You can find about travel advice such as public places & services, best restaurants, activities, sightseen and other key facts of the Belarus .
Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Covering an area of 207,600 square kilometres (80,200 sq mi) and with a population of 9.3 million, Belarus is the thirteenth-largest and the twentieth-most populous country in Europe. The country is administratively divided into seven regions. Minsk is the capital and largest city.
Until the 20th century, different states at various times controlled the lands of modern-day Belarus, including Kievan Rus', the Principality of Polotsk, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Russian Empire. In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution in 1917, different states arose competing for legitimacy amidst the Civil War, ultimately ending in the rise of the Byelorussian SSR, which became a founding constituent republic of the Soviet Union in 1922. After the Polish-Soviet War, Belarus lost almost half of its territory to Poland. Much of the borders of Belarus took their modern shape in 1939, when some lands of the Second Polish Republic were reintegrated into it after the Soviet invasion of Poland, and were finalized after World War II. During World War II, military operations devastated Belarus, which lost about a quarter of its population and half of its economic resources. The republic was redeveloped in the post-war years. In 1945, the Byelorussian SSR became a founding member of the United Nations, along with the Soviet Union.
The parliament of the republic proclaimed the sovereignty of Belarus on 27 July 1990, and during the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Belarus declared independence on 25 August 1991. Following the adoption of a new constitution in 1994, Alexander Lukashenko was elected Belarus's first president in the country's first and only free election post-independence, serving as president ever since. Lukashenko's government is authoritarian with a poor human rights record due to widespread human rights abuses. Belarus is the only country in Europe officially using the death penalty. Lukashenko has continued a number of Soviet-era policies, such as state ownership of large sections of the economy. In 2000, Belarus and Russia signed a treaty for greater cooperation, forming the Union State.
Belarus is a developing country ranking very high in the Human Development Index. It has been a member of the United Nations since its founding as well as joined the CIS, the CSTO, the EAEU, the OSCE and the Non-Aligned Movement. It has shown no aspirations for joining the European Union but nevertheless maintains a bilateral relationship with the bloc, and likewise participates in two EU projects: the Eastern Partnership and the Baku Initiative.
Foods in Belarus :
(1) Draniki :
Draniki are a simple and wholesome Belarusian appetizer or main, made from the nation’s favorite food: the potato.Potatoes are such an important ingredient in Belarusian cuisine. Neighboring Slovenians have even given Belarusians the nickname ‘bulbash’, as ‘bulba’ means potato in Belarus.Tasty Belarusian potatoes are mashed and flattened into pancakes. They are then placed in a pan and fried in generous amounts of oil and salt.Draniki are commonly served smothered in steaming gravy or with a sizeable dollop of sour cream.Despite being a simple Belarusian food, the fresh taste of the native potatoes gives the dish plenty of flavor.Draniki are a testament to the resilience of Belarusians who had to find ways to feed themselves during cold winters and times of hardship in the country.
(2) Babka :
Babka is another potato-based popular food of Belarus. It’s warming, filling, and a much-loved food throughout the country.Babka is a potato bake, with a range of different ingredients. Commonly, fried lard and onions are added to a mixture of grated potatoes.From there, a wide range of meats is added. Some Belarusians love to add bacon, while others prefer minced beef.Babka can be baked in an ordinary deep frying pan or in a clay pot. Baked in a clay pot, the aromas and flavors are enhanced. It’s a delight to taste.Babka can be served sliced on a plate, or straight from the pot. It is very tasty with sour cream or milk.You must definitely try the babka if you are visiting Belarus!
(3) Krambambulia :
Krambambulia is a strong alcoholic drink, that packs plenty of punch. It’s been served in the Belarusian region for hundreds of years.This unique Belarusian drink sees honey and spices added to a range of vodkas, native to the region.As with many cuisines in Eastern Europe, it’s a drink enjoyed in small quantities after meals and on special occasions.Whether the sun is shining or there’s snow on the ground, it is a seasonal drink that’s enjoyed all year round.But krambambulia is more than a mere alcoholic drink. Belarusians believe the drink fills you with strength and joy, gives inspiration and determination.Nowadays, krambambulia is served in many restaurants. Since the drink is very strong, it’s advised you sip, rather than drink. A couple of sips are enough to feel its warming, magical effect.
