Belarus Government

What is the capital of Belarus?

Country Name	Belarus
Full Country Name	Republic of Belarus
Local - Long	Respublika Byelarus' (Belarusian)/ Respublika Belarus' (Russian)
Local - Short	Byelarus' (Belarusian)/ Belarus' (Russian)
Former Name	Belorussian (Byelorussian) Soviet Socialist Republic
Etymology- history of name	the name is a compound of the Belarusian words "bel" (white) and "Rus" (the Old East Slavic ethnic designation) to form the meaning White Rusian or White Ruthenian
Government Type	presidential republic in name, although in fact a dictatorship
Capital Name	Minsk
Capital - geographic coordinate	53 54 N, 27 34 E
Capital Time Difference	UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Independence	25 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union)
National Holiday	Independence Day, 3 July (1944); note - 3 July 1944 was the date Minsk was liberated from German troops, 25 August 1991 was the date of independence from the Soviet Union
Constitution	history: several previous; latest drafted between late 1991 and early 1994, signed 15 March 1994 amendments: proposed by the president of the republic through petition to the National Assembly or by petition of least 150,000 eligible voters; approval required by at least two-thirds majority vote in both chambers or by simple majority of votes cast in a referendum; amended 1996, 2004

Belarus Capital City Map

Source: Google Maps

Belarus Government and Politics

Who is the president of Belarus?

