Belarusians
Belarusian: Беларусы
Total population
c. 9.5–10 million
Regions with significant populations
 Belarus  7.99 million[1][2]
 United States
(Belarusian ancestry)		600,000[3][4]–768,000[5]
 Russia521,443 (2010)[6]
 Ukraine275,763 (2001)[7]
 Poland105,404 (2020)[8]
 Latvia68,174 (2011)[9]
 Kazakhstan66,476 (2010)[10]
 Lithuania41,100[11]
 Czech Republic31,000[12]
 Germany22,980
 Moldova20,000[12]
 Canada15,565[13]
 Brazil12,100[12]
 Estonia11,828 (2017)[14]
 Slovakia10,054[12]
 Italy8,529[12]
 France7,500[12]
 United Kingdom7,000[12]
 Argentina7,000[12]
 Spain5,828[15]
 Sweden2,833[16]
 Turkmenistan2,000
 Belgium2,000[12]
 Australia1,560 (2006)[17]
 Greece1,168[18]
 Portugal1,002 (2009)[19]
 Bulgaria1,000
 Netherlands973 (2016)[20]
 Austriabelow 500[12]
Languages
Belarusian (historical and native)
Russian (dominant)
Religion
Orthodox Christianity (majority), Roman Catholicism or Belarusian Greek Catholicism (minority)
Related ethnic groups
Other East Slavs
(Ukrainians, Rusyns, and Russians)

Belarusians (Belarusian: беларусы, romanized: bielarusy, Russian: белорусы, romanized: byelorusy), also known formerly as Byelorussians (from the Byelorussian SSR), Belarussians[21] or Belorusians[21], are an East Slavic ethnic group native to modern-day Belarus and the immediate region. Over 9.5 million people proclaim Belarusian ethnicity worldwide.[citation needed] Nearly 8 million of Belarusians reside in Belarus,[1][22] with the United States[23][24][25] and Russia[26] being home to more than half a million Belarusians each.

Location

See also: Belarusian diaspora
Ethnic territory of Belarusians .mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{}  Modern state boundaries   According to the linguistic map by Yefim Karsky (1903)   According to Mitrofan Dovnar-Zapolsky (1919) The major discrepancy between Karsky and Dovnar-Zapolsky is due to Karsky's identification of transitional Ukrainian-Belarusian dialects
Ethnic territory of Belarusians
  Modern state boundaries
  According to the linguistic map by Yefim Karsky (1903)
  According to Mitrofan Dovnar-Zapolsky (1919)
The major discrepancy between Karsky and Dovnar-Zapolsky is due to Karsky's identification of transitional Ukrainian-Belarusian dialects

Belarusians are an East Slavic ethnic group, who constitute the majority of Belarus' population.[21] Belarusian minority populations live in countries neighboring Belarus: Ukraine, eastern Poland (especially in the Podlaskie Voivodeship), the Russian Federation and Lithuania.[21] At the beginning of the 20th century, Belarusians constituted a minority in the regions around the city of Smolensk in Russia.

Significant numbers of Belarusians emigrated to the United States, Brazil and Canada in the early 20th century. During Soviet times (1917–1991), many Belarusians were deported or migrated to various regions of the USSR, including Siberia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.

Since the 1991 breakup of the USSR, several hundred thousands of Belarusians have emigrated to the Baltic states, the United States, Canada, Russia, and EU countries.

Languages

The two official languages in Belarus are Belarusian and Russian. Russian is the most spoken language, principally by 72% of the population, while Belarusian is only used by 11.9%[27] in daily life. According to a study, in varying degrees, a majority of residents speak the Belarusian language: 29.4% are fluent, being able to read and write, 52.5% can speak and read the language, 8.3% can understand it but cannot speak or read it, while 7% are able to understand the some parts of Belarusian language that are similar to Russian.[27] Belarusian is a language of the East Slavic group.

The name Belarus can be literally translated as White Ruthenia, which is a historical region on the east of the modern Republic of Belarus, known in Latin as Ruthenia Alba (English: White Rus). That name has been in use in western Europe for some time, along with White Ruthenes, White Russians (though not to be confused with the political group of White Russians that opposed the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War) and similar forms. Belarusians trace their name back to the people of Rus'.