(4) Zacirka :
Zacirka are simple, hearty dumplings. An important food prepared by Belarusian peasants in the past, zacirka feature in many Belarusian stories and poems.Zacirka are prepared by mixing flour, eggs, and water into a dough. The dough is then rolled into delightful little Belarusian dumplings.These dumplings are then scalded in milk, which is diluted with water. It’s a simple and filling dish, that’s very nourishing.Nowadays, zacirka is not commonly made. But if you visit a Belarusian village, you’ll find the elder generation still cook traditional zacirka.Zacirka is a traditional Belarusian dish, and it has an important place in the history of the country.
(5) Lakshini or Milk Soup :
Lakshini is a delicious Belarusian dish that reflects the ingenuity and hard work of Belarusians. Oh, and unlimited love of potatoes!It takes a long time to make lakshini. First, pancakes from potato starch are baked, then they’re cut into strips. Then, the strips are dried until they look like chips.In this form, our Belarusian ancestors most likely packed them in linen bags and stored them near the stove, where it is always dry and warm.The strips are left to sit for a couple of days. Once rested, milk is poured over the mixture, before salt, sugar, and butter, are added.Once the soup is ready, it is cooked in the oven. It’s cooked for around thirty minutes until the milk soup is tender and full of fragrance.It’s a comforting Belarusian food that’s loved across the country.
Weather & geography in Belarus :
Belarus enjoys a seasonal, continental climate with long, cold winters and warm, temperate summers. ... Rain is also common in Belarus, with between 5 and 7 days of precipitation on average per month – the volume of this can fluctuate, with Belarus receiving 600-700mm of rainfall annually.Belarus, a landlocked, generally flat country (the average elevation is 162 meters (531 ft) above sea level) without natural borders, occupies an area of 207,600 square kilometers (80,200 sq mi), or slightly smaller than the United Kingdom or the state of Kansas. Its neighbors are Russia to the east and northeast, Latvia to the north, Lithuania to the northwest, Poland to the west, and Ukraine to the south. Its extension from north to south is 560 km (350 mi), from west to east is 650 km (400 mi).
Per day Cost in Belarus :
How much money will you need for your trip to Belarus? You should plan to spend around Br175 ($68) per day on your vacation in Belarus, which is the average daily price based on the expenses of other visitors. Past travelers have spent, on average, Br45 ($18) on meals for one day and Br29 ($11) on local transportation.
History of Belarus :
This article describes the history of Belarus. The Belarusian ethnos is traced at least as far in time as other East Slavs.After an initial period of independent feudal consolidation, Belarusian lands were incorporated into the Kingdom of Lithuania, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Russian Empire and eventually the Soviet Union. Apart from a brief attempt at independence, known as the Belarusian People's Republic, following the political vacuum created by the World War I, Belarus only became an independent country in 1991 after declaring itself free from the Soviet Union.
Language in Belarus :
Belarusian is an East Slavic language spoken by the Belarusians. It is one of the two official languages in the Republic of Belarus under the current Constitution (Article 17), along with Russian. Additionally, it is spoken in some parts of Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, and Ukraine by Belarusian minorities in those countries.Before Belarus gained independence in 1991, the language was only known in English as Byelorussian or Belorussian, the compound term retaining the English-language name for the Russian language in its second part, or alternatively as White Ruthenian or White Russian. Following independence, it has acquired the additional name, Belarusian, in English.The first attempt to standardise and codify the language was undertaken following the Russian Revolution in 1917. As one of the East Slavic languages, Belarusian shares many grammatical and lexical features with other members of the group. To some extent, Russian, Rusyn, Ukrainian, and Belarusian retain a degree of mutual intelligibility. Its predecessor stage is known in Western academia as Ruthenian (14th to 17th centuries), in turn descended from what is referred to in modern linguistics as Old East Slavic (10th to 13th centuries).In the first Belarus Census of 1999, the Belarusian language was declared as a "language spoken at home" by about 3,686,000 Belarusian citizens (36.7% of the population).[8][9] About 6,984,000 (85.6%) of Belarusians declared it their "mother tongue". Other sources, such as Ethnologue, put the figure at approximately 2.5 million active speakers.According to a study done by the Belarusian government in 2009, 72% of Belarusians speak Russian at home, while Belarusian is actively used by only 11.9% of Belarusians. Approximately 29.4% of Belarusians can write, speak, and read Belarusian, while 52.5% can only read and speak it.In the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger, the Belarusian language is stated to be vulnerable.