Executive Branch:	chief of state: President Alyaksandr LUKASHENKA (since 20 July 1994) head of government: Prime Minister Roman GOLOVCHENKO (since 4 June 2020); First Deputy Prime Minister Mikalay SNAPKOW (since 4 June 2020); Deputy Prime Ministers Ihar PETRYSHENKA (since 18 August 2018), Anatol SIVAK (since 1 September 2020), Leanid ZAYATS (since 21 March 2022), Petr PARKHOMCHYK (since 16 August 2022) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (no term limits); first election held on 23 June and 10 July 1994; according to the 1994 constitution, the next election should have been held in 1999; however, Alyaksandr LUKASHENKA extended his term to 2001 via a November 1996 referendum; subsequent election held on 9 September 2001; an October 2004 referendum ended presidential term limits and allowed the President LUKASHENKA to run and win a third term (19 March 2006); a fourth term (19 December 2010); a fifth term (11 October 2015); a sixth term (9 August 2020); next election to be held in 2025; prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president and approved by the National Assembly election results: 2020: Alyaksandr LUKASHENKA reelected president (); percent of vote - Alyaksandr LUKASHENKA (independent) 80.1%, Svyatlana TSIKHANOWSKAYA (independent) 10.1%, other 9.8%; note - widespread street protests erupted following announcement of the election results amid allegations of voter fraud 2015: Alyaksandr LUKASHENKA president (); percent of vote - Alyaksandr LUKASHENKA (independent) 84.1%, Tatsyana KARATKEVICH 4.4%, Sergey GAYDUKEVICH 3.3%, other 8.2%.
Citizenship Criteria:	citizenship by birth: no citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Belarus dual citizenship recognized: no residency requirement for naturalization: 7 years
Legal System:	civil law system; note - nearly all major codes (civil, civil procedure, criminal, criminal procedure, family, and labor) were revised and came into force in 1999 and 2000
Suffrage:	18 years of age; universal
Legislative Branch:	description: bicameral National Assembly or Natsyyalny Skhod consists of: Council of the Republic or Savet Respubliki (64 seats statutory, currently 58; 56 members indirectly elected by regional and Minsk city councils and 8 members appointed by the president; members serve 4-year terms) House of Representatives or Palata Pradstawnikow (110 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by absolute majority vote in 2 rounds if needed; members serve 4-year terms) elections: Council of the Republic - indirect election last held on 7 November 2019 House of Representatives - last held on 17 November 2019 (next to be held on 25 February 2024); OSCE observers determined that the election was neither free nor impartial and that vote counting was problematic in a number of polling stations; pro-LUKASHENKA candidates won every seat; international observers determined that the previous elections - on 28 September 2008, 23 September 2012, and 11 September 2016 - also fell short of democratic standards, with pro-LUKASHENKA candidates winning every, or virtually every seat election results: Council of the Republic - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - independent 58, other 2; composition as of January 2024 - men 42, women 16, percent of women 27.6% House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - KPB 11, Republican Party of Labor and Justice 6, BPP 2, LDP 1, BAP 1, independent 89; composition as of August 2023 - men 66, women 44, percent of women 40%; note - total National Assembly percent of women 35.7% note: the US does not recognize the legitimacy of the National Assembly
Judicial Branch:	highest court(s): Supreme Court (consists of the chairman and deputy chairman and organized into several specialized panels, including economic and military; number of judges set by the president of the republic and the court chairman); Constitutional Court (consists of 12 judges, including a chairman and deputy chairman) judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges appointed by the president with the consent of the Council of the Republic; judges initially appointed for 5 years and evaluated for life appointment; Constitutional Court judges - 6 appointed by the president and 6 elected by the Council of the Republic; the presiding judge directly elected by the president and approved by the Council of the Republic; judges can serve for 11 years with an age limit of 70 subordinate courts: oblast courts; Minsk City Court; town courts; Minsk city and oblast economic courts
Regions or States:	6 regions (voblastsi, singular - voblasts') and 1 municipality* (horad) Brest, Homyel' (Gomel'), Horad Minsk* (Minsk City), Hrodna (Grodno), Mahilyow (Mogilev), Minsk, Vitsyebsk (Vitebsk) note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers; Russian spelling provided for reference when different from Belarusian
Political Parties and Leaders:	pro-government parties: Belarusian Agrarian Party or BAP [Mikhail RUSY] Belarusian Patriotic Party or BPP [Mikalay ULAKHOVICH] Belarusian Social Sport Party or BSSP [Uladzimir ALEKSANDROVICH] Belaya Rus [Henadz DAVYDKA] Communist Party of Belarus or KPB [Alyaksey SOKOL] Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Aleh GAYDUKEVICH] Republican Party [Uladzimir BELAZOR] Republican Party of Labor and Justice [Alyaksandr STSYAPANAW] Social Democratic Party of Popular Accord [Syarhey YERMAK] opposition parties: Belarusian Christian Democracy Party [Paval SEVYARYNETS, Volha KAVALKOVA, Vital RYMASHEWSKI] (unregistered) Belarusian Party of the Green [Dzimtry KUCHUK] Belarusian Party of the Left "Just World" [Syarhey KALYAKIN] Belarusian Social-Democratic Assembly or BSDH [Syarhey CHERACHEN] Belarusian Social Democratic Party ("Assembly") or BSDPH [Ihar BARYSAW] Belarusian Social Democratic Party (People's Assembly) or BSDP [Mikalay STATKEVICH] (unregistered) BPF Party [Ryhor KASTUSYOW] Christian Conservative Party-BPF [Zyanon PAZNYAK] United Civic Party or UCP [Mikalay KAZLOW]
International Law Organization Participation:	has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt
International Organization Participation:	BSEC (observer), CBSS (observer), CEI, CIS, CSTO, EAEC, EAEU, EAPC, EBRD, FAO, GCTU, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (NGOs), ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NAM, NSG, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, SCO (dialogue member), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer), ZC
Diplomatic Representation in the US:	chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant; recalled by Belarus in 2008); Chargé d'Affaires Pavel SHIDLOWSKI (since 9 August 2022) chancery: 1619 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 986-1606 FAX: [1] (202) 986-1805 email address and website: usa@mfa.gov.by https://usa.mfa.gov.by/en/
Diplomatic Representation from US:	chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d’Affaires Peter KAUFMAN (since June 2023) embassy: 46 Starovilenskaya Street, Minsk 220002 mailing address: 7010 Minsk Place, Washington DC 20521-7010 telephone: [375] (17) 210-12-83/217-73-47/217-73-48 FAX: [375] (17) 334-78-53 email address and website: ConsularMinsk@state.gov https://by.usembassy.gov/

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