Khomyel region

52.43826 x 30.98227

Makkhaylovskaya region

53.9141 x 30.33764

Vitebsk Region

55.19048 x 30.2033

The Grodno region

53.67679 x 23.83029

Brest region

52.09755 x 23.68775

Bobruisk

Makkhaylovskaya region

53.14122 x 29.20535

Baranovichi

Brest region

53.12888 x 26.03096

Brest region

The Republic of Belarus is a young state in Eastern Europe. It appeared on the political map of the planet only in 1991. In terms of area, Belarus occupies 84th place in the world and 14th - within Europe. Where is the country located? How many people live in it? Who is the President of Belarus? Our article will answer these and many other questions.

What do we know about Belarus?

The Republic of Belarus (or Belarus) is an independent state in the eastern part of Europe. One of the former republics within the USSR. Quite often there are disputes about how to write and speak correctly: Belarus or Belarus. Perhaps it is worth answering this question at the very beginning of our article.

Such a country as Belarus, according to the international register of UN countries, does not exist in the world. For the correct (official) name of this state is the Republic of Belarus. This is how the Belarusians themselves call their country. However, the name "Belarus" has taken root in the Russian language since Soviet times. Its use is very common and generally acceptable in informal speech.

In terms of area, Belarus can be classified as a medium-sized country. In terms of population, it ranks 93rd in the world. In Belarus they speak two languages ​​- Russian and Belarusian (both have state status). The capital and largest city of Belarus is Minsk.

• Belarus is the only European country that is not a member of the Council of Europe (this, in turn, means that Belarusians cannot apply to the Strasbourg Court to protect their rights);
• only in Belarus you can meet bison in a wild, natural habitat;
• “as it is heard, so it is written” - this principle is suitable for most Belarusian words;
• the death penalty has not yet been abolished in this country (however, it cannot be imposed on a woman);
• Belarusian medicine is cheap and of very high quality;
• such phenomena as “corruption” and “blat” have been practically eradicated in Belarus;
• the country boasts one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe;
• Belarus has the largest relict forest in Europe;
• one of the founders of the prestigious Oscar was born here;
• Of all the countries on the planet, Belarus suffered the most during the Second World War.

Geographical position and area of ​​Belarus

The republic is located in Eastern Europe. Five states have common borders with Belarus. These are Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Russia has the longest border with Belarus - 1283 km.

Belarus belongs to the list of countries that do not have access to the sea. However, it has an extremely favorable geographical position. It is through Belarus that important transport corridors connecting Asia with Europe pass.

The total area of ​​Belarus (in thousand km2) is 207,595. By the way, one of the geographical centers of Europe is located in this country. This point is located near the city of Polotsk.

The relief of the republic is predominantly flat, with rare hills in the central part. The country lies entirely in the temperate continental climate zone. The western part of Belarus is most susceptible to the influence of humid air masses from the Atlantic.

Republic of Belarus: state structure, president and currency

Belarus is a unitary presidential republic. The President of the country is elected by direct universal suffrage for a term of five years. He forms and directs the government. Alexander Lukashenko has been the President of Belarus since 1994.

Such a long tenure of one person in the presidency is largely the reason why Belarus is now often referred to as "the last European dictatorship." The international human rights organization Freedom Hous also called the republic a “not free country”, referring to the norms of its current Constitution.

The modern currency of Belarus is the Belarusian ruble. It is curious that in the early 90s, some public figures proposed a different name for Belarusian money - thaler. However, the Supreme Council of Belarus rejected it. The people have taken root another name for the currency of Belarus - "bunny". Why? The thing is that the first ruble banknotes of the country depicted a hare.

Administratively, the territory of the republic is divided into six regions:

• Minsk.
• Brest.
• Grodno.
• Vitebsk.
• Mogilevskaya.
• Gomel.

The capital of Belarus (Minsk) is an independent administrative unit and is not included in any of the regions.

Symbols of Belarus: coat of arms, flag and anthem

The republic has three state symbols: coat of arms, flag and anthem. The coat of arms of Belarus was approved in 1995. On it you can see the green contour of the republic superimposed on the golden rays of the sun that rises over the globe (the northern regions of Eurasia are depicted on the globe). The coat of arms is crowned with a red five-pointed star and framed by a wreath of wheat ears with flax flowers (on the right) and clover flowers (on the left). The wreath is intertwined with a red-green ribbon, in the central part of which the phrase "Republic of Belarus" is inscribed in gold.

