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 [...]

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 [...]

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 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 [...]

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), [...]

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, [...]