Welcome to Belarus

The history of Belarus - key facts
27-24 thousand years ago the first settlements appear on the territory of Belarus.
VII - IX c.c. - unions of dregoviches, kriviches and radimiches are formed in Belarus.
862 AD - the first manuscript mentioning of the city of Polotsk, the capital of the Polotsk principality, which attained its utmost power in X-XIc.c.
X c. - expansion of Christianity in Belarus. The famous Sofia cathedral was built in Polotsk in1050.
Early XIII ?. - Due to the threat of invasion fromthe Crusaders, Mongols and Tatars Belarusian provinces and principalities participate in the formation of the Great Lithuanian Principality(GLP). All Belarusian provinces joined GLP bythe XIVth century.
1569 - during the Livonian war between the GLP and the Moscow State the Lublin Union - wassigned the union of the GLP and the Polish king-dom, united in a single state of Rzeczpospolita.
1596 - adoption of the Brest Church Union stipulating that the GLP Orthodox Church recognized the supremacy of the Pope of Rome andCatholic dogmas, preserving its rituality andstructural organization.
1795 - after the 3rd division of Rzeczpospolita Belorusian lands were joined to Russia.
1812 - the war of Russia with Napoleon, when Belarus became the main arena of military activities.
1830-31 - national liberation movement for the restoration of Rzeczpospolita, cruelly sup-pressed by Russia.
1917 - February and October Revolutions, Soviet power is proclaimed in Belarus.
March 25, 1918 - Belarus gained independence and the Belarusian People's Republicwas formed.
January 1, 1919 - Bolsheviks proclaim the creation of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR), which it will remain for the following 72years.
1921 - in compliance with theRiga Agreement WesternBelarus is joined to Poland.
1939 - Western Belarus isreunited with the BSSR
June 22, 1941 - German troopsinvade Belarus. Thewhole territory of therepublic has beenoccupied within 2months. During the WW//every fourth Belarusianperished, almost all thecities were ruined nearly 9 thousand vil-lages were burnt down.
July 3, 1944 - the Red Army liberates Minsk.
April 26, 1986 - explosion at the Chernobyl atomic power station, situated in the neighboring Ukraine.23% of the Belorusian territory was contaminated with radiation. August 1991 - the Declaration of Independence was adopted.
December 1991 - the leaders of Russia, the Ukraine and Belarus met at the Belovezha for- est-reserve. The USSR ceased its existence. Minsk becomes the capital of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
July 1994 - A. G. Lukashenko is elected the first President of Belarus
December 1999 - The Presidents of Russia and Belarus signed the Agreement on the creation of the Union State.
December 1999 - The Presidents of Russia and Belarus signed the Agreement on the creation of the Union State.
September 2001 - A.G. Lukashenko won the second term in office.

Holidays and cultural events
State holidays of Belarus
January 1 - the New Year day. January 7 - Christmas (orthodox). March 8 - the International Women's Day. May 1 - Labour Day. May 9 - the Victory Day. July 3 - the Independence Day of Belarus November 7 - the October Revolution Day December 25 - Christmas (catholic)
These days are days off, when all the state bodies and institutions, as well as most of the shops are closed.
Besides, Christmas is traditionally cele- brated according to Orthodox and Catholic calendars, the same is about Radunitsa (9th day after the Orthodox Easter) and Dzyady (November 2, working day) -the day of commemorating the perished. Among the other holidays there are two peculiar ones: February 23 - the Day of the Motherland's Defenders and the Armed Forces of Belarus, which since long has been considered simply "the Men's Day", and April 1 - the day of laughter, jokes and funny tricks. These days business goes as usual.
The reverberations of paganism are felt in the festivals, that has remained really popular and demonstrated curious traditions for centuries:
January 13 - the old New Year day. Traditionally people celebrate again the New Year on that day, yet this time according to the Old Style (calendar) - on the night from 13th to 14th of January. People call that holiday Shchedrets, the Generous night or Kolyada. They get dressed as animals, give themselves out to be fantastic creatures, carry the sun and a goat's head in their hands and visit all the houses one after another, singing Kolyda songs, and the hosts treat them with food. In late February - early March there comes Maslenitsa - a ritual of parting with winter. On that day people traditionally bake pancakes, reminding of the sun by their shape, and carry on open-air festivals.
On July 7 there is Kupalie, which is tradi- tionally celebrated on the night from the 6 to the 7 of July. It is considered one of the most beautiful holidays filled with pagan traditions. According to popular legends, a flower of a fern unfolds on Kupala midnight and the per-
son who finds it will be eternally young, happy and capable to predict the future. On that night young men set off for the forest hoping to find this miraculous flower. In the mean- time girls pick field flowers, bind wreaths and let them drift down the river trying to find out about their destiny in such a way. On the Kupala night people usually move on a round dance and jump over the fire competing in their deftness. Nowadays this pagan festival is celebrated as the Christian holiday of the John the Baptist birthday. ***
Annual musical festivals in Belarus are also of great interest. Annually at the end of January there is awarding ceremony "Rock- coronation". Crystal crowns in various nominations go to those "kings", who played a great role in the musical world of the Belorusian show business. The prizes are presented by famous Belarussians musicians, artists and journalists. In July - early August Vitebsk becomes the site of the traditional International Arts festival "Slavonic bazaar". The program of the festival is extremely intense, it includes the con- test of young performers, contests of chil- dren's creative work, imposing concerts with the participation of variety stars not only from Belarus, but also from the Ukraine, Russia, Bulgaria, Poland, Slovakia and other European countries. In November the festival of retro-music "Golden hit-song" is held in Mogilev.