The flag of Belarus is a rectangular panel with an aspect ratio of 1:2. It consists of two horizontal stripes: red (top) and green (bottom). Moreover, two-thirds of the width of the cloth is occupied by a red stripe. A red and white ornament is located vertically near the shaft, which is based on the folk pattern "Rising Sun" of the 1917 model.

Among the modern symbols of all post-Soviet republics, the flag of Belarus is closest to the Soviet version. It is important to note that from 1991 to 1995 the country had a different flag - white-red-white. This banner also served as a symbol for the so-called BNR (Belarusian People's Republic), which existed from March 1918 to February 1919.

The anthem of the republic is the composition "We, Belarusians". The music for it was written in 1955 by the famous composer Nestor Sokolovsky.

Pages of the history of Belarus

Belarus is one of the most favorable countries for human life, if we talk about natural and climatic factors. This is confirmed by archaeological finds. The first man settled on these lands 100 thousand years ago.

The history of Belarus has more than one century. Suffice it to recall the fact that Minsk is much older than Moscow. However, until 1991 (except for a very short period at the beginning of the 20th century), the country had never been independent. From the 13th century it was under the rule of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and from the middle of the 16th century it was part of the Commonwealth. In 1772, the Belarusian lands were divided between three states: Prussia, the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires. From 1921 to 1991 Belarus was part of the Soviet Union.

The years of World War II are the most terrible period in the history of the country. The war claimed the lives of more than two million Belarusians. Over 200 Belarusian cities and about 9,000 villages were destroyed during the hostilities. An equally tragic page in the history of the country is the Chernobyl disaster of 1986. Belarus suffered the most from the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Population of Belarus: general characteristics

As of the end of 2016, 9.5 million people live in the country. The population of Belarus is slowly but growing. Moreover, it is distributed extremely unevenly across the territory of the republic: approximately 28% of Belarusians live within the Minsk urban agglomeration.

• Belarusians (83.7%);
• Russians (8.3%);
• Poles (3.1%);
• Ukrainians (1.7%).

There are also quite a lot (over 5,000 people) of Jews, Armenians, Tatars, Gypsies, Azerbaijanis and Lithuanians in the country.

Belarus has two official official languages ​​- Russian and Belarusian. However, the situation with the development and preservation of the latter is very deplorable. According to the 2009 census, 53% of the country's inhabitants consider Belarusian as their mother tongue. But only 6% of Belarusians use it in everyday life all the time. Most often, Belarusian speech can be heard in villages and small towns of the country, but not in the capital or regional centers.

What does Belarus produce?

BelAZ dump trucks, tractors, trolleybuses, potash fertilizers and foodstuffs - these are the top five Belarusian export items. The most developed in the country are: energy, heavy engineering, chemical industry, as well as the production of building materials.

There is no planned economy as such in Belarus. Although the state regulates prices for some (socially significant) groups of goods.

Agriculture in Belarus provides up to 7% of the country's national GDP. The most popular crops are wheat, sugar beets and potatoes. Dairy farming is highly developed in the country.

The capital of Belarus and other large cities

The city of Minsk is the capital of the Republic of Belarus. Every fifth Belarusian lives here. The population of Minsk is actively growing and has almost reached the 2-million mark. The city is conveniently located in the center of the country. Minsk is an important industrial, educational and cultural center of Belarus.

Other major cities of the republic:

• Gomel.
• Vitebsk.
• Grodno.
• Mogilev.
• Brest.

Gomel (535 thousand inhabitants) is the second most populous city in the country. It is located in the southeastern part of Belarus. Gomel is the most important center of mechanical engineering and food industry.

Vitebsk (378 thousand inhabitants) is the fourth most populous city in Belarus, located in its northeastern part. This is one of the oldest settlements in the country. The city was founded in the 10th century.

Grodno (366 thousand inhabitants) is a city in the west of Belarus, near the border with Poland. Major tourist center of the country. The ancient city is known for its museums and numerous architectural sights.

Mogilev (380 thousand inhabitants) is the third largest city in the country, located on the banks of the Dnieper. This is an important center of the chemical industry in Belarus. The Mogilevkhimvolokno enterprise, Europe's largest producer of polyester fibers, operates in the city.

