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The flag of Belarus: Red horizontal band (top) and green horizontal band one-half the width of the red band; a white vertical stripe on the hoist side bears Belarusian national ornamentation in red.
The current national flag of Belarus was formally changed on June 7, 1995, following the result of a referendum voted on by the Belarusian people in the previous month. This new design replaced a historical flag used by the Belarusian People's Republic of 1918, before Belarus became a Soviet Republic, and again after it regained its independence in 1991. The current flag is a modification of the 1951 flag used while the country was a republic of the Soviet Union. The 1995 flag has been the basis of several flags used by government bodies.
A few groups have continued to use the previous flag, though its display in Belarus has been restricted by the government of president Alexander Lukashenko. The 1991 flag is still used in protests against the government and by the Belarusan diaspora. International independent observers have said that the referendum that selected the current flag did not meet democratic standards.
Hoist ornament pattern: There is a decorative pattern displayed on the hoist of the flag (and previously on the 1951 flag). Designed in 1917 by Matrena Markevich, the pattern is commonly used in Belarus to show local plants and flowers. These patterns are also woven into outfits, and also used for a traditional woven craft called rushniks. Rushniks are traditional towels decorated with the ornamental pattern that are used for ceremonial events. An example of their use would be a host offering his guests bread and salt, which would then be served on a rushnik. Rushniks are also used at religious services, funerals, and other social functions. On the current flag, the ornamentation is used to symbolize the cultural past, and the unity of the Belarusian people.
Finial: A flag finial is an ornament that is placed on top of the flagstaff as a piece of decoration. Belarusian law states that if the flag is used by government bodies for certain occasions, such as ceremonies and other solemn events, the Belarusian flag is to use a finial. The finial is shaped like a diamond, and at the bottom portion of the finial is a gold star. The star, according to law, has five points and must be of the same design as the one in the Belarusian coat of arms. The entire finial is of a golden color with a golden shaft where the pole can be slid into the base of the finial. If the flag belongs to a military organization, ribbons can be placed on this golden shaft. The finial is similar in design to that previously used with the Soviet flag, except that the Soviet-era finial was silver-colored and had a hammer and sickle and star placed in the cut area.
Belarus, Lacinka: Bielarus; is a landlocked nation-state in Eastern Europe, which borders Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia. Its capital city is Minsk, and other important cities include Brest, Grodno, Gomel, Mogilev and Vitebsk. The country, with one-third covered in forests, is populated by 9,755,000 people (2005 est.). Officially, the country is known as the Republic of Belarus (Belarusian: Lacinka: Respublika Bielarus; Russian: Respublika Belarus).
Throughout much of history, the area which is now known as Belarus was part of various countries including the Duchy of Polatsk, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Russian Empire. Eventually, in 1922, Belarus became a republic in the Soviet Union as the Byelorussian SSR. The republic officially declared its sovereignty on 27 August 1990, and following the collapse of the Soviet Union, declared independence as the Republic of Belarus on 25 August 1991. Since 1994, Alexander Lukashenko has been the state's president. Belarus is currently in negotiations with neighboring Russia to integrate both of their economies, among other things, in a plan called the Union of Russia and Belarus.
The country continues to suffer from the effects of nuclear fallout from the 1986 Chernobyl accident, which took place in neighboring Ukraine.
Belarus is landlocked, relatively flat, and contains large tracts of marshy land. Lakes and rivers punctuate the country. The largest marsh territory is Polesia, which is also amongst the largest marshes in Europe. There are 11,000 lakes in Belarus, but the majority of the lakes are smaller than 0.5 square kilometres (124 acres). Three major rivers run through the country, the Neman River, the Pripyat River, and the Dnepr River. Belarus' highest point is Dzyarzhynskaya Hara (Dzyarzhynsk Hill), 345 metres (1,132 ft), and its lowest point is on the Neman River, 90 metres (295 ft). The climate ranges from harsh winters (average January temperatures are in the range -8 °C(18 °F) to -2 °C (28 °F)) to cool and moist summers (average temperature 15 °C (59°F) to 20 °C(68°F)).
Forest covers about 34 % of the total landscape, making forestry products one of the most abundant natural resources in Belarus. Other natural resources to be found in Belarus include peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomite limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, and clay. About one fifth of the territory, mostly in the South-Eastern provinces of Homyel and Mahilyow, continues to be affected by fallout from the 1986 nuclear power plant disaster in Chernobyl, Ukraine. While the amount of radiation has decreased (by one percent) since the disaster, most of the area is considered uninhabitable.
