| ||||||
| Capital (and largest city) |
Minsk | |||||
| Other Cities | Mahilyow, Homyel, Vitebsk | |||||
| Language | Russian, Belarusian | |||||
| Religion | Orthodoxy | |||||
Belarus (Russian: Беларусь Belarus', Belarusian: Беларусь Biełaruś) is a republic of Russia, located in the northern part of the Little Russia region: it borders three governatorates of Great Russia to the east (Bryansk, Smolensk and Pskov), Latvia to the north, Poland-Lithuania to the west, and the Chernigov governatorate and the Hetmanate to the south. Belarus has always been one of the border region of the Russian empire, and has always kept a culturally and linguistically distinct identities.
Belarus is a densely forested and marshy land, relatively plain and landlocked. Outside of the capital, Minsk, there are few urban centres. Industrialization is limited to areas around the capital, and most of Belarus's economy is instead based on forestry and agriculture.