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Minsk ( ; ), is the capital and largest city in Belarus, situated on the Svislach and Niamiha rivers. Minsk is also a headquarters of the Commonwealth of Independent States. As the national capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is also the capital of Minsk voblast (province) and Minsk raion. The earliest references to Minsk date to the 11th century (1067). In 1242, Minsk became a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and it received its town privileges in 1499. From 1569, it was a capital of the Minsk Voivodship in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was annexed by Russia in 1793, as a consequence of the Second Partition of Poland. From 1919–1991, Minsk was the capital of the Byelorussian SSR. Geography & Climate Minsk is located on the southeastern slope of the Minsk Hills, a region of rolling hills running from the southwest (upper reaches of the river Nioman) to the northeast - that is, to the Lukomskae lake in northwestern Belarus. The average altitude above sea level is 220 m. The geography of Minsk was formed during the two most recent Ice Ages. The Svislach river, which flows across the city from the northwest to the southeast, is located in the urstrohmtal, an ancient river valley formed by water flowing from melting ice sheets at the end of the last Ice Age. Minsk was initially founded on the hills. However, in the 20th century, it grew to include the relatively flat plains in the southeast. The western parts of the city are the most hilly. Minsk is located in the area of mixed forests typical for most of Belarus. Pinewood and mixed forests are still present at the edge of the city, especially in the north and east. Some of the forests were transformed into parks (for instance, the Chelyuskinites Park) as the city grew. Minsk has a moderate climate, owing to its location between the strong influence of the moist air of the Atlantic Ocean and the dry air of the Eurasian landmass. Its weather is, however, unstable and tends to change often. The average January temperature is -6,1° Celsius, while the average July temperature is +17,8° Celsius. The lowest temperature was recorded on 17 January, 1940 (-40 °C) and the warmest on 29 July, 1936 (+35 °C). The air is often moist, with humidity levels at 80-90%, especially during the cold season. There are on average 135 humid days a year, compared with only 6 dry days. This results in frequent fogs, common in the autumn and spring. Minsk receives annual precipitation of 646 mm, of which one third falls during the cold period (as snow and rain) and two thirds in the warm period. Throughout the year, most winds are westerly and northwesterly, bringing cool and moist air from the Atlantic. History Early history The area of today's Minsk was settled by the Early East Slavs by the 9th century. The Svislach River valley was the settlement boundary between two Early East Slavs tribes - the Krivichs and Dregovichs. By 980, the area was incorporated into the early medieval Principality of Polatsk, one of the earliest East Slav states. Minsk was first mentioned in the name form Měneskъ (Мѣнескъ) in the Primary Chronicle for the year 1067.* 1067 is now widely accepted as the founding year of Minsk, though the town (by then fortified by wooden walls) had certainly existed for some time by then. In the early 12th century, the Principality of Polatsk disintegrated into smaller fiefs. The Principality of Minsk was established by one of the Polatsk dynasty princes. In 1129, the Principality of Minsk was annexed by Kiev, the dominant principality of Kievan Rus; however in 1146 the Polatsk dynasty regained control of the principality. By 1150, Minsk rivaled Polatsk as the major city in the former Principality of Polatsk. The princes of Minsk and Polatsk were engaged in years of struggle trying to unite all lands previously under the rule of Polatsk. Lithuanian and Polish rule
Russian rule Minsk was annexed by Russia in 1793 as a consequence of the Second Partition of Poland. In 1796, it became the centre of the Minsk guberniya (province). All of the Polish street names were replaced by Russian, though the spelling of the city's name remained unchanged. Throughout the 19th century, the city continued to grow and significantly improve. In the 1830s, major streets and squares of Minsk were cobbled and paved. A first public library was opened in 1836, and a fire brigade was put into operation in 1837. In 1838, the first local newspaper, Minskie gubernskie vedomosti (“Minsk province news”) went into circulation. The first theatre was established in 1844. By 1860, Minsk was an important trading city with a population of 27,000. There was a construction boom that led to the building of 2 and 3-story brick and stone houses in Upper Town. Minsk's development was boosted by improvements in transportation. In 1846, the Moscow-Warsaw road was laid though Minsk. In 1871, a railway link between Moscow and Warsaw ran via Minsk, and in 1873, a new railway from Romny in Ukraine to the Baltic Sea port of Libava (Liepaja) was also constructed. Thus Minsk became an important rail junction and a manufacturing hub. A municipal water supply was introduced in 1872, the telephone in 1890, the horse tram in 1892, and the first power generator in 1894. By 1900, Minsk had 58 factories employing 3,000 workers. The city also boasted theatres, cinemas, newspapers, schools and colleges, as well as numerous monasteries, churches, synagogues, and a mosque. According to the 1897 Russian census, the city had 91,494 inhabitants, about one third of them Jews. 20th century
