BELARUS

also spelled Byelarus, formerly Belorussia, or Byelorussia, officially Republic of Belarus, Belarusian Respublika Byelarus', also called White Russia country of eastern Europe, the smallest of the three Slavic republics that formerly belonged to the Soviet Union. Belarus is bounded on the west by Poland, on the northwest by Latvia and Lithuania, on the north and east by Russia, and on the south by Ukraine. The capital is Minsk. Area 80,200 square miles (207,600 square km). Pop. (1995 est.) 10,332,000. also spelled Byelarus, formerly Belorussia, or Byelorussia, officially Republic of Belarus, Belarusian Respublika Byelarus', also called White Russia, country of eastern Europe. Until it became independent in 1991, it was the smallest of the three Slavic republics that formed part of the Soviet Union. It covers an area of 80,153 square miles (207,595 square kilometres). On the northwest Belarus adjoins Latvia and Lithuania, while Russia lies to the northeast and east, Ukraine to the south, and Poland to the west. The capital is Minsk. While Belarusians share a distinct ethnic identity and language, they never previously enjoyed unity and political sovereignty. Belarusian history is thus less an isolable national narrative than a study of regional forces, their interplay, and their effects on the Belarusian people. The territory that is now Belarus underwent partition and changed hands repeatedly; as a result much of the history of Belarus is inseparable from that of its neighbours. Richard Antony French Additional reading A brief survey of important geologic features is offered in R.G. Garetsky et al., Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic: A Guidebook, trans. from Russian (1984). Soviet-oriented presentations of many features of physical and human geography concentrating on the mid-20th century are found in these illustrated booklets, all translated from Russian: V.P. Borodina et al., Soviet Byelorussia (1972); Anatoly Stuk and Yuri Sapozhkov, Byelorussia (1982); V. Borushko, Byelorussia: People, Events, Facts (1983); Mikhail Shimansky, Byelorussia (1986); V. Gulevich and Yu. Gurtovenko, Byelorussia: Years of Achievement (1987); and V. Gulevich, Byelorussia: Questions and Answers (1988). Western publications about Belarus include Nicholas P. Vakar, Belorussia: The Making of a Nation (1956), which includes a survey of traditions and their origins; Ivan S. Lubachko, Belorussia Under Soviet Rule, 1917-1957 (1972), a history of the first half of the Soviet period; Vladimir Seduro, The Byelorussian Theater and Drama (1955), a historical study; and John Sallnow, "Belorussia: The Demographic Transition and the Settlement Network in the 1980s," Soviet Geography, 28(1):25-33 (January 1987). For historical background of the later Soviet period, see Michael S. Pap (ed.), Russian Empire: Some Aspects of Tsarist and Soviet Colonial Practices (1985), especially the article by Vitaut Kipel, "Byelorussia Under Russian Occupation: Past, Present, Future," pp. 55-78; appropriate chapters in George W. Simmonds (ed.), Nationalism in the USSR & Eastern Europe in the Era of Brezhnev & Kosygin (1977); John Sallnow, Reform in the Soviet Union: Glasnost and the Future (1989); Bohdan Nahaylo and Victor Swoboda, Soviet Disunion: A History of the Nationalities Problem in the USSR (1990); and Vitaut Kipel and Zora Kipel (eds.), Byelorussian Statehood: Reader and Bibliography (1988). The period of independence is examined in Jan Zaprudnik, Belarus: At a Crossroads in History (1993). Richard Antony French Administration and social conditions Government A new constitution entered into force in Belarus in March 1994. Characterizing the republic as a "democratic, social state," that document guaranteed a broad range of rights and freedoms and pledged the state to create the conditions for full employment. It was based on the separation of legislative, executive, and judicial powers. Under the 1994 constitution, deputies were elected by universal adult suffrage to five-year terms to the government's highest legislative body, the Supreme Soviet, which confirmed the budget, called for national elections and referenda, and was responsible for domestic, foreign, and military policy. Following the passage of a referendum (of questionable legitimacy) in November 1996, however, the constitution was revised to greatly expand the powers of the president, Alyaksandr Lukashenka (Lukashenko), while greatly diminishing those of a reconstituted parliament. There are three tiers of local government: the largest consists of six voblastsi (provinces) and one municipality (horad); they in turn are divided into rayony (sectors) and cities, with some larger cities further divided into rayony. Towns, villages, and settlements constitute the final tier. The judicial system comprises the Supreme Court and its lower courts, the Supreme Economic Court and its lower courts, and the Constitutional Court, whose 11 judges (elected by the Supreme Soviet) have the final ruling on the republic's basic law. Political parties Long a monolithic ruling party, the Communist Party was banned in 1991 following the demise of the Soviet Union. It regrouped as the Party of Communists before reemerging under the name Communist Party of Belarus after the lifting of the ban in 1993. The Agrarian Party represents the interests of collective and state farms, while a variety of parties represent social democratic, liberal, market-oriented, and ecologically concerned constituencies. The Belarusian Popular Front has been at the forefront of the nationalist movement since its founding in 1989 but has had little electoral success. Cultural life Little survives in Belarus of the earliest period of settlement by eastern Slavs; a distinctively Belarusian culture began to emerge clearly only in the 16th century. In the later tsarist period, considerable efforts were made to suppress the Belarusian language and culture. Long periods of foreign control, first by the grand duchy of Lithuania and the kingdom of Poland, then by tsarist Russia and later by the Soviet Union, brought a series of outside influences, from the European Baroque and classical architectural styles to the cultural constraints of Socialist Realism. Architecture One of the oldest surviving monuments of architecture in the country is the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Polatsk, dating from the 11th century and built in the Eastern Orthodox style. The church of Barys and Hlyeb in Hrodna dates from the 12th century. Most of the other early buildings that remain, mostly as ruins, are the princely stone fortresses of the 12th to 16th century. One of the best-known of these is the 13th-century White Tower in Kamyanyets. The 17th century marked the appearance of the Baroque style, which was largely linked to the eastward movement of Roman Catholicism; it is exemplified by the design of the Jesuit, Bernardine, and Bridgettine churches in Hrodna. Belarusian craftsmen played a role in extending Baroque influence farther eastward into Russia, where it was adapted as the "Moscow Baroque" style. By the 18th century, classical styles predominated in Belarus, as seen in the Governor's Palace in Hrodna. The ravages of World War II destroyed a large segment of the country's architectural heritage, especially in Minsk. Because much of Minsk was reconstructed after the war, most of the architecture of the city centre reflects the grandiose Stalinist style with its classical borrowings.