Belarus

D

Local Government

Local government is administered through the six regions (voblasts): Brest; Homel; Hrodna; Mahilyow; Minsk; and Vitsyebsk; and their districts (rayons). The city of Minsk is regarded as a municipality and administered separately from the Minsk voblast.

E

Health and Welfare

The standard of living was considered to be higher than in other parts of the former Soviet Union, but since independence health indicators have worsened. The after-effects of the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986 have resulted in an increased rate of thyroid cancers in children and many early deaths. The decrease in male life expectancy, which is declining at a faster rate than female life expectancy, is attributed to a rising incidence of alcohol-related illnesses among the male population.

F

Defence

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Belarus became a de facto nuclear power. Subsequent ratification of the Lisbon Protocol to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and the first Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START 1) in 1993 led to the last nuclear warhead being removed to Russia in late 1996. In 2004 armed forces in Belarus totalled 72,940 personnel, including an army of 29,600 and an air force of 18,170; paramilitary forces of 110,000 included 12,000 border guards; 11,000 Interior Ministry troops; and a militia of 87,000. There is also a reserve force of some 289,500 personnel. In 2003 Belarus spent US$ 2,400 million (4 per cent of its GDP) on defence.

G

International Organizations

Belarus is a member of the following organizations: the United Nations; Central European Initiative (CEI); Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS); Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE); and the Partnership for Peace (PFP).

VI

History

During the Middle Ages, the territory that is now Belarus was divided into a number of Slavic principalities. In 1240 invading Tatars destroyed Kiev, the centre of Slavic culture and religion at the time, and most of the area of present-day Belarus was subsequently annexed by Lithuania. Linked to Poland under the Jagiełłon dynasty from 1386, the Belorussian territory became part of Lithuania-Poland when the two states were completely merged in 1569. Between the 16th and 18th centuries the area served as a battleground for wars between Poland and Russia. With the partitioning of Poland in 1772, 1793, and 1795, Russia acquired present-day Belarus. When French forces under Napoleon invaded in 1812, the land was laid waste by retreating Russians and remained extremely poor throughout the 19th century. Many Belorussians emigrated to Siberia or the United States.

An independent Belorussian state did not appear until the 20th century, although a movement of national self-determination began to take shape at the end of the 19th century. After the collapse of the Russian Empire, a Belorussian democratic republic was proclaimed in March 1918. The republic was soon crushed by the Bolsheviks, who proclaimed a Soviet republic in January 1919. Poland, determined to re-establish its historical boundaries, also invaded the country. Poland received the western part of Belarus under the terms of the Treaty of Riga, signed in 1921. The remaining land became a constituent republic of the USSR in 1922.

After the occupation of Poland by Germany in 1939, the USSR recaptured western Belarus and added it to the Belorussian SSR, thereby nearly doubling the area of the republic. In June 1941, during World War II, the Germans invaded Belarus, but they were expelled in 1944 after laying waste to the country. Except for certain small areas allocated to Poland, the 1939 political boundaries of the Belorussian SSR were confirmed by the terms of the treaty between Poland and the USSR in 1945.