Brest (340 thousand inhabitants) is a city in the southwestern part of Belarus with a heroic past. It is here that the famous fortress is located, which went down in history with its selfless defense in June 1941.

Belarus tourist

Belarus can hardly be called a tourist country. Nevertheless, the number of foreign travelers visiting the republic is increasing every year. About 70% of tourist traffic falls on citizens of the CIS. Many tourists come to Belarus from Poland, Germany, Latvia and Lithuania.

The country is developing cultural (visiting historical and architectural sights), medical, ecological and rural tourism. The country has no access to the sea, but resorts located on the coast of Naroch are very popular here. Tourists also love the Braslav Lakes region.

The key sights of Belarus are castles, family estates, monasteries, Gothic temples and unique reserves.

10 main attractions of the country

The list of the most interesting objects and monuments of Belarus for tourists to visit may look like this:

1. Brest Fortress.
2. Reserve "Belovezhskaya Pushcha".
3. Nesvizh Castle.
4. Historical center of Vitebsk.
5. Memorial complex "Khatyn".
6. Castle in Grodno.
7. Spaso-Evfrosinevsky monastery in Polotsk.
8. Rumyantsev-Paskevich Palace in Gomel.
9. Mir castle complex.
10. Historical district "Trinity Suburb" in Minsk.

Finally…

In the eastern part of Europe there is a beautiful and in many ways unusual country - Belarus. The area it occupies is small: 207.6 thousand square meters. km. About 9.5 million people live in this territory. The Belarusian people are famous for their accuracy and diligence. The country itself is distinguished by a low level of corruption, the almost complete absence of unemployment and well-developed medicine.

Minsk is an independent territorial unit of Belarus with a special status of the capital of the republic. In addition, it is the administrative center of the region and district. Hero City, a major scientific, economic and political center, as well as the cultural capital of Belarus.

Minsk area - 348 sq. km. The city is divided into 9 administrative-territorial units - districts.

First mentions

The first mention of the fact that on the banks of the river. Svisloch is inhabited by small settlements dating back to the 9th century. Two Slavic tribes settled in the river valley - the Dregovichi and the Krivichi. A description of the city and the activities of its first princes can be found in The Tale of Bygone Years. At one time, the city of Menesk (the ancient name of modern Minsk) was part of the Kievan Rus, existed as a separate administrative unit. After the attack of the Mongol-Tatars on Kievan Rus, Minsk was under the protection of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, then it was part of the Commonwealth. And after its division at the end of the 18th century, it went to the Russian Empire. A new Minsk province was formed, the capital of which was the city of Minsk. During Soviet times, Minsk was the capital of the Byelorussian SSR. And after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the republic became an independent state. The capital of Belarus has not changed.

Name and geographical location

The very origin of the name is most often attributed to the Menka River, which previously flowed on these lands. Translated from the Finnish-Ugric dialect - "small river".

Geographically, the city is located on a hill of moraine origin, which was formed during the Sozh glaciation (220 thousand years ago). The average height of the plain is 220 m, the highest point of the city is 283 m.

Climatic conditions

Lies in a temperate climate, there is a clear change of seasons. The weather and climatic conditions are largely influenced by air masses from the Atlantic. The average annual rainfall - 700-800 mm - is evenly distributed throughout the year. Average July temperatures are +18…+20°С. Summer is moderately warm, humid and not hot. Average January temperatures are -4…-5°С. Winters are moderate, with frequent thaws.

Population

Nearly 2 million people live in Minsk. In recent years, there has been an upward trend in the population. By national composition, the vast majority (75%) are Belarusians. In smaller numbers in the capital live: Ukrainians, Russians, Poles, Turkmens, Jews, Lithuanians. There are also small agglomerations of Turks, Arabs, Georgians, Moldovans, Gypsies. The majority of the population living in Minsk professes Orthodox Christianity.

Significance of Minsk

The capital of Belarus bears the title of "Hero City". It is worth noting that it is in this settlement that the headquarters of the Commonwealth of Independent States is located. In Europe, Minsk ranks 10th in terms of population. And according to this criterion on the territory of the EAEU - 3rd position.

The capital of the Republic of Belarus is a major industrial center of the country. It develops in diverse industries, of which the most popular are: food and light industry, automobile and tractor building, metalworking and instrument making.

In addition, Minsk is a powerful educational center. The largest state educational institutions of the state are concentrated here, in total 23 universities. More than half of the students of Belarus study there.