Recent developments Throughout the 1990s, after the fall of Communism, the city continued to change. As the capital of a newly-independent country, Minsk quickly acquired the attributes of a major city. Embassies were opened, and a number of Soviet administrative buildings became government centers. During the early and mid-1990s, Minsk was hit by an economic crisis and many development projects were halted, resulting in high unemployment and underemployment. Since the late 1990s, there have been improvements in transport and infrastructure, and a housing boom has been underway since 2002. On the outskirts of Minsk, new mikroraions of residential development have been built. Metro lines have been extended, and the road system (including the Minsk ring road) has been improved. Owing to the small size of the private sector in Belarus, most development has so far been financed by the government. Etymology and historical names The Old East Slavic name of the town was Мѣньскъ (i.e. Měnsk < Early Proto-Slavic or Late Indo-European Mēnĭskŭ), derived from a river name Měn (< Mēnŭ, with the same etymology as German Main). The direct continuation of this name in Belarusian is Mensk (pronounced mʲɛnsk, often transcribed Miensk according to the Łacinka alphabet). This is the name the Belarusian opposition tends to use. In the 16th and 17th centuries, however, the pronunciation of this name in the Ruthenian language common to the ancestors of Belarusians and Ukrainians was influenced by the pronunciation of When Belarus was under Polish rule, the names Mińsk Litewski 'Minsk in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania' and Mińsk Białoruski 'Minsk in Belarus' were used to differentiate this place name from Mińsk Mazowiecki 'Minsk in Masovia'. In modern Polish, Mińsk without an attribute is Minsk, which is about 50 times bigger than Mińsk Mazowiecki; cf. Brest-Litovsk and Brześć Kujawski for a similar case). Sources: Max Vasmer. Russisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. Vol. 2. Heidelberg 1955. ISBN 3-533-00665-4. = Макс Фасмер. Этимологический словарь русского языка. Vol. 2. Санкт-Петербург 1996, p. 625. ISBN 5-7684-0020-6 (online version). Population growth Ethnic groups During the first centuries of its existence, Minsk was a city with a predominantly Early East Slavic population (the forefathers of modern-day Belarusians). After the 1569 Polish-Lithuanian union, the city became a destination for migrating Poles (who worked as administrators, clergy, teachers and soldiers) and Jews (who were mainly employed in trade and as craftsmen). During the last centuries of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth many locals were polonized and abandoned their Belarusian culture. After the Partitions of Poland, Minsk became part of the Russian Empire, the Russians essentially stepping in to the leadership role enjoyed by the Poles in earlier centuries. By the end of the 19th century Minsk was undergoing increasing russification. Many locals became russified and claim Russian ethnicity. At the time of the 1897 census, Jews were the largest ethnic group in Minsk (51.2% of the population). Other substantial ethnic groups were Russians (25.5%), Poles (11.4%) and Belarusians (9%). The latter figure may be not accurate as some local Belarusians were likely to be counted as Russians. There was also a small traditional community of Lipka Tatars living in Minsk for centuries. Both World War I and World War II affected the demographics of the city. The Jewish community suffered major losses during the Nazi occupation—very few survived. In the post-war years Minsk's population grew primarily as a result of rural migrants from other parts of Belarus moving to the city. In 1959 Belarusians made up 63.3% of the city's residents. Other ethnic groups included Russians (22.8%), Jews (7.8%), Ukrainians (3.6%), Poles (1.1%) and Tatars (0.4%). Migration of rural migrants from other parts of Belarus in the 1960s and 1970s changed the ethnic composition further. By 1979 Belarusians made up 68.4% of the city's residents. Other ethnic groups included Russians (22.2%), Jews (3.4%), Ukrainians (3.4%), Poles (1.2%) and Tatars (0.2%). According to the 1999 census, Belarusians make up 79.3% of the city's residents. Other ethnic groups include Russians (15.7%), Ukrainians (2.4%), Poles (1.1%) and Jews (0.6%). The Russian and Ukrainian populations of Minsk peaked in the late 1980s (at 325,000 and 55,000 respectively). After the break-up of the Soviet Union, many of them chose to move to their respective mother countries. The Jewish population of Minsk peaked in the early 1970s at 50,000 (according to official figures; independent estimates put the figure at 100-120,000), but then declined as a result of emigration to Israel, the USA and Germany. Today there are only about 10,000 Jews living in Minsk. The traditional minorities of Poles and Tatars have remained at much the same size (17,000 and 3,000 respectively). There was migration of rural Poles from the western part of Belarus to Minsk, and many Tatars