Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Covering an area of 207,600 square kilometres (80,200 sq mi) and with a population of 9.2 million, Belarus is the 13th-largest and the 20th-most populous country in Europe. The country has a hemiboreal climate and is administratively divided into six regions. Minsk is the capital and largest city; it is administered separately as a city with special status.
Belarusian is an East Slavic language. It is one of the two official languages in Belarus, alongside Russian. Additionally, it is spoken in some parts of Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, and Ukraine by Belarusian minorities in those countries.
Minsk is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administrative centre of Minsk Region and Minsk District. As of 2023, it has a population of two million, making Minsk the 11th-most populous city in Europe. Minsk is one of the administrative capitals of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).
Belarus is an Eastern European country with a rich tradition of folk and religious music. The country's folk music traditions can be traced back to the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The country's musical traditions spread with its people to countries like Russia, Canada, United States, Kazakhstan and Latvia. The people of Belarus were exposed mostly to Russian pop music during this period and also after independence in 1991. In 2002, however, President Alexander Lukashenko has signed a decree requiring 50% of all FM broadcast music to be Belarusian in origin, and since 1 January 2005 the rule has been even stricter. However, it does not regulate the language of the songs, so most of the music which is broadcast is still in Russian.
Pesniary was a popular Soviet Belarusian folk rock VIA. It was founded in 1969 by guitarist Vladimir Mulyavin. Before 1970, the band was known under the name Liavony (Лявоны).
N.R.M. are a rock band from Minsk, Belarus, founded in 1981 as Mroja. They are considered to be the most popular rock band in the country. They perform in the Belarusian language, and are a rallying point for political opposition to the Belarusian government, despite being the target of a performance ban from 2006 to 2009.
Belarusian rock has been developing since the early 1980s. The rock bands include Mroja, Ulis, Daj Darogu!, Kriwi, Lyapis Trubetskoy, Verasy, Open Space, Neuro Dubel, Accent, and Otrazhenie.
Freedom Day is an unofficial holiday in Belarus celebrated on 25 March to commemorate the declaration of independence by the Belarusian Democratic Republic by the Third Constituent Charter on that date in 1918. It is also known as the 25-aha sakavika day.
Belarusian culture is the product of a millennium of development under the impact of a number of diverse factors. These include the physical environment; the ethnographic background of Belarusians ; the paganism of the early settlers and their hosts; Eastern Orthodox Christianity as a link to the Byzantine literary and cultural traditions; the country's lack of natural borders; the flow of rivers toward both the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea; and the variety of religions in the region.
The Albert system refers to a system of clarinet keywork and fingering developed by Eugène Albert. In the United Kingdom, it is known as the simple system. It has been largely replaced by the Boehm system and Oehler system.
Belarus has participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in every edition since its inception in 2003 until 2020. The Belarusian Television and Radio Company (BTRC), then a member organisation of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), has been responsible for the selection process of its participants since its debut. The country hosted the contest at the Minsk-Arena in 2010 and again in 2018.
Radio Belarus is the official international broadcasting station of Belarus. The station has ceased broadcasting on shortwave and mediumwave as of 1 April 2016.
Censorship in Belarus, although prohibited by the country's constitution, is enforced by a number of laws. These include a law that makes insulting the president punishable by up to five years in prison, and another that makes criticizing Belarus abroad punishable by up to two years in prison.
This is a list of lists of musicians.
Krambambula is a Belarusian band from Minsk, started by Lavon Volski in 2001. The name of the band is derived from a popular Belarusian alcoholic tincture of the same name. The band performs humorous and satirical songs, often on an alcoholic theme. Krambambula was banned in Belarus from 2011 to 2017.
The 2011 Belarusian protests were a series of peaceful protests by demonstrators in Belarus demanding the resignation of current Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, who had been the president of Belarus since 1994. Belarus is an authoritarian state, and in May 2011 presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov was sentenced to five years in prison for taking part in the 2010 presidential election. Lukashenko claimed he won with almost 80% of the vote.
Yuriy Alexeyevich Vashchuk, better known by his stage name Teo, is a Belarusian singer, songwriter, and television presenter.
Belarusian folk dance is a Belarusian folk dance art, presented in the form of folk domestic or staged scenic dance. The history of Belarus and efforts to preserve Belarusian traditions have shaped the dances in use today, which have many ancient and archaic elements. These dances started to form in the 14th century, and originated in East Slavic rites. In the middle of the 19th century, traditional folk dancing began to merge with quadrilles and polkas from Western Europe.