The cultural sphere is also extensively developed, which attracts tourists to Minsk. The capital of Belarus has 13 museums, 10 theaters, more than 3,500 sports facilities (sports fields, stadiums, tennis courts, ski slopes).

Transport

The city has a well-developed transport system. All this is due to the fact that Minsk is the crossing point between Russia, Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic States, the so-called transport corridor. The city has a subway and one airport.

Tourism

The capital of Belarus will also be interesting in terms of tourism. Of the attractions, Independence Avenue, the National Library, numerous temples and churches are especially popular. A visit to this city is a must, if only because of the various cultural buildings. They fully reflect the history of Belarus and will be useful to many travelers.

Belarus is unique in Europe in that in this relatively small country - compared to France, Spain, Sweden or Germany - at different times the role of the capital was played by as many as five cities in turn. Two more cities of Belarus either unofficially or seriously claimed the role of the capital. But what city would be the Belarusian capital now, if not for the wars and divisions of our territory?

POLOTSK

The history of Belarusian statehood grows out of the most ancient Belarusian city of Polotsk, which for a long time was the capital of a strong and independent Polotsk principality. The first chronicle mention of Polotsk dates back to 862 in the context of calling the Varangians to Ladoga. Most likely, the people of King Rurik Ludbrandson built the city on the site where there was already a settlement. Soon, in the middle of the 10th century, the Principality of Polotsk arose, independent of either Novgorod or Kyiv. The first known prince of Polotsk, who is mentioned in chronicle sources, is the former Norman king Rogvolod or otherwise Rengvald. In 988, the city was captured by the Kyiv prince Vladimir. The city stayed near Kyiv for 70 years. Until 1001, Izyaslav (Ingdolf), the son of Rogneda (Ragnhilda) Rogvolodovna, the founder of the dynasty of Polotsk princes Izyaslavich, reigned in Polotsk. The foundation of the Polotsk diocese dates back to 992.

During the reign of Vseslav Bryachislavich, St. Sophia Cathedral was built. Under Vseslav, the Principality of Polotsk reached its highest power.

In the early 1240s, when the Grand Duchy of Lithuania arose, the Polotsk state still retained its independence. Andrei Polotsky, who ruled in Polotsk in the second half of the 14th century, is one of the most remarkable political figures in the history of Polotsk. He was replaced by Skirgaylo Olgerdovich (1387 - 1397) - the last independent prince of Polotsk. As part of the GDL, the ancient grandeur of the city, whose population sometimes reached up to 100,000 people, gradually decreased. The loss of the status of the capital also affected a significant reduction in its population and the economic decline of Polotsk, which, nevertheless, played a significant role in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as the spiritual center of Orthodoxy.

In 1498 Magdeburg Law was introduced in the city. In 1504-1772 Polotsk was the center of the Polotsk Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

As a result of the first division of the Commonwealth, the right-bank part of Polotsk on July 25, 1772 became part of the Russian Empire. The left-bank part of Polotsk became part of the Russian Empire under the second partition of the Commonwealth in 1792. Until 1776 the city was in the Pskov province. From August 24, 1776, Polotsk was the administrative center of the Polotsk province, and from May 12, 1778 - the Polotsk governorship.

In 1839, a church council was held in Polotsk, at which the Greek Catholic (Uniate) Church of the Russian Empire was liquidated for complete subordination to the Russian Orthodox Church. Since then, the spiritual significance of Polotsk has drastically decreased. The ancient Belarusian capital finally turned into an ordinary county town of the Russian Empire.

NOVOGRUDOK

The first capital of the GDL Novogorodok (Novogrodek) is known according to various sources from 1044, from 1116, from 1240. But archaeologists say the city is much older. Excavations carried out in the 1960s show that in the 9th-10th centuries there already existed a city on the site of Novogrudok, which had trade relations with Byzantium, the Middle East, Western Europe and Scandinavia. The mention under the year 962 by Byzantine sources of the city of Russia Nemogardis should be attributed specifically to Novogrudok, and not to Novgorod, because in the Baltic language Nemogardis is “a city on the Neman”. The first chronicle mention of the settlement as a city is associated with the founding of a fortress on a hill at this place by the Kyiv prince Yaroslav the Wise around 1044.

