeassAkitoTheExiled'' has its big battle take place in the town of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slonim Slonim.]]
81	* Three missions in ''VideoGame/SyphonFilter: The Omega Strain'' take place in Belarus: 2 in Mazyr and 1 in Minsk.
82	* [[spoiler:Birth place of]] [[Film/JohnWickChapter3Parabellum John Wick]].
83	----
84	[[AC:The official Belarusian flag]]
85	[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/flag_of_belarus.png]]
86	->Reflecting the Lukashenko government's past aspirations for a union with Russia, Belarus reuses its old Soviet flag (sans the hammer and sickle, of course). While the original Soviet version had no symbolism, the current government attributes to red and green the meanings of the sacrifices of the past and hopes for the future, respectively. To the hoist is a traditional pattern in Belarusian embroidery. This flag replaced the white-red-white flag (see below) ostensibly because it was also used by the Nazi puppet government, though it still finds favor with dissidents and expatriates (while not outright banned, flying it in public is still frowned upon by authorities - who have gone to ridiculous ends to remove every trace of it, such as adding a green stripe to a building wall with a white-red-white pattern).
87	----
88	[[AC:National emblem of Belarus (used officially)]]
89	[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/coat_of_arms_of_belarus.png]]
90	->Like the flag, Belarus reuses its old Soviet coat of arms with some differences.
91	----
92	[[AC:The Belarusian national anthem]]
93
94	->Мы, беларусы – мірныя людзі,
95	->Сэрцам адданыя роднай зямлі,
96	->Шчыра сябруем, сілы гартуем
97	->Мы ў працавітай, вольнай сям’і.
98
99	->Слаўся, зямлі нашай светлае імя,
100	->Слаўся, народаў братэрскі саюз!
101	->Наша любімая маці-Радзіма,
102	->Вечна жыві і квітней, Беларусь!
103	->Наша любімая маці-Радзіма,
104	->Вечна жыві і квітней, Беларусь!
105
106	->Разам з братамі мужна вякамі
107	->Мы баранілі родны парог,
108	->У бітвах за волю, бітвах за долю
109	->Свой здабывалі сцяг перамог!
110
111	->Слаўся, зямлі нашай светлае імя,
112	->Слаўся, народаў братэрскі саюз!
113	->Наша любімая маці-Радзіма,
114	->Вечна жыві і квітней, Беларусь!
115	->Наша любімая маці-Радзіма,
116	->Вечна жыві і квітней, Беларусь!
117
118	->Дружба народаў – сіла народаў –
119	->Наш запаветны, сонечны шлях.
120	->Горда ж узвіся ў ясныя высі,
121	->Сцяг пераможны – радасці сцяг!
122
123	->Слаўся, зямлі нашай светлае імя,
124	->Слаўся, народаў братэрскі саюз!
125	->Наша любімая маці-Радзіма,
126	->Вечна жыві і квітней, Беларусь!
127	->Наша любімая маці-Радзіма,
128	->Вечна жыві і квітней, Беларусь!
129	[[note]]
130	->My, bielarusy – mirnyja liudzi,
131	->Sercam addanyja rodnaj ziamli,
132	->Ščyra siabrujem, sily hartujem
133	->My ŭ pracavitaj, voĺnaj siamji.
134
135	->Slaŭsia, ziamli našaj svietlaje imia,
136	->Slaŭsia, narodaŭ braterski sajuz!
137	->Naša liubimaja maci-Radzima,
138	->Viečna žyvi i kvitniej, Bielaruś!
139	->Naša liubimaja maci-Radzima,
140	->Viečna žyvi i kvitniej, Bielaruś!
141
142	->Razam z bratami mužna viakami
143	->My baranili rodny paroh,
144	->U bitvach za voliu, bitvach za doliu
145	->Svoj zdabyvali sciah pieramoh!
146
147	->Slaŭsia, ziamli našaj svietlaje imia,
148	->Slaŭsia, narodaŭ braterski sajuz!