Belarus is bordered by the following nations: Latvia (north), Lithuania (northwest), Poland (west), Russia (north and east) and the Ukraine (south).
Between the 6th and 8th centuries, what is now known as Belarus was settled by the Slavs, who still dominate the country. The Early East Slavs gradually came into contact with the Varangians and were organized under the state of Rus', mainly in the area around modern-day Polatsk in the northern part of the country. In the 13th century, the state was badly affected by a Mongol invasion, and eventually parts of Rus' were swallowed up by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The core lands of the duchy were territories around Kernave, Trakai, Vilnius cities and Samogitia. During this time, the Belarusian territories were largely at peace, but duchy itself was often at war and had famous victories against Mongols in the east, Turks in the south and Teutonic Knights in the west. By the 15th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania stretched across much of Eastern Europe, from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea.
On February 2, 1386, Grand Duke of Lithuania Jogaila was crowned King of Poland, and allied the Grand Duchy with Poland in a personal union under one monarch. This personal union eventually resulted in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, a new state created in 1569. However, by 1795, the state was divided and annexed by Imperial Russia, Prussia and Austria in the course of the Partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Belarus territories remained part of the Russian Empire until being occupied by Germany during World War I. Belarus first declared independence on 25 March 1918, forming the Belarusian People's Republic. The Republic, however, was short-lived, and the regime was overthrown soon after the German withdrawal. In 1919 Belarus became the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR), and after Russian occupation of eastern Lithuania merged into the Lithuanian-Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. After the Polish-Soviet War ended in 1921, Byelorussian lands were split between Poland and the recreated Byelorussian SSR, which became a founding member of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922. In September 1939, the Soviet Union annexed the Polish-held Byelorussian land as a result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
In 1941, Nazi Germany launched Operation Barbarossa, invading the Soviet Union. Belarus was captured soon afterwards, and remained in Nazi hands until 1944. Much the country's infrastructure was destroyed and a large portion of its population was killed in the German invasion. The Jewish population of Belarus was also devastated during The Holocaust. It took until 1971 for the population of Belarus to reach the pre-war level. The Jewish population, however, never recovered.[5] After the war ended, Byelorussia was among the 51 signatories to the founding of the United Nations, in 1945. The reconstruction that took place in Belarus after the war brought comparative prosperity to the Soviet Republic. During this time, Belarus became a major center of manufacturing in the western region of the USSR. The increase in jobs brought in a huge immigrant population from the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic.[6] During Joseph Stalin's era, a policy of russification was started to "protect" Byelorussian SSR from influences by the West. This policy involved sending Russians from various parts of the Soviet Union and placing them in key positions in the Belorussian SSR government. The official use of the Belarusian language and other cultural aspects were also limited by Moscow. After Stalin died in 1953, his successor Nikita Khrushchev continued the Russification program, stating in the Byelorussian SSR capital of Minsk that "The sooner we all start speaking Russian, the faster we shall build communism."
In 1986, a section of Belarus was affected by the fallout from the Chernobyl power plant accident in neighboring Ukraine. When Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev began pushing through his Perestroika plan, the Belarusian people delivered a petition to him in December of 1986 explaining the loss of their culture. This event has been coined by historians as the "cultural Chernobyl". In June of 1988, mass graves were discovered at the city of Kurapaty. The graves allegedly contained about 250,000 of Stalin's victims. Some contend that this discovery was proof that the Soviet government was trying to erase the Belarusian people and caused some to seek independence. Belarus declared itself sovereign on 27 July 1990, and the BSSR formally became the Republic of Belarus on 25 August 1991, attaining full independence. Around that time, Stanislav Shushkevich became Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Belarus, the top leadership position in Belarus. Shushkevich, along with Boris Yeltsin of Russia and Leonid Kravchuk of Ukraine met on December 8, 1991 in Belavezhskaya Pushcha to formally declare the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Since 1994, the country has been led by Alexander Lukashenko, who has been criticized by Western governments, Human Rights Watch, and other Western NGO for his Soviet-style domestic policies.
As of 2005, there appears to be a movement in Belarus towards reuniting with Russia. In November 2005, a draft constitution was sent to both Vladimir Putin and Lukashenko for approval.[9] This move, along with others, is part of the 1996 plan created by Lukashenko and former Russian President Boris Yeltsin to create a union between the two nations.
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