Homiel Voblast or Gomel Oblast

Homiel Voblast or Gomel Oblast is a province (voblast) of Belarus with its administrative center being Homyel.

Important cities within the voblasts include: Gomel, Mazyr, Zhlobin, Svetlahorsk, Rechytsia, Kalinkavichy, Rahachow, Dobrush

Homiel Province and Mahilyow Voblast suffered severely after the Chornobyl nuclear reactor catastrophe.

Grodno

Grodno- peripheral town in Belarus, on Niemna, near the border with Poland, 317 000 inhabitants (2005, Poles constitute 24.8% of the population); industrial center; airport, rail and road junction, a Rzeczna; university (since 1978), American Consulate General.

Agriculture

The structure of land use: agricultural land constitute 60.4% of the country, grassland, mainly fertile pastures – 14%, 31% of arable land. Grown cereals (rye, oats, barley, wheat, buckwheat), hemp, tobacco, hops, flax, potatoes, sugar beets, fodder plants, fruit (apple trees), vegetables. As a result of the outbreak of a nuclear plant in Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986 major agricultural areas in south-eastern parts of the country have been heavily contaminated and are not used for agriculture. Developed breeding cattle, swine, poultry and animal fur and bee-keeping. Developed forestry.

Membership in international organizations

BSEC (Black Sea Economic Cooperation), CEI (Central European Initiative), Danube conference, EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development), Council of Europe, FAO (UN Food and Agriculture Organization), GUAM (security alliance of four CIS), CIS, IATA ( International air transport association), ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization), IBRD (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development), IDA (International Development Association), IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development), IFC (International Finance Cooperation), International Telecommunication Union, ILO ( International Labor Organization, IMF (International Monetary Fund), World Bank, OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe), Latin Union, NATO initiative “Partnership for Peace”, NATO Cooperation Council, Stabililätspakt for South Eastern Europe, UN (United Nations), UNCTAD ( Trade and development conference), UNDP (UN Development Program), UNESCO (United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Cultural Organization), UNICEF (UN Children’s Fund), UNIDO (UN Industrial Development Organization), WHO (World Health Organization), WTO ( World Trade Organization), World Postal Union, Interpol

Brest Voblast

Brest Voblast (Province) or Brest Oblast (Belarusian: Брэ́сцкая во́бласць; Brestskaya voblasts; Russian: Бре́стская о́бласть; Brestskaya Oblast) is a province (voblast) of Belarus with its administrative center being Brest.

Important cities within the voblast’ include: Baranovichi, Brest, and Pinsk.

Money & Costs

The Belarusian rouble (better known as zaichiki or ‘rabbits’) replaced the Soviet rouble in 1992. It was intended to be a transitional monetary unit, to be used only until the economy stabilised. Yet these rabbits are determined to endure – at least until the much talked-about monetary union with Russia happens, if ever.

The major cost when travelling in Belarus is accommodation, but everything else is extremely cheap. A full meal will rarely cost more than US$6, a night at the opera never more than US$1, and domestic train tickets are a bargain. Budget around US$35 a day if you’re travelling on a shoestring, US$75 a day if you want a reasonably high level of comfort.

Credit cards and travellers’ cheques are the most convenient and safest ways to carry money, but finding somewhere to use them can be tricky. It’s worth bringing a substantial amount of cash to ease this burden: the euro and US dollars are the most widely accepted currencies. You can exchange money at moneychanging kiosks, as well as at banks. ATMs are not hard to find in the cities

A few top-end hotels add 5-15% to your hotel bills. Porters expect a tip of US$1-2; waiters appreciate 5-10% of the bill. Shops have fixed prices, but you’re expected to bargain at craft markets.

When to Go

If you’re prepared for it, travel in winter is recommended: the snow makes for a picturesque landscape and the insides of buildings are kept warm. Avoid, though, the first snows (usually in late October) and the spring thaw (April), which turn everything to slush and mud.

Early summer and autumn are many people’s favourite periods for visiting Belarus. By May temperatures are pleasant, while the golden autumnal colours of September and early October are stunning.

