Belarus is a country in the east of Europe. Earlier it was part of the USSR, and in 1991 came out of it. Now it has several names - Belarus or Belarus. And the official name has been preserved for 25 years - the Republic of Belarus. The history of this country is very rich. She, like Ukraine, was under the rule of the Poles, the Russian Empire, the Principality of Lithuania.
General information
By the beginning of 2016, the population of Belarus amounted to almost 9.5 million people. Such indicators moved the state to 93rd place in the world ranking by the number of inhabitants. The country's territory occupies 207 thousand square meters. m. This is 84th place in the world. The unitary power has a form of government - the presidential republic. Before we learn which state language is in Belarus, it is worth turning to the history of the country, its traditions and population.
Title
The roots of the name of the state come from the XIII century. Then the Europeans called White Russia the territory of Veliky Novgorod. The place where the modern state is now located was called Polotchina. It began to be called White Russia only after the 16th century. Later, the eastern lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were also called. And the inhabitants of this area, respectively, became Belarusians.
Only by the XIX century, when Belarus became part of the Russian Empire, the locals were renamed into Belarusians.
Russia
It is known that the 9th century is attributed to the formation of the state under the leadership of the Rurikovich. The famous trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” affected the modern territory of Belarus. The Old Russian state for a long time coped with the local principalities, and with raids from the outside. In 988, a significant event took place - the Baptism of Russia. A little later dioceses appeared in Polotsk and Turov.
In the XII century. events occurred that led to the fragmentation and disintegration of the whole state into Russian principalities. The Mongol invasion then broke all the peoples of Russia, but the territory described was not significantly affected. Then it was impossible to establish which language in Belarus is the state language, since there still did not exist a power with that name.
Lithuanian and Polish influence
After political events, the territory of a modern power was influenced by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which was formed in the middle of the XIII century. Already by the XIV century. the state was a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional land.
After were difficult times under the rule of the Commonwealth. Catholicism immediately came to the whole territory of the former principality of Lithuania. At that time, the population of modern Belarus was Orthodox. After the formation of the Uniate Church, there were many discontented residents. But already at the end of the 18th century, many became Uniates, and those who occupied the upper class became Catholics.
Russian supremacy
Under the rule of the Russian Empire, the territory of Belarus began to appear. Then the Belarusian governor-general was called so, which included the Vitebsk and Mogilev provinces.
It was hard to call the inhabitants of these lands lucky. Recruitment and serfdom were introduced throughout the empire. The inhabitants of the western region of the modern power then fell into confusion with the Polish uprising. Then began the full Russification of the entire territory. The statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was abolished, the Uniate Church merged with the Orthodox. And in 1866, the current state language of Belarus, Belarusian, was canceled. The empire carried out reforms related not only to religion and politics. The government tried to win cultural superiority.
Then there was no such thing as Belarus. The head, the state language, was all the more not formed. But many writers began to promote their native language, under the influence of the policy of Russification. Among them stood out Janka Lucina and Frantisek Bogushevich. The events of the Polish uprising of 1863 led to the fact that Belarusian self-awareness began to grow among the people.
Dramatic changes
By the time the Russian Empire ceased to exist and was replaced by the Provisional Government, the territory of modern Belarus did not change. During the October Revolution, cardinal changes began.
In 1917, the First All-Belarusian Congress was held. By 1918, the Belarusian People’s Republic was formed . After the liberation, Poland decided to declare its rights to the state. Thus arose the Soviet-Polish front.
Uncertainty
As you know, 1919 began with the emergence of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Belarus on the map. Its main city was Minsk. But a month later, newly made lands withdrew from the RSFSR. Now it was the Byelorussian Socialist Soviet Republic.
But this did not last long. Again, a month later the republic was disbanded, and part of the provinces went to the RSFSR, and part became the Lithuanian-Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic. Litbel did not live long - already in the summer of 1919 the Poles occupied him.
Later, with the formation of the USSR, the named territory became known as the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic. And since 1922 it was under the control of the USSR, however, not in full force.
Prewar time
Despite the fact that some provinces were not added to the territory of Belarus under the agreement, it nevertheless increased several times. The country was half the modern area of the state. More than 70% were Belarusians. The population reached 4 million people.