149	->Naša liubimaja maci-Radzima,
150	->Viečna žyvi i kvitniej, Bielaruś!
151	->Naša liubimaja maci-Radzima,
152	->Viečna žyvi i kvitniej, Bielaruś!
153
154	->Družba narodaŭ – sila narodaŭ –
155	->Naš zapavietny, soniečny šliach.
156	->Horda ž uzvisia ŭ jasnyja vysi,
157	->Sciah pieramožny – radasci sciah!
158
159	->Slaŭsia, ziamli našaj svietlaje imia,
160	->Slaŭsia, narodaŭ braterski sajuz!
161	->Naša liubimaja maci-Radzima,
162	->Viečna žyvi i kvitniej, Bielaruś!
163	->Naša liubimaja maci-Radzima,
164	->Viečna žyvi i kvitniej, Bielaruś!
165	[[/note]]
166
167	--
168
169	->Мы, белорусы – мирные люди,
170	->Сердцем преданные родной земле.
171	->Искренне дружим, силы закаляем,
172	->Мы в трудолюбивой, свободной семье.
173
174	->Славься, земли нашей светлое имя,
175	->Славься, народов братский союз!
176	->Наша любимая мать-Отчизна,
177	->Вечно живи и цвети, Беларусь!
178	->Наша любимая мать-Отчизна,
179	->Вечно живи и цвети, Беларусь!
180
181	->Вместе с братьями храбро веками
182	->Мы защищали родной порог,
183	->В битвах за волю, битвах за долю
184	->Свое добывали знамя побед!
185
186	->Славься, земли нашей светлое имя,
187	->Славься, народов братский союз!
188	->Наша любимая мать-Отчизна,
189	->Вечно живи и цвети, Беларусь!
190
191	->Дружба народов – сила народов –
192	->Наш заветный, солнечный путь.
193	->Гордо ж возвейся в ясные выси,
194	->Знамя победное – радости флаг!
195
196	->Славься, земли нашей светлое имя,
197	->Славься, народов братский союз!
198	->Наша любимая мать-Отчизна,
199	->Вечно живи и цвети, Беларусь!
200	->Наша любимая мать-Отчизна,
201	->Вечно живи и цвети, Беларусь!
202	[[note]]
203	->My, belorusy – mirnyye lyudi,
204	->Serdtsem predannyye rodnoy zemle.
205	->Iskrenne druzhim, sily zakalyayem,
206	->My v trudolyubivoy, svobodnoy sem'ye.
207
208	->Slav'sya, zemli nashey svetloye imya,
209	->Slav'sya, narodov bratskiy soyuz!
210	->Nasha lyubimaya mat'-Otchizna,
211	->Vechno zhivi i tsveti, Belarus'!
212	->Nasha lyubimaya mat'-Otchizna,
213	->Vechno zhivi i tsveti, Belarus'!
214
215	->Vmeste s brat'yami khrabro vekami
216	->My zashchishchali rodnoy porog,
217	->V bitvakh za volyu, bitvakh za dolyu
218	->Svoye dobyvali znamya pobed!
219
220	->Slav'sya, zemli nashey svetloye imya,
221	->Slav'sya, narodov bratskiy soyuz!
222	->Nasha lyubimaya mat'-Otchizna,
223	->Vechno zhivi i tsveti, Belarus'!
224	->Nasha lyubimaya mat'-Otchizna,
225	->Vechno zhivi i tsveti, Belarus'!
226
227	->Druzhba narodov – sila narodov –
228	->Nash zavetnyy, solnechnyy put'.
229	->Gordo zh vozveysya v yasnyye vysi,
230	->Znamya pobednoye – radosti flag!
231
232	->Slav'sya, zemli nashey svetloye imya,
233	->Slav'sya, narodov bratskiy soyuz!
234	->Nasha lyubimaya mat'-Otchizna,
235	->Vechno zhivi i tsveti, Belarus'!