The Scandinavian sagas specifically called Novogorodok Holmgard - "the city on the hill", because Novgorod is located in a lowland. Also, according to the sagas, the Scandinavians sailed to Holmgard for glassware and kitchen utensils. Those in Novgorod have not yet been found, but in Novogrudok, archaeologists have discovered both the first and the second.

On the territory of the citadel of Novogrudok, researchers found wooden ground buildings with adobe stoves and plank floors. The most important activities of the population of the city were craft and trade. Evidence of jewelry craft is especially common, there were foundries and jewelry workshops that formed a whole block on the Small Castle, the only alchemical laboratory in Eastern Europe. Bone carving, wood and stone processing were also widespread. Trade relations were extremely wide in the XII-XIII centuries, which is recorded by the huge number of imported products. Glass bracelets, ornaments made of non-ferrous metals, encolpions, icons, slate whorls came from Kyiv to Novogrudok. Faience vessels came from Iran. From Byzantium and Syria - glassware. From the Baltics - amber.

No wonder Mindovg in 1240 made the "city on a hill" the capital of his new state. It was an important trading port, rich and prosperous. True, the transfer of the capital of the GDL to Vilnia somewhat affected the loss of all the former importance and authority of Novogrudok, but the city remained a major cultural center throughout the entire history of the GDL.

VILNYA

Belarusians still speak of the Letuvisian capital Vilnius - “our Vilnia”, because this city is the most famous Belarusian capital. For more than 470 years, Vilnia was the main city of the Belarusian state until the capture of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the entire Commonwealth by Catherine II.

According to the legends recorded in the annals, the Lithuanian prince Svintorog, whom many historians consider a mythical person, chose a place at the confluence of the Vilnia River into the Viliya for his burial. He ordered his son, after his death, to burn his body at the mouth of the Vilnius and henceforth perform ritual cremations here. The place was called the valley of the Holy Horn. According to legend, years later, Grand Duke Gediminas, after a successful hunt, stayed overnight on the Holy Horn. In a dream, he saw a huge iron wolf on a mountain that howled like a hundred wolves. The next morning, the prince asked the sorcerer Lizdeyka to interpret the dream. Lizdeyka explained that the wolf means the castle and the city that the ruler will lay here. The city will become the capital of all Lithuanian lands, and the howling of wolves means glory.

The city was first mentioned in written sources in the first quarter of the 14th century, when it became the residence of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania and the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In a Latin letter dated January 25, 1323, Gediminas called Vilnia his capital city. At the same time, the city already existed by 1323 and could have been founded in the 13th century.

In 1387, the Polish king and the Lithuanian Grand Duke Jagiello granted Magdeburg rights to Vilna. In 1503-1522 the city was surrounded by a city wall with nine gates and three towers. In the future, the city constantly grew and developed. In 1579, the Academy and University of the Vilna Society of Jesus were founded in the city by King Stefan Batory of Poland. Thus, Vilnia became the first university city of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and its major scientific and cultural center.

During the war with Muscovy in 1654-1655, the city was captured and burned. Vilnia was also seriously affected by the plague, which engulfed almost all of Eastern Europe. After a one-and-a-half-year siege of the Moscow garrison, in the autumn of 1661 Vilnia was again part of the Commonwealth. In 1793 the city was captured by Russian troops. And in 1794, Vilnia became the center of the uprising of Tadeusz Kosciuszko, after the defeat of which it became part of the Russian Empire.

In 1920, Belarusian regiments under the command of General Zheligovsky occupied Vilna. The city returned under the Belarusian flag (red flag with the Polish eagle and the Belarusian Pursuit), becoming the capital of the Belarusian Central Lithuania. But in 1922, Central Lithuania, apparently afraid of being invaded by the USSR and being essentially a pro-Polish state, voluntarily became part of Poland, and Vilnia lost its Belarusian capital status. The city was transferred to Lietuva by Stalin in the autumn of 1939, after the next partition of Poland. So Vilnia became Vilnius - the capital of Samogitian Lietuva.

GRODNO

This ancient city could have been the capital and almost became in the years of the king of the Commonwealth, Stefan Batory. Grodno has been known under the name Goroden since the beginning of the 12th century as the center of the Goroden principality. During its history, the city was the center of various administrative-territorial units of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Commonwealth, the Russian Empire, the USSR and independent Belarus.