moved to Minsk from Tatarstan. Some more recent ethnic minority communities are establishing themselves in the city. The most prominent are migrants from the Caucasus countries—Georgians, Armenians and Azerbaijanis each numbering about 2,000-5,000. They began migrating to Minsk back in the 1970s, and more migrants have joined them since. Many of them are employed in the retail trade in open-air markets. There is also a small community of Roma people, numbering about 2,000. Languages Throughout its history Minsk has been a city of many languages. Initially most of its residents spoke Ruthenian (which later developed into modern Belarusian). However, after 1569 the official language was Polish. By the end of the 18th century most residents of Minsk were Polish-speakers (or Yiddish-speakers among the Jewish community). Yiddish remained a major language in Minsk until the early 20th century. In the 19th century Russian became the official language and by the end of that century it had become the language of administration, schools and newspapers. The Belarusian national revival increased interest in the Belarusian language—its use has grown since the 1890s, especially among the intelligentsia. In the 1920s and early 1930s Belarusian was major language of Minsk, including for administration and education (both secondary and tertiary). However, since the late 1930s Russian again began gaining dominance. This process accelerated after World War II —by the mid-1980s Minsk was almost exclusively Russian-speaking. A short period of Belarusian national revival in the early 1990s has seen a rise in Belarusian speakers. However, in 1994 the newly elected president Alexander Lukashenko slowly reversed this trend. Most residents of Minsk now use Russian exclusively in their everyday lives at home and at work although Belarusian is understood as well. The most common international language spoken in Minsk, especially among the younger generation, is English. The second widely spoken international language is German. French, Spanish and Italian are understood by only a few. Government and administrative divisions In 1938 Minsk was divided into smaller administrative units (raions, or districts) due to rapid population growth. On 17 March 1938 three districts were established: Districts There are now 9 administrative districts: Microraions There are also microraions - bedroom community areas of housing development outside the historical centre. Many of them are named after the suburban villages swallowed by the city. Economy Minsk is the economic capital of Belarus. It has developed industrial and services sectors which serve the needs not only of the city, but of the entire nation. Industry
Services As current government economic policies of Belarus favour a neo-socialist path of development, the service sector is underdeveloped in Minsk. In terms of development of the service sector, Minsk lags not only behind cities of comparable size and history (Warsaw, Prague, Kiev, Sofia) but even behind much smaller cities (Vilnius, Riga or Tallinn). A large part of the service sector is controlled by the government and has been showing sluggish growth. Key services include finance and banking, national and local government, and transportation. Local Transport Minsk has an extensive public transport system. Passengers are served by 8 tramway lines, over 70 trolleybus lines, and over 100 bus lines. Rapid Transit
Railway and intercity bus
Airports From 1982 Minsk had two airports. Minsk-1 opened in 1933 a few kilometres to the south of the historical centre. In 1955 it became an international airport and by 1970 served over 1 million passengers a year. From 1982 it mainly served domestic routes in Belarus and short-haul routes to Moscow, Kiev and Kaliningrad. Airport '''Minsk-2''' is located 42 km to the east of the city. It opened in 1982 (passenger terminal - in 1987.) It is an international airport undergoing modernisation with flights to Austria, Cyprus, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Poland, Russia, Turkey, United Kingdom, and other countries, operated by the national carrier Belavia and the German airline Lufthansa. Education Minsk is the major educational centre of Belarus. It has over 500 nursery schools, 258 schools, 28 further education colleges, and 36 higher education instututions, including 12 major national universities (most specialising in certain areas of science and technology). Major universities Image:Belarus-Minsk-BSU_Branch-Biology_Faculty.jpg|Biology faculty of the BSU Image:Belarus-Minsk-BNTU-2.jpg|National Technical University Image:Belarus-Minsk-BSUIR.jpg|University of Informatics and Radioelectronics Image:Belarus-Minsk-BSPU-Main_Building.jpg|Pedagogical University Culture and religion Minsk is the major cultural centre of Belarus. Its first theatres and libraries were established in the middle of the 19th century. Now it has 11 theatres and 16 museums. There are 20 cinemas and 139 libraries. Churches Cathedral of Saint Virgin Mary, 1700-10, restored in 1951 and 1997.http://globus.tut.by/minsk/index3.htm#kost_marii Theatres Major theatres are: Museums Major museums include: Recreation areas Sport Sister cities Minsk maintains cultural links to a number of twin cities in various countres: | |||||||||||||||||
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