Culture of Belarus :
The culture of Belarus is the product of a millennium of development under the impact of a number of diverse factors. These include the physical environment; the ethnographic background of Belarusians (the merger of Slavic newcomers with Baltic natives); the paganism of the early settlers and their hosts; Eastern Orthodox Christianity as a link to the Byzantine literary and cultural traditions; the country's lack of natural borders; the flow of rivers toward both the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea; and the variety of religions in the region (Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Judaism, and Islam).An early Western influence on Belarusian culture was Magdeburg Law—charters that granted municipal self-rule and were based on the laws of German cities. These charters were granted in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries by grand dukes and kings to a number of cities, including Brest, Grodno, Slutsk, and Minsk. The tradition of self-government not only facilitated contacts with Western Europe but also nurtured self-reliance, entrepreneurship, and a sense of civic responsibility.In 1517-19 Francysk Skaryna (ca. 1490–1552) translated the Bible into the vernacular (Old Belarusian). Under the communist regime, Skaryna's work was vastly undervalued, but in independent Belarus he became an inspiration for the emerging national consciousness as much for his advocacy of the Belarusian language as for his humanistic ideas.From the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries, when the ideas of humanism, the Renaissance, and the Reformation were alive in Western Europe, these ideas were debated in Belarus as well because of trade relations there and because of the enrollment of noblemen's and burghers' sons in Western universities. The Reformation and Counter-Reformation also contributed greatly to the flourishing of polemical writings as well as to the spread of printing houses and schools.During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when Poland and Russia were making deep political and cultural inroads in Belarus by assimilating the nobility into their respective cultures, the rulers succeeded in associating "Belarusian" culture primarily with peasant ways, folklore, ethnic dress, and ethnic customs, with an overlay of Christianity. This was the point of departure for some national activists who attempted to attain statehood for their nation in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.The development of Belarusian literature, spreading the idea of nationhood for the Belarusians, was epitomized by the literary works of Yanka Kupala (1882–1942) and Yakub Kolas (1882–1956). The works of these poets, along with several other outstanding writers, became the classics of modern Belarusian literature by writing widely on rural themes (the countryside was where the writers heard the Belarusian language) and by modernizing the Belarusian literary language, which had been little used since the sixteenth century. Postindependence authors in the 1990s continued to use rural themes widely.Unlike literature's focus on rural life, other fields of culture—painting, sculpture, music, film, and theater—centered on urban reality, universal concerns, and universal values.
Place to visit in Belarus :
(1) Minsk
(2) Grodno
(3) Babruysk
(4) Novogrudok
(5) Lida
(6) Vitebsk
Hotel in Belarus :
(1) Hotel Belarus
(2) Minsk Marriott Hotel
(3) Sputnik Hotel
(4) Agrousad'ba, Mini-Otel' "Bul'bashik"
How to reach in Belarus :
The Minsk National Airport or Minsk -2 Airport is the main international airport of Belarus. This airport is the hub of the national airline, Belavia. Located near the capital city of Minsk, most of the internationalflights to Belarus land here. There are nearly 100 weekly connecting flights to Minsk, from New Delhi.
Travel Guide for Belarus : Food, hotel, Cost, Weather & geography, History, language, culture, things to see and do and how to reach. – Published by The Beyond News (Travelling).