Around 1376, Goroden passed into the possession of Prince Vitovt, who after 1392 made this city his second "capital" (after Trok), and annexed the Grodno principality to the Trok principality; Gorodensk banner (regiment) as part of the troops of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania participated in the Battle of Grunwald.

Grodno was chosen as his personal residence by the Polish king and Grand Duke of Lithuania Stefan Batory. After 1576, he rebuilt Grodno Castle into his own Renaissance palace. It was then that Grodno began to be called the second capital of the Commonwealth, because Batory preferred to live in Grodno, and not in Krakow or Warsaw. Grodno practically became the capital of the Commonwealth, because all the important affairs of the state were decided in this city at the table of the king. Batory died in Grodno. In the capital, however, the city did not have time to rename. The Grodno Mint (as well as the Brest Mint) minted GDL coins, the last GDL thaler was minted in Grodno in 1794.

Accession to the Russian Empire did not lead to the decline of the city. Grodno also played an important role in the economic market in Russia, which contributed to the further development of the city. Manufactories continued to develop, including those working on freelance labor. In 1803, work was completed on the reconstruction of the Oginsky canal, which connected the basins of the Dnieper and the Neman, after which the Grodno pier became one of the largest on the Neman.

On June 28, 1812, during the War of 1812, troops of the right wing of the Great Army of Napoleon Bonaparte entered Grodno. The population of the Grodno region welcomed the arrival of French troops, who promised to restore the independence of the Principality of Lithuania. Grodno became part of the Duchy of Lithuania for a short time. A detachment of the National Guard of the Duchy of 290 people and a gendarmerie of 856 people were created in the city, and recruits were also made for Lithuanian infantry and cavalry units. Mobilized as part of the French army, they fought against the Russian army in the final stages of the War of 1812, as well as in the campaigns of 1813 and 1814.

MOGILEV

In the 1930s, Mogilev was going to become the capital of the BSSR. They even built the Government House, which still stands today. Probably, if not for the Second World War, then Mogilev would have become the Belarusian capital. Mogilev has always been a large and very significant city in the Belarusian lands.

In 1561, Mogilev received from King Sigismund August a small Magdeburg right, and in 1577 from King Stefan Batory - a large Magdeburg right. In 1595, detachments of Severin Nalivaiko attacked Mogilev, the city underwent significant destruction, many residents died. In 1654, the city opened the gates of the Muscovite army without a fight, and the "Cossacks" of the traitor Poklonsky slaughtered all Mogilev Jews near the city walls - about three thousand people, including babies. But in 1661, the people of Mogilev rebelled and killed the entire Muscovite garrison (for which the Moscow church anathematized the city, which has not been lifted so far). The city returned to the fold of ON. On June 9 of the same year, Magdeburg Law was returned to him. Mogilev was badly damaged during the Northern War, burned down in 1708 at the hands of the Cossacks and dragoons of Peter I. After that, he lost his significance for a long time.

During World War I, from August 1915 to November 1917, the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief was located in Mogilev in the building of the current local history museum, Emperor Nicholas II lived in the city. All the Supreme Commanders who were in office after the February Revolution worked in Mogilev: Alekseev, Brusilov, Kornilov. On September 1, 1917, General Kornilov was arrested there in the name of the Provisional Government. He was kept under arrest for 12 days in the Bristol Hotel, then was sent to Bykhov.

In 1938, in connection with the project of transferring the capital of the BSSR to Mogilev, the reconstruction of the city began. The House of Soviets, the cinema "Rodina", the building of the NKVD of the BSSR, a hotel, a number of multi-storey residential buildings were built. But as a result of the annexation of Western Belarus to the BSSR, the idea of ​​transferring the capital from Minsk to Mogilev disappeared. After the liberation of the BSSR from the German occupiers, since Minsk was almost completely destroyed, Mogilev was again considered as a possible capital of the BSSR, but never received this status.

MINSK

Well, why did Minsk eventually become the capital of Belarus? Indeed, in the history of our country, Minsk-Litovsky (originally Menesk from the Menka River, Mensk in Belarusian until the end of the 1930s in the BSSR, renamed by Stalin for unknown reasons) was a relatively small insignificant city, not being any center. It has been known since 1067 because of the annalistic battle between the squads of Vseslav Charodey and the Kyiv army on the Nemiga River (Russian regiments destroyed both the city and its population). The next mention of the city dates back only to 1324.