236	->Nasha lyubimaya mat'-Otchizna,
237	->Vechno zhivi i tsveti, Belarus'!
238	[[/note]]
239
240	--
241
242	->We, Belarusians, are peaceful people,
243	->Wholeheartedly devoted to our Motherland.
244	->We are faithful friends, growing up
245	->Living in a hardworking and independent family.
246
247	->Glory to the blessed name of our land,
248	->Glory to the brotherly union of peoples!
249	->Our dearly beloved Motherland,
250	->May you live long and prosper, Belarus!
251	->Our dearly beloved Motherland,
252	->May you live long and prosper, Belarus!
253
254	->Together with our brothers, we for centuries
255	->Courageously defended our home's threshold.
256	->In battles for freedom, and battles for our lot
257	->We have won our banners of victory!
258
259	->Glory to the blessed name of our land,
260	->Glory to the brotherly union of peoples!
261	->Our dearly beloved Motherland,
262	->May you live long and prosper, Belarus!
263	->Our dearly beloved Motherland,
264	->May you live long and prosper, Belarus!
265
266	->Friendship of peoples is the strength of peoples
267	->And it is our sacred sunlit path.
268	->Proudly we fly in the clear blue skies,
269	->The banner of victory, the sunshine's flag!
270
271	->Glory to the blessed name of our land,
272	->Glory to the brotherly union of peoples!
273	->Our dearly beloved Motherland,
274	->May you live long and prosper, Belarus!
275	->Our dearly beloved Motherland,
276	->May you live long and prosper, Belarus!
277	----
278	[[AC:Government]]
279	* Unitary presidential republic
280	** President: Alexander Lukashenko
281	** Prime Minister: Roman Golovchenko
282	----
283	[[AC:The Belarusian flag (used by the Opposition)]]
284	[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/flag_of_belarusian_opposition.png]]
285	->The Belarusian opposition mostly uses the historical white-red-white flag, which was the official flag both under the short-lived Belarusian People's Republic formed in 1918, and briefly in 1991-95 after independence from the Soviet Union (Funnily, Lukashenko's first-even inauguration in 1994 was held under this flag, a fact [[OldShame the Government doesn't like to publicize]]). The red-green flag can also be seen flown by the opposition.
286	----
287	[[AC:Coat of Arms of Belarus (used by the Opposition)]]
288	[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pahonia_coa.png]]
289	->Like the flag, the Belarusian opposition reuses the pre- and post-Soviet coat of arms, the Pahonia. The Pahonia is very similar to the coat of arms of neighboring Lithuania, and both stem from the coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
290	----
291	[[AC:The Belarusian opposition's anthem]]
292	->Unlike the flag and coat of arms, the Belarusian opposition hasn't agreed on a singular alternative anthem.[[note]]In fact, Belarus used its Soviet-era anthem without lyrics even in 1991-95, and the only thing Lukashenko did was to add a new set of lyrics to it in 2002.[[/note]] The three most popular choices would be the religious hymn "Mahutny Boža", the old Belarusian Peoples' Republic anthem "Vajacki marš", and the patriotic song "Pahonia", but this site is going with "Pahonia" due to its extreme popularity with the opposition.
293
294	->Толькі ў сэрцы трывожным пачую
295	->За краіну радзімую жах,
296	->Успомню Вострую Браму святую
297	->І ваякаў на грозных канях.
298
299	->У белай пене праносяцца коні,
300	->Рвуцца, мкнуцца і цяжка хрыпяць,
301	->Старадаўняй Літоўскай Пагоні
302	->Не разбіць, не спыніць, не стрымаць!
303
304	->У бязмерную даль вы ляціце,
305	->А за вамі, прад вамі — гады.
306	->Вы за кім у пагоню спяшыце?
307	->Дзе шляхі вашы йдуць і куды?
308
309	->Мо яны, Беларусь, панясліся
310	->За тваімі дзяцьмі наўздагон,
311	->Што забылі цябе, адракліся,
312	->Прадалі і аддалі ў палон?