July and August are the warmest months and the main holiday season. These are also the dampest months in most parts of Belarus and European Russia, with as many as one rainy day in three. It’s always low season in Belarus, so don’t fret too much about being overwhelmed by your fellow tourists.

Etymology

The name Belarus derives from the term White Russia, which first appeared in German and Latin medieval literature. The Latin term for the area was Russia Alba. Historically, the country was referred to in English as White Russia. It is also claimed by some people that the correct translation is White Ruthenia (White Rus phonetically), which either describes the area of Eastern Europe populated by Slavic people or the states that occupied the area.^[5] The first known use of White Russia to refer to Belarus was in the late-16th century by Englishman Sir Jerome Horsey.^[6] During the 17th century, Russian tsars used White Rus’, asserting that they were trying to recapture their heritage from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.^[6]

Belarus was named Belorussia (Russian: Белоруссия) in the days of Imperial Russia, and the Russian tsar was usually styled Czar of All the Russias—Great, Little, and White. Belorussia was the only Russian language name of the country (its names in other languages such as English being based on the Russian form) until 1991, when the Supreme Soviet of the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic decreed by law that the new independent republic should be called Belarus (Беларусь) in Russian and in all other language transcriptions of its name. The change was made to reflect adequately the Belarusian language form of the name.^[7] Accordingly, the name Belorussia was replaced by Belarus in English, and, to some extent, in Russian (although the traditional name still persists in that language as well); likewise, the adjective Belorussian or Byelorussian was replaced by Belarusian in English (though Russian has not developed a new adjective). Some Belarusians object to the name Belorussia as an unwelcome reminder of the days under Russian and Soviet rule.^[8] However, most residents of the country do not mind it being called Byelorussiya in Russian (which is, actually, the most widely spoken language there) – it is evidenced by the fact that several popular newspapers published locally still retain the traditional name of the country in Russian in their names (e.g. Komsomolskaya Pravda v Byelorussii, which is the localised publication of a popular Russian tabloid, and Sovetskaya Byelorussiya). Officially, the full name of the country is Republic of Belarus (Рэспубліка Беларусь, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Byelarus’)

Belarus

Belarus (IPA: /ˈbɛləruːs/) (Belarusian and Russian: Беларусь, transliteration: Byelarus’, Polish: Białoruś listen (help·info) is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe,^[2] that borders Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno, Gomel, Mogilev, Vitebsk and Bobruisk. A third of the country is forested, and agriculture and manufacturing are its strongest economic sectors.

Until the 20th century, the Belarusians lacked the opportunity to evolve a distinctive national identity, since the lands of modern-day Belarus belonged to several countries, including the Duchy of Polatsk, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Russian Empire. After the short-lived Belarusian People’s Republic (1918–19), Belarus became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Byelorussian SSR.

The final unification of Belarusian lands within its modern borders took place in 1939, when the ethnically Belarusian lands that were part of interwar Poland were annexed by the USSR and attached to the Soviet Belarus. The territory and its nation were devastated in World War II, during which Belarus lost about a quarter of its population and more than half of its economic resources;^[3] the republic recovered in the post-war years and became one of the founding members of the United Nations. The parliament of the republic declared the sovereignty of Belarus on July 27, 1990, and following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Belarus declared independence on August 25, 1991. Alexander Lukashenko has been the country’s president since 1994. During his presidency, Lukashenko has implemented Soviet-era policies, such as state ownership of the economy, despite objections from Western governments. Since 1996, Belarus has been negotiating with Russia to unify into a single state called the Union of Russia and Belarus.

Most of Belarus’s population of 9.85 million reside in the urban areas surrounding Minsk and other oblast (regional) capitals.^[4] More than 80% of the population are native Belarusians, with sizable minorities of Russians, Ukrainians and Poles. Since a referendum in 1995, the country has had two official languages: Belarusian and Russian. The Constitution of Belarus does not declare an official religion, although the primary religion in the country is Russian Orthodox.