In 1385, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland signed the Union of Krevo, and later, in 1401, they signed the Union of Vilna-Radom, which further strengthened the union of the two states. In 1441, Grand Duke Casimir IV gave the city of Mensk a charter of privileged cities. At the behest of his son Alexander Jagiellon in 1499 (according to other sources in 1496) the city received the Magdeburg Law. In 1565 - 1566 the city became the center of the Mensk Voivodeship and the Mensk County as part of it. By privilege of 1591 Mensk was granted a coat of arms.

By the middle of the 17th century, Minsk had become an important economic, cultural and religious center of the Commonwealth. But the national image of the city gradually changed, and the old name Mensk was replaced by the Polish Minsk (there are also several Minsks in Poland, so the Poles began to call the city Minsk-Lithuanian).

In 1654, during the war with Muscovy, Mensk, completely destroyed due to fighting, was captured by the troops of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who occupied the city until 1660. An interesting detail: the entire population of Mensk, to the last inhabitant, went to partisan in the forests, and in the city there was only a Muscovite garrison of more than two hundred people - “all Tatars and Mordovians, they don’t know the Russian language” (in fact, almost the entire army of Muscovites consisted of Tatars and Mordovians of the former Golden Horde).

The second wave of destruction followed during the Northern War, when in 1708 the city was robbed more than once by the tsarist Kalmyks and the Don Cossacks-Tatars. So in the 18th century Minsk became a periphery of the Commonwealth and did not play any significant role. By 1790, the population of the city had barely reached about 7,000 inhabitants, thus returning to the figures of 1654.

By 1811, the population of Minsk numbered about 11 thousand inhabitants. On July 18, 1812, the first Minsk newspaper "Tymczasowa gazeta Minska" was published. During the French offensive during the War of 1812, Minsk was seriously destroyed by Russian troops. The last unrest of the 19th century took place during the 1830 uprising. The suppression of the uprising led to a change in the national character of the city and a gradual decrease in the Catholic population, and the fact that Minsk was included in the Jewish Pale of Settlement in 1835 contributed to the growth of the Jewish population of the city.

By 1860 there were 27 thousand inhabitants in Minsk. The most important event that influenced the further development of the city was the laying of the Moscow-Warsaw railway through Minsk in 1871. According to the 1897 census, 91,494 inhabitants already lived in the city. More than half of the population (47.561) were Jews (by the way, the first world congress of Zionists was organized in Minsk - almost simultaneously with the first congress of the RSDLP, where most of the parties were Jewish). Gradually, by the beginning of the 20th century, Minsk became the second main center after Vilna and the Belarusian political movement. That is why Minsk was chosen as the capital of the BNR on March 25, 1918.

SMOLENSK

Another irretrievably lost Belarusian center is Smolensk, the first Soviet Belarusian capital. On January 1, 1919, the Soviet Socialist Republic of Belarus (SSRB) was proclaimed in Smolensk as part of Soviet Russia. On January 31, 1919, the SSRB withdrew from Soviet Russia and was renamed the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic, and Minsk became the capital.

True, on February 27, 1919, Soviet Belarus became part of the Lithuanian-Belarusian SSR (Litbel). Vilnia became the capital of Litbel, briefly regaining the status of the Belarusian capital. However, as a result of the military defeats of the Bolsheviks from Poland, the authorities of Litbel were evacuated from Vilna to Minsk, and Vilnia became the capital of the Belarusian Central Lithuania, independent of the Russian Bolsheviks.

While the war with Poland was going on, the RSFSR “borrowed” its eastern lands from Belarus, including the Gomel and Smolensk regions with part of the Vitebsk and Mogilev regions. Later, after the Civil War, these lands gradually and obviously reluctantly returned, but Smolensk and the entire Smolensk region remained within the RSFSR. "Temporary" for Smolensk turned out to be permanent.

The famous Soviet and tsarist ethnographer Mikhail Antonovich Krukovsky (1865-1936) wrote long ago that Smolensk is a Belarusian city. In 1898, in the essay “Belarusian uyezds of the Smolensk province”, Krukovsky emphasized: “Four uyezds of the Smolensk province: Smolensk, Krasninsky, Elninsky and Roslavl are inhabited exclusively by Belarusians ... Smolensk is a city rather Belarusian: in a crowd of citizens you can always distinguish a Great Russian, although the general physiognomy of the city and residents more European than in any other of our provincial towns. This is the only Belarusian city in which culture is relatively high.”

