A) BELARUS

Of course a lot can be said about Belarus, but I’ll limit my story to some facts about its geographical and historical features.

Belarus is situated in the eastern part of Europe. Its area is 207 600 square kilometres. It borders on Latvia and Lithuania, on Russia, on the Ukraine and on Poland. The population of the country is about 10 million people. The territory of Belarus is divided into 6 regions: Brest, Vitebsk, Grodno, Gomel, Minsk and Mogilev. The capital of Belarus is Minsk.

Our native land is very beautiful with its blue lakes and ribbons of rivers edged with thick forests, with its endless fields, meadows and swamps, with its varied and plentiful animal and plant kingdom. There are some 20 000 rivers flowing over the territory of Belarus. The longest rivers are the Dnieper, the Nieman, the Western Bug and the Western Dvina. There are over 10 000 lakes in Belarus. The largest of them is Lake Naroch. That’s why Belarus has often been referred to as the blue eyed country.

More than a quarter of the country is covered with forests. An ancient forest on the border between Belarus and Poland, Belovezhskaya Pushcha is a national reservation. The pride of the reservation is the aurochs (or bison) – a rare animal. Belarus has more than 70 mammal and 280 bird species.

The climate of Belarus is continental with a comparatively mild winter and warm summer.

The nature of Belarus has suffered much from the nuclear catastrophe that took place in Chernobyl in 1986. The radiation has spoiled our soil and air, rivers and lakes, it has poisoned our flora and fauna. Besides it has badly affected the health of people.

The advantageous geographical position – on the cross-roads from east to west – turned into disadvantage. Belarus was the arena of many wars, invasions and aggressions. All these events slowed down but didn’t stop the development of the nation.

On the 1^st of January in 1919 the BSSR was formed. In December 1922 it joined the USSR. Belarus proclaimed its sovereignty on the 27 of July in1990. In 1994 the post of the president was introduced. Nowadays Belarus is a country of developed industry, agriculture, science and culture.

I should say that there are official and non-official symbols of my country. The National Flag of theRepublic of Belarus, the National Emblem of the Republic of Belarus and the National Anthem of the Republic of Belarus are official symbols of Belarus.

The most widely known symbols of Belarus are a bison, a stork and a cornflower. Also many other realities of Belarusian culture have turned into symbols of national identity. The Slutsk belts, the multi-coloured “kaflia” (tile), the cross of St. Yefrossinia of Polotsk, the artworks of Mark Shagall, Kazimir Malevich as well as Belarusian ballet are well-known markers of Belarusian contribution to the world heritage.