Therefore, the proclamation of Belarusianization is not accidental. In addition to culture, they also made sure that the state language of Belarus was paramount. Although it was difficult to carry out the plan, since the territories were divided between states, and this affected the speech of residents. Until the mid-30s there were several official languages with the republic: in addition to Belarusian, Russian, Polish and Yiddish. The latter was popular among the Jewish population until 1999. Then it was spoken by about 7% of the population.
The famous slogan "Workers of all countries, unite!" it was written in four languages, but, in addition, there was also a Polish national region on the territory of the republic.
At the same time, language reform is taking place that eliminates Tarashkevitsa, as a result of which the state language of Belarus was reorganized and became similar to Russian. Over 30 phonetic and morphological features were added to spelling.
Over time, the political and social situation began to deteriorate. Schools became many times less, the population remained illiterate. There were about 200 students. More than half of Orthodox churches became Catholic. The crisis forced tens of thousands of residents to emigrate to Europe and America.
Becoming
After World War II, the republic was engaged in restoration, like other lands of the USSR. Only after the collapse of the Union did she receive the title of parliamentary. Residents began to call their newly-made country Belarus. The capital, the head of state, the state language continued to be formed. Stanislav Shushkevich was the first to take the reins of government, but only until 1994.
It was then that the country's constitution was formed, and presidential elections were held. Alexander Lukashenko became the first and so far the only president of Belarus. The form of government has turned into a parliamentary-presidential one. In 1995, received the Russian language of Belarus state status.
Alexander Lukashenko won the election in 2001, followed in 2006. After, in 2010, he was re-elected for the fourth time. Moreover, both the EU and the United States and the OSCE pointedly did not recognize the election results since 2001. When Alexander Lukashenko became president again in 2015, the EU suspended sanctions against the Republic. The last time more than 83% of the country's population voted for it.
Languages
As mentioned earlier, at the moment, the official language of Belarus is Belarusian and Russian. But part of the population can communicate in Polish, Ukrainian, Lithuanian. At the same time, language tolerance is observed in the country.
In practice, most of the population is still Russian-speaking. Many of those who live in the capital and large cities have completely forgotten Belarusian. Young people practically do not know him. In small cities you can find trasianka (surzhik in Ukraine). This mixture of Russian and Belarusian does not meet the standards of any of the named languages. It happens that some official persons can speak in trasianka. Pure Belarusian can be found only in small villages in the countryside. Sometimes it is used by the intelligentsia and patriots.
Culture
Nationalities, language and traditions of Belarus are diverse. As mentioned earlier, here you can meet those who speak Polish, Lithuanian, Ukrainian and even Hebrew. The school curriculum must learn the Russian language. For writing use the Cyrillic alphabet.
Today, more than 80% of Belarusians, 8% of Russians, 3% of Poles, 1% of Ukrainians live in the territory of the Republic of Belarus. There are also Lithuanians, Armenians, Jews, Gypsies, Georgians, Chinese, Arabs, Chuvashs, etc. The population of the country was shaped by history. In large villages, indigenous people have always lived. Jews are in the cities, there are many Poles in the north, and Russians in the east. Part of the southern territory was occupied by Ukrainians. Despite the fact that more than 80% of the population are Belarusians, a diverse ethnic composition can be observed in the villages.
Most of the traditions of this state are similar to Ukrainian or Russian. This is due to the fact that almost all holidays and ceremonies basically have Christian customs. The only difference is in the name. For example, the famous Trinity here is called Semuha, Ivan Kupala - Kupalle, Petrov Day - Pyatro.
There are also some special days that can be found only in the villages of Belarus, Ukraine or Russia: Radonitsa, the Clicking of spring, Thunder or Grandfathers. Crafts are also considered traditional in the republic: weaving, woodworking, pottery, straw weaving.
Very cultural and calm country of Belarus. The official language - Belarusian - unfortunately, is slowly ceasing to exist, although it is unlikely that it will completely disappear. Still, a huge number of people in villages and villages still use it in everyday life. They will continue to educate their children and grandchildren in their national mov.