Max Vasmer's dictionary suggests that the name may have come from the white clothing worn by the local Slavic population.[2][3] Modern researchers find this dubious. Another theory suggests that the old Rus' lands that were not conquered by the Tatars (i.e., Polotsk, Vitebsk and Mogilev) had been referred to as "White Rus'".[2]
Etymological development
Rus' is generally considered to be a borrowing from FinnicRuotsi ("Sweden").[4][5] There are two theories behind the origin of Rus'/Ruotsi, which are not mutually exclusive. It is either derived more directly from OENrōþer (OWNróðr[4]), which referred to rowing, the fleet levy, etc., or it is derived from this term through Rōþin, an older name for the Swedish coastal region Roslagen.[4][5][6]
The name Rus' is often conflated with its Latin forms Russia and Ruthenia, thus Belarus is often referred to as White Russia or White Ruthenia. The name first appeared in German and Latinmedieval literature; the chronicles of Jan of Czarnków mention the imprisonment of Lithuanian grand duke Jogaila and his mother at "Albae Russiae, Poloczk dicto" in 1381.[7] Before the Mongol invasions, the name White Rus' was used for the Duchy of Rostov-Suzdal (defining it as "free, great, enlightened," and Christianised), but later the name shifted to the Duchies of Vitebsk and Polotsk. In the early 16th century, the Polish geographer Jan of Stobnica expanded the meaning of the term to mean all the Rus' lands under the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.[8]
The Latin term "Alba Russia" was used again by Pope Pius VI in 1783 to recognize the Society of Jesus there, exclaiming "Approbo Societatem Jesu in Alba Russia degentem, approbo, approbo."[9] The first known use of White Russia to refer to Belarus was in the late-16th century by Englishman Sir Jerome Horsey, who was known for his close contacts with the Russian Royal Court.[10] During the 17th century, the Russian tsars used "White Rus" to describe the lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.[11]
The term Byelorussia (Russian: Белору́ссия, the latter part similar but spelled and stressed differently from Росси́я, Russia) first rose in the days of the Russian Empire, and the Russian Tsar was usually styled "the Tsar of All the Russias", as Russia or the Russian Empire was formed by three parts of Russia—the Great, Little, and White.[12] This style was understood at the time as an assertion that all the peoples on those territories, including the Belarusians, were Russian.[13]
Officially, the full name of the state of Belarus is "Republic of Belarus" (Рэспубліка Беларусь, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belaruslistenⓘ).[14][15]
Name for the Belarusian state
After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, the term "White Russia" caused some confusion, as the name of the military force that opposed the red Bolsheviks was called "White Russians" or "the Whites".[16] Belarusian intelligentsia in the Stalin era attempted to change the name from Byelorussia to a form of Krivia because of the connection with Russia.[17]
During the period of the Byelorussian SSR, the term Byelorussia was embraced as part of a national consciousness. In western Belarus under Polish control, Byelorussia became commonly used in the regions of Białystok and Grodno during the interwar period.[18]Byelorussia also gave rise to the contemporary names used for the SSR in English and other languages.
In 1991 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Supreme Soviet of Belarus, a continuation of that of the previous Byelorussian SSR, moved to change the republic's name to the Republic of Belarus (Республика Беларусь spelled in Russian), which has the abridged form "Belarus". The law decreed that all the forms of the new term be transliterated into other languages from their Belarusian language forms, and the use of the name of Byelorussian SSR and any abbreviations thereof be phased out before the end of 1993.[14] Conservative forces in the newly independent Belarus did not support the name change and opposed its inclusion in the 1991 draft of the Constitution of Belarus.[19] Due to the 1991 decree, the name Byelorussia was superseded by Belarus in English,[20] and the adjective Belorussian or Byelorussian by Belarusan,[21] which sounds like population's historical name of Ruthene.[clarification needed]
In 1995, the regime of Alexander Lukashenko, pushed for the more Russia-like adjective form of Belarusian. Some nationalists object to the name for the same reason.[22][23] Several local newspapers kept the old name of the country in Russian in their names, for example Komsomolskaya Pravda v Byelorussii, which is the localized publication of the popular Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda.
Names of Belarus in different languages
In Russia, the usage of “Belorussia” is very common,[24] and the term Belorussia is still common among groups that wish for Belarus to be annexed by Russia.[23]
On 16 March 2018, the Embassy of Belarus in Beijing requested the use of Báilúosī (白罗斯; 白羅斯) for the Chinese language, although Báiélúosī (白俄罗斯; 白俄羅斯) is still common, which means literally "White Russia".[25][26][27][28]
In Lithuanian, besides the name “Baltarusija” (White Russia), Belarus is also being called “Gudija”.[29][30]
In some languages Belarus is often still referred to by a literal translation of "White Russia", including Dutch, Afrikaans (both Wit-Rusland), and German (Weißrussland).[31][32] However, speakers of those languages in some countries, such as the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, have been observed to increasingly favor forms resembling Belarus.[33][34][35][36]
↑ Bely, Alies (2000). The chronicle of the White Russia: an essay on the history of one geographical name. Minsk, Belarus: Encyclopedix. ISBN985-6599-12-1.
Thomas M. Bohn (2025). Weißrussland oder Belarus? Die Weiße Ruß in Historiographie und Kartographie. Harassowitz, Wiesbaden 2025, ISBN 978-3-447-12380-8.
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