313
314	->Біце ў сэрцы іх — біце мячамі,
315	->Не давайце чужынцамі быць!
316	->Хай пачуюць, як сэрца начамі
317	->Аб радзімай старонцы баліць.
318
319	->Маці родная, Маці-Краіна!
320	->Не ўсцішыцца гэтакі боль.
321	->Ты прабач, ты прымі свайго сына,
322	->За Цябе яму ўмерці дазволь!
323
324	->Ўсё лятуць і лятуць тыя коні,
325	->Срэбнай збруяй далёка грымяць…
326	->Старадаўняй Літоўскай Пагоні
327	->Не разбіць, не спыніць, не стрымаць!
328	[[note]]
329	->Tolki ŭ sercy tryvožnym pačuju
330	->Za krainu radzimuju žach,
331	->Uspomniu Vostruju Bramu śviatuju
332	->I vajakaŭ na hroznych kaniach.
333
334	->U biełaj pienie pranosiacca koni,
335	->Rvucca, mknucca i ciažka chrypiać,
336	->Staradaŭniaj Łitoŭskaj Pahoni
337	->Nie raźbić, nie spynić, nie strymać!
338
339	->U biaźmiernuju dal vy lacicie,
340	->A za vami, prad vami — hady.
341	->Vy za kim u pahoniu śpiašycie?
342	->Dzie šlachi vašy jduć i kudy?
343
344	->Mo jany, Biełaruś, paniaśłisia
345	->Za tvaimi dziaćmi naŭzdahon,
346	->Što zabyłi ciabie, adrakłisia,
347	->Pradałi i addałi ŭ pałon?
348
349	->Bicie ŭ sercy ich — bicie miačami,
350	->Nie davajcie čužyncami być!
351	->Chaj pačujuć, jak serca načami
352	->Ab radzimaj staroncy bałić.
353
354	->Maci rodnaja, Maci-Kraina!
355	->Nie ŭścišycca hetaki bol.
356	->Ty prabač, ty prymi svajho syna,
357	->Za Ciabie jamu ŭmierci dazvol!
358
359	->Ŭsio latuć i latuć tyja koni,
360	->Srebnaj zbrujaj dałioka hrymiać…
361	->Staradaŭniaj Łitoŭskaj Pahoni
362	->Nie raźbić, nie spynić, nie strymać!
363	[[/note]]
364
365	--
366
367	->Только в сердце тревожном услышу
368	->За страну родимую страх,
369	->Вспомню Острую Браму святую
370	->И воинов на грозных конях.
371
372	->В белой пене проносятся кони,
373	->Рвутся, стремятся и тяжко хрипят,
374	->Стародавней Литовской Погони
375	->Не разбить, не остановить, не сдержать!
376
377	->В безмерную даль вы летите,
378	->А за вами, пред вами — годы.
379	->Вы за кем в погоню спешите?
380	->Где пути ваши идут и куда?
381
382	->Может они, Беларусь, понеслись
383	->За твоими детьми вдогонку,
384	->Что забыли тебя, отреклись,
385	->Продали и отдали в плен?
386
387	->Бейте в сердца их — бейте мечами,
388	->Не давайте чужаками быть!
389	->Пусть услышат, как сердце ночами
390	->О родимой сторонке болит.
391
392	->Мать родная, Мать-Страна!
393	->Не утихнет такая боль.
394	->Ты прости, ты прими своего сына,
395	->За тебя ему умереть позволь!
396
397	->Всё летят и летят те кони,
398	->Серебряной сбруей далеко гремят…
399	->Стародавней Литовской Погони
400	->Не разбить, не остановить, не сдержать!
401	[[note]]
402	->Tolʹko v serdce trevožnom uslyšu
403	->Za stranu rodimuju strah,
404	->Vspomnju Ostruju Bramu svjatuju
405	->I voinov na groznyh konjah.