Smolensk, probably, could have become the Belarusian capital if it were not located so close to the eastern border and was not subject to constant raids and seizures from the eastern neighbor.

The Smolyans are direct descendants of the Krivichi, as well as the population of the Vitebsk and Mogilev regions, the inhabitants of the independent Smolensk principality, at the end of the 13th century, they established close relations with the Swedish island of Gotland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania - as a state related by blood and mentality. During Olgerd's campaigns against Moscow (1368-1370), the Grand Duke of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania received military assistance from Smolensk Prince Svyatoslav Ivanovich. This is reflected in the Smolensk Chronicle. After Svyatoslav Ivanovich opposed Lithuania and was killed in the battle on the Vihra River, in 1387 his son Yuri Svyatoslavich swore allegiance to the Polish-Lithuanian king Jagiello.

In 1449, an agreement was concluded between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Moscow Principality, according to which Moscow refused Smolensk and Smolensk land for eternal years. If! Already during the new Muscovite-Lithuanian war of 1500-1503, the army of Muscovy unsuccessfully besieged Smolensk. In 1508, Smolensk became the center of the Smolensk Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

At the beginning of 1513, Smolensk was again besieged by the Moscow army, but the six-week siege was unsuccessful. In July of the same year, a second siege began. Smolensk governor Yuri Sologub courageously fought back. A year later, on July 29, 1514, Muscovite troops appeared under the walls of Smolensk for the third time, and after a fierce bombardment, the Litvino garrison surrendered. However, the Moscow government soon began to burden the Smolensk, accustomed to the former liberties. Therefore, in the same year, after the catastrophe of the Moscow troops near Orsha, they expressed their desire to return to the fold of the GDL. But the traitors informed the governor Vasily Shuisky about the conspiracy, who ordered the conspirators to be seized and soon hung them on the city walls in full view of Ostrozhsky. As a result, Smolensk remained with Moscow and was returned by military means only in 1611.

In June 1654, an army from the east again approached Smolensk, led by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The siege began. On the night of August 16, a general assault was arranged. Muscovites lost 7,000 killed and 15,000 wounded in one night of assault, but the city was never taken. Nevertheless, the tormented Smolensk garrison capitulated on September 23, 1654, and Smolensk was finally annexed to Muscovy. Nevertheless, the “eastern capital” of Belarus has not lost its Belarusianness for 200 years. In 1864, in the Statistical Table of Rittich for the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire, the absolute majority of the inhabitants of Smolensk and the eastern districts of the Smolensk province are Belarusians.

According to M.A. Krukovsky, the city even stood out for the better among other Belarusian cities. As in the 17th century under the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Smolensk remained a religiously tolerant city in 1900. According to the census, there were 32 Orthodox churches, 1 Catholic and 1 Lutheran, 2 synagogues and 3 monasteries for 56,000 inhabitants. As for the language, it became more Russian among the population due to the long residence in the Russian Empire, but, as Krukovsky noted, the language of the inhabitants of Smolensk had a pronounced Belarusian substratum, like that of the inhabitants of the neighboring Kursk and Bryansk provinces.

Well, in 1920 another census was carried out, according to the results of which the Russian population already prevailed over the Belarusian one, but this only speaks of a strong degree of Russification of the Smolensk people by this year. Nevertheless, the Belarusian party leadership until 1926 did not leave hope for the possibility of including Smolensk in the BSSR. Alas, by the decree of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee “On the formation on the territory of the RSFSR of administrative-territorial associations of regional and regional significance” of January 14, 1929, from October 1, 1929, the Western Region was formed with the center in the city of Smolensk. Moscow no longer wanted to hear about any concessions by the BSSR. So Belarus lost its large city, which could well have been its capital. Later, Vilnia will also leave for Lietuva. Four of the six potential capitals remain in Belarus.

And here is an interesting question: what city would be our capital now, if fate were more favorable to Belarus and would save it from constant attacks by either tsars or Bolsheviks? If the entire national territory had been at the disposal of the first Belarusian government, then, of course, Vilna would have been chosen as the capital. If not Vilnia, then perhaps they would have chosen Smolensk. But these two cities fell under the hands of Poland on the one hand, and the RSFSR on the other. Minsk remained as more or less safely located. That's how we got a new capital.