The term Belarusians was promoted mostly during the 19th century by the Russian Empire. For instance, this can be traced by editions of folklorist Ivan Sakharov, where in the edition of 1836, Belarusian customs are described as Litvin, while in the edition of 1886, the words Литва (Lithuania) and Литовцо-руссы (Lithuanian-Russians / Ruthenians) are replaced by respectively Белоруссия (Byelorussia) and белоруссы (Byelorussians).[28][29][30]

History

The territory of what is now Belarus was inhabited by Balts before the 6th century.[21] Most Belarusians are related to the East Slavic tribes Dregoviches, Krivichs, and Radimichs, which moved into the region during the 6th and 8th century.[21][31][32] These tribes mixed with the autochtonous Balts, especially in northwestern Belarus.[21] Some Belarusians, such as Belarusian political activist and journalist Alieś Kirkievič [be] and Belarusian publicist Aliaksiej Dziermant [be], say that Belarusians are Slavicized Balts.[33][34] The Lithuanian professor Zigmas Zinkevičius states that Belarusians as a nation formed on a Baltic, i.e. Lithuanian, basis.[35] Belarusians began to emerge as a nationality during the 13th and 14th centuries in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania mostly on the lands of the upper basins of Neman River, Dnieper River, and the Western Dvina River.[36] The Belarusian people trace their distinct culture to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, earlier Kievan Rus' and the Principality of Polotsk.

Linguistic, ethnographic, and political map of Eastern Europe by Casimir Delamarre, 1868   Ruthenians and Ruthenian language
Linguistic, ethnographic, and political map of Eastern Europe by Casimir Delamarre, 1868
  Ruthenians and Ruthenian language

In the 13th–18th centuries, Belarusians were known as Ruthenians and Litvins and spoke the Ruthenian language, while being part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Casimir's Code of 1468 and all three editions of Statutes of Lithuania (1529, 1566, and 1588) were written in the Ruthenian language. From the 1630s it was replaced by the Polish language, as a result of Polonisation policies in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Between 1791 and 1917 much of Belarus, with its Christian and Jewish populations, was acquired by the Russian Empire in a series of military conquests and diplomatic maneuvers, and was part of the region of allowed permanent residency of the Jews known as the Pale of Settlement.

After World War I Belarusians created their own national state, with varying degrees of independence – first as the short-lived Belarusian People's Republic under German occupation, then as the Byelorussian SSR from 1919 to 1991, which merged with other republics to become a constituent member of the Soviet Union in 1922. Belarus gained full independence with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Cuisine

