Country Information
Official name:Republic of Belarus
Location: Eastern Europe, east of Poland.
Territory: 207,600 sq km
Population: 10,3 million people
Capital: Minsk
Airports:
Gomel (Pokalubichi) Airport (GME/UMGG)
Grodno (Obukhovo) Airport (GNA/UMMG)
Minsk National Airport (MSQ/UMMS)
Major cities: Horad Minsk
Main languages: Belarusian, Russian, other
Religions: Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20%
Climate: cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime
Average temperatures: May to September day temperatures are in the 70s-90s F/23-35 C, and nights are in the 50s-70s F/10-23 C. Spring and early fall, however, are unpredictable; snow flurries and temperatures in the mid 20s F/-5 C are possible as late as May or as early as September.
Monetary unit: Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR)
Local time: Standard time zone: UTC/GMT +2 hours. Daylight saving time: +1 hour
National holidays: Independence Day, 3 July (1944); note - 3 July 1944 was the date Minsk was liberated from German troops, 25 August 1991 was the date of independence from the Soviet Union.
Major tourist sights:
Minsk:
Almost every building in Minsk has been erected since 1944, when Minsk's recapture by the Soviet army left barely a stone standing. Minsk is probably the best example of pure Soviet planning on a grand scale. It almost carries off its attempt at worker utopia: the uniformity of its monumental facades is softened by its wide streets and pleasant parks. It has a bustling, cosmopolitan atmosphere and a cleaner, brighter feel than other former Soviet cities.
Minsk's main street, praspekt Skaryny, is a huge and hectic promenade. At the south-western end of the street, the 500m (1640ft) long ploshcha Nezalezhnastsi (Independence Square) is surrounded with government buildings and the attractive Polish Catholic Church of St Simon. The Park Janki Kupaly is a pleasant stretch of greenery bordered on 2 sides by the snaking Svislach River. You can rent a rowboat or check out the house where Russia's Communist Party held its illegal founding congress in 1898.
The Belarus National Museum of History and Culture will take you on a trip through the turbulent history of the nation, while the Belarusian State Art Museum has a collection of 17th to 20th century paintings. The Museum of the Great Patriotic War graphically displays the horrors of WWII and goes a long way towards explaining the country's apparent obsession with the war. Most grisly are the POW displays and photos of partisans being executed.
The Old Town, west of praspekt Skaryny, is home to the Baroque Cathedral of St Dukhawski. The Cathedral was once part of a Polish Bernardine convent - the former monastery buildings have been restored and now house a music academy. For a look at how Minsk used to be, travel to the east of the Svislach River, where a neighbourhood has been rebuilt in 17th- and 18th-century style. It's quaint and small-scale, and is scattered with cafes, bars, restaurants and gift shops. Nearby, the 1847 St Mary Magdeline Church has a pointed octagonal bell tower and a grand dome.
Belavezhskaja Pushcha Nature Reserve:
About 1300 sq km (507 sq mi) of primeval European forest survives in this reserve, which stretches north from the town of Kamjanjuky, about 40km (25mi) north