406
407	->V beloj pene pronosjatsja koni,
408	->Rvutsja, stremjatsja i tjažko hripjat,
409	->Starodavnej Litovskoj Pogoni
410	->Ne razbitʹ, ne ostanovitʹ, ne sderžatʹ!
411
412	->V bezmernuju dalʹ vy letite,
413	->A za vami, pred vami — gody.
414	->Vy za kem v pogonju spešite?
415	->Gde puti vaši idut i kuda?
416
417	->Možet oni, Belarusʹ, poneslisʹ
418	->Za tvoimi detʹmi vdogonku,
419	->Čto zabyli tebja, otreklisʹ,
420	->Prodali i otdali v plen?
421
422	->Bejte v serdca ih — bejte mečami,
423	->Ne davajte čužakami bytʹ!
424	->Pustʹ uslyšat, kak serdce nočami
425	->O rodimoj storonke bolit.
426
427	->Matʹ rodnaja, Matʹ-Strana!
428	->Ne utihnet takaja bolʹ.
429	->Ty prosti, ty primi svoego syna,
430	->Za tebja emu umeretʹ pozvolʹ!
431
432	->Vsë letjat i letjat te koni,
433	->Serebrjanoj sbruej daleko gremjat…
434	->Starodavnej Litovskoj Pogoni
435	->Ne razbitʹ, ne ostanovitʹ, ne sderžatʹ!
436	[[/note]]
437
438	--
439
440	->As soon as in my anxious heart I hear
441	->Fear for my native country,
442	->I remember the holy Gate of Dawn
443	->And warriors on fearsome horses.
444
445	->In white foam, the horses race,
446	->Darting, dashing and heavily wheezing,
447	->The ancient Lithuanian[[note]]referring to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania[[/note]] Pahonia
448	->Cannot be crushed, cannot be stopped, cannot be restrained!
449
450	->You fly to infinite spaces,
451	->And behind you and ahead of you, there are years.
452	->Who are you pursuing?
453	->Where is your path, and where does it lead?
454
455	->Maybe, Belarus, they are chasing
456	->After your children,
457	->Who forgot you, disowned you,
458	->Sold you, gave you up?
459
460	->Knock on their hearts – knock with swords,
461	->Do not let them be strangers!
462	->Let them hear how in the night the heart
463	->Is aching for motherland.
464
465	->Dear mother, Motherland!
466	->This pain will not subside.
467	->Forgive, accept your son,
468	->Permit him to die for you!
469
470	->These horses keep flying,
471	->Their silver harness is clanging in the distance…
472	->The ancient Lithuanian Pahonia
473	->Cannot be crushed, cannot be stopped, cannot be restrained!
474	----
475	[[AC:Major opposition leaders]]
476	* Coordination Council
477	** President: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
478	** Bureau members: Svetlana Alexievich, Syarhey Dyleŭski, Maria Kalesnikava, Volha Kavalkova, Pavel Latushko, Liliya Vlasova, Maxim Znak
479	* National Anti-crisis Administration[[note]]Basically a shadow cabinet[[/note]]
480	** Head: Pavel Latushko
481	* Rada of the Belarusian People's Republic in exile[[note]]Basically a parliament in exile, and the only one of the three not to be formed as a consequence of the 2020 uprising[[/note]]
482	** President: Ivonka Survilla
483	----
484	[[AC:Miscellaneous]]
485	* '''Capital and largest city:''' Minsk ('''Belarusian:''' ''Мінск'', '''Russian:''' ''Минск'')
486	* '''Population:''' 9,408,400
487	* '''Area:''' 207,595 km
488	(80,153 sq mi) (84th)
489	* '''Currency''': Belarusian ruble (Br) (BYN)
490	* '''ISO-3166-1 Code:''' BY
491	* '''Country calling code:''' 375
492	* '''Highest point:''' Dzyarzhynskaya Hara (346 m/1,135 ft) (181st)

Context UsefulNotes / Belarus