Main article: Belarusian cuisine

Belarusian cuisine shares the same roots as the cuisines of other Eastern and Northern European countries.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Changes in the populations of the majority ethnic groups". belstat.gov.by. Archived from the original on 28 July 2016. Retrieved 2016-07-28.
  2. ^ "Demographic situation in 2015". Belarus Statistical Office. 27 January 2016. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  3. ^ Garnett, Sherman W. (1999). Belarus at the Crossroads. Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. ISBN 978-0-87-003172-4.
  4. ^ Kipel, Vituat. "Belarusan americans". World Culture Encyclopedia. Retrieved July 28, 2016.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ "Country: United States: Belarusians". Joshua Project. 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  6. ^ "All-Russian population census 2010 population by nationality, sex and subjects of the Russian Federation". Demoscope Weekly (in Russian). Retrieved July 28, 2016.
  7. ^ "Всеукраїнський перепис населення 2001 - Результати - Основні підсумки - Національний склад населення". 2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  8. ^ "Populacja cudzoziemców w Polsce w czasie COVID-19".
  9. ^ "On key provisional results of Population and Housing Census 2011". Csb.gov.lv. Archived from the original on 6 July 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  10. ^ Перепись населения Республики Казахстан 2009 года. Краткие итоги. (Census for the Republic of Kazakhstan 2009. Short Summary) (PDF) (in Russian). Republic of Kazakhstan Statistical Agency. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 December 2010. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
  11. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-09-06. Retrieved 2011-12-03.((cite web)): CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Как живешь, белорусская диаспора?". Belarus Time (in Belarusian). March 13, 2012. Archived from the original on March 13, 2012.
  13. ^ "Ethnic Origin (264), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3), Generation Status (4), Age Groups (10) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2011 National Household Survey". 12.statcan.gc.ca. 8 May 2013. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  14. ^ "Rahvaarv rahvuse järgi, 1. jaanuar, aasta - Eesti Statistika". Stat.ee. Archived from the original on 4 January 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  15. ^ "Población extranjera por Nacionalidad, provincias, Sexo y Año".
  16. ^ "Utrikes födda efter födelseland och invandringsår" [Foreign-born by country of birth and year of immigration] (XLS). Statistics Sweden (in Swedish). 31 December 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2016.[permanent dead link]
  17. ^ "20680-Ancestry (full classification list) by Sex - Australia". 2006 Census. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Archived from the original (Microsoft Excel download) on March 10, 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-02.
  18. ^ (PDF). 5 June 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110605162741/http://www.statistics.gr/portal/page/portal/ESYE/BUCKET/A1605/Other/A1605_SPO15_TB_AN_00_2006_07_F_EN.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 June 2011. ((cite web)): Missing or empty |title= (help)
  19. ^ "POPULAÇÃO ESTRANGEIRA RESIDENTE EM TERRITÓRIO NACIONAL - 2009" (PDF). Statistics Portugal (in Portuguese). January 1, 2011. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
  20. ^ "CBS StatLine - Population; sex, age and nationality, 1 January". Statline.cbs.nl. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g Cole, Jeffrey E. (2011-05-25). Ethnic Groups of Europe: An Encyclopedia: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-59884-303-3.
  22. ^ "Demographic situation in 2015". Belarus Statistical Office. 27 January 2016. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  23. ^ Garnett, Sherman W. (1999). Belarus at the Crossroads. Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. ISBN 978-0-87-003172-4.
  24. ^ Kipel, Vituat. "Belarusan americans". World Culture Encyclopedia. Retrieved July 28, 2016.[permanent dead link]
  25. ^ "Country: United States: Belarusians". Joshua Project. 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  26. ^ "All-Russian population census 2010 population by nationality, sex and subjects of the Russian Federation". Demoscope Weekly (in Russian). Retrieved July 28, 2016.
  27. ^ a b "Общество". Belta.by. Archived from the original on 29 July 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  28. ^ Сказанія русскаго народа, собранныя Иваномъ Петровичемъ Сахаровымъ, 1836, 1886
  29. ^ Бандарчык В. К. Фарміраванне і развіццё беларускай нацыі / В. К. Бандарчык, П. У Церашковіч // Этнаграфія беларусаў.— Мінск : Навука і тэхніка, 1985.— С. 158.
  30. ^ Беларусы : у 10 т. / Рэдкал.: В. К. Бандарчык [і інш.]. — Мінск : Беларус. навука, 1994–2007. — Т. 4 : Вытокі і этнічнае развіццё... С. 62—63, 88.
  31. ^ Skutsch, Carl, ed. (2005). Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities. New York, NY: Routledge. p. 199. ISBN 1-57958-468-3.
  32. ^ "Белорусы". Krugosvet (in Russian). Retrieved 2 August 2017.((cite web)): CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  33. ^ Kirkevich, Ales (29 January 2017). ""Яшчэ не позна вярнуць краіне сапраўднае імя — Літва" ["It is not too late for returning to our state its real name: Lithuania"]". Novy Chas (in Belarusian).
  34. ^ Dziermant, Alexey (17 October 2010). "Gudai – tai slaviškai kalbantys baltai (I)". Alkas.lt (in Lithuanian).
  35. ^ Zinkevičius, Zigmas (2018-04-13). "Senieji lietuvių ir slavų santykiai". Alkas.lt (in Lithuanian).((cite web)): CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  36. ^ Беларусы : у 10 т. / Рэдкал.: В. К. Бандарчык [і інш.]. — Мінск : Беларус. навука, 1994–2007. — Т. 4 : Вытокі і этнічнае развіццё... С. 36, 49.

Bibliography

External links

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