The Republic of Belarus is situated in the centre of Europe on the crossroads of major transport routes between the CIS and Western Europe. Belarus borders on Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia and Ukraine. The country stretches 560 km from north to south and 650 km from west to east. The total area is 207,600 square kilometres.
Belarus has a moderate continental climate. It is defined by the location of the country in mid-latitudes, the absence of mountains, and the relative vicinity of the Atlantic Ocean. July is the hottest month of the year, January is the coldest month.
There are more than 20,000 rivers and rivulets in Belarus. The biggest rivers are the Dnieper, the Western Dvina and the Neman. Belarus is called the blue-eyed because there are more than 10,000 lakes in the country. The biggest lake is Lake Naroch, the deepest lake is Lake Dolgoye.
Arable lands constitute as much as 43 % of Belarus territory, forests 39 %, lakes and rivers 2 %, other lands 16 %.
There are six administrative regions in Belarus with centres in Brest, Vitebsk, Gomel, Grodno, Mogilev and Minsk. They are further divided into 118 districts.
The population of the Republic of Belarus is about 10 million people, with
70 % of the Belarusians living in urban areas. One fifth of the population or about 2 million live in the capital city of Belarus, Minsk.
Belarus adheres to the socially-oriented model of the market economy which has proved to be consistent and efficient.
Belarus has a multi-faith society. The country has no history of religious wars.
Belarusian and Russian are the official languages of Belarus.
The Republic of Belarus does not have a massive mineral resource base. At the moment, more than 4 thousand deposits representing about 30 types of minerals were identified and explored in the depths of the Republic of Belarus. In terms of the economy, of particular importance are potassium and rock salts, peat, sapropel, a unique supply of mineral, fresh waters and timber. Potassium salts are one of the most valuable natural resources in the amount of reserves of which the country occupies one of the first places in Europe. Rock salt reserves exceed 22 billion tons at three known deposits alone. The territory of Belarus is prospective in ferrous and non-ferrous metals, phosphates, non-ore materials for the production of construction materials: dolomite, chalk, building and decorative stone, sand, gravel, granites, dolomites, fire-resistant and refractory clay, loam, sand-gravel compounds, etc.
Belarus is among CIS leaders in chemistry and petrochemistry, agricultural and automobile construction, agriculture, light industry, forestry, individual branches of the information and communication technologies industry. The country exports more IT services per capita than any other CIS state. It has good prospects in the high-tech sector, namely in the production of optical and laser devices, automated management systems.
The major branches of the country's economy include mechanical engineering, chemical and petrochemical industry, fuel and energy sector, agriculture, forestry industry, wood processing and other ones.
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The top ten Belarusian products which account from 0.6 % to 30 % of the global market are: 1) freight vehicles, road and construction equipment; 2) tractors and agricultural equipment; 3) refrigerators and household equipment; 4) fertilizers; 5) flax fibers; 6) chemical fibers and threads; 7) clothes and footwear; 8) potatoes; 9) meat products; 10) dairy products.
Automobile industry is one of the leading industries of the mechanical engineering sector. Belarus specializes in manufacturing freight vehicles, buses and special vehicles. The biggest companies are Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ trademark) and Belarusian Autoworks (BelAZ trademark). Belarusian Autoworks accounts for a third of the global market of rock haulers and is one of the leading producers of quarry equipment in the world.
Belarus is a leading producer of agricultural equipment such as tractors, grain harvesters, all kinds of forage harvesters. Minsk Tractor Works (MTZ trademark) is among the biggest manufacturers of wheeled tractors. Belarusian tractors account for 96 % of the global market.
Belaruskali and GrodnoAzot are among the worlds biggest manufacturers of potassium and nitrogen fertilizers. Belaruskali accounts for 16 % of the global potassium market. About 90 % of Belaruskalis output is exported to Europe, East Asia, Mediterranean countries, South Africa, India, China, South and North Americas, a total of 65 countries across the globe. Belshina is Europes largest tire producer.
About 85 % of energy resources consumed by the national economy is imported. Electricity generation is the core of the Belarusian fuel and energy complex. In the near future nuclear energy will play a leading role in the fuel and energy complex. The nuclear power plant will allow reducing the prime cost of produced energy by up to 20 %.
Agricultural production accounts for about 8 % of the countrys GDP. Belarusian companies almost fully satisfy the needs of the domestic food market.
The country is a top exporter of dairy products (milk, butter, cheese) in the world. Belarus is one of the major potato producers in the world. About 16 % of the worlds flax crops are grown in our country. Belarus is the top five countries among the worlds 26 flax fiber manufacturers.
Belarus is a major transport artery in Eurasia. Transport services are rendered by railway, automobile, air, inland water, and pipeline transport operators. Belarus' geographical location favors the deployment of logistics centres along the routes used to transport cargoes between Europe and Asia. Every year over 100 million tonnes of European cargoes is transported via Belarus. Transit of goods via Belarus is fast and secure.
Belarusian science is a strong intellectual industry. The National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB) is a leading scientific organization in the Republic of Belarus. It is an intellectual hub of the country; it helps shape Belarus development patterns. The NASB is a core of the modern knowledge and innovation system.
The High-Tech Park (HTP) was established in Belarus with a view to raising competitiveness of innovative industries, improving conditions for designing modern technologies and boosting export, raising local and foreign investments. At present the High-Tech Park is one of the leading innovation-based IT clusters in Central and Eastern Europe. The HTP offers favourable conditions for doing business in the IT sector, as it provides unprecedented tax benefits and boasts highly qualified workforce.
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Belarusian specialists are involved in various IT projects, from system analysis, consulting, and hardware selection to the development of composite systems. Software produced by the HTP resident companies is used by Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive, Google, Toyota, Citibank, MTV, Expedia, Reuters, Samsung, HTC, Mitsubishi, British Petroleum, British Telecom, the London Stock Exchange, the World Bank, etc. HTP resident companies compete successfully in high-tech markets of North America and Western Europe.
A lot of famous people of the world have Belarusian origin. Francysk Skaryna, Ignat Dameika, Ivan (Yan) Chersky, Pavel Sukhoi, Zhores Alferov, Petr Klimuk, Alexander Chizhevsky, Mikhail Vysotsky, Ivan Khrutsky, Napoleon Orda, Alexander Medved, Andrei Gromyko, Sofia Kovalevskaya to name but a few.
Comprehension check
3.Work in pairs. Ask your partner:
1. Where Belarus is situated and what its area is?
2. What countries Belarus borders on?
3. Why Belarus is sometimes called blue-eyed?
4. What is meant by socially-oriented model of market economy?
5. What major branches the Belarus economy include?
6. If Belarus is an energy-dependent country?
7. What agriculture the country specializes in?
8. What your partnerknows about the High-Tech Park?
Vocabulary practice
4. Find in the text the equivalents to the following words or phrases.
, , , /, , , , , , , - , , , , / (), , , , , , , , , /, , , , , , , .
5. Find the words or expressions in the text which mean the following.
1. A place where two roads meet and cross each other.
2. The line that divides two countries or areas; the land near this line.
3. Land suitable for ploughing, usually ploughed.
4. A small stream.
5. A machine for cutting and gathering grain.
6. Goods carried in a ship, aircraft or other vehicle
7. Something new that is introduced.
Reading
6. Read the text and find the arguments in favour of:
1. How the streets of Minsk tell the visitor their story of growth and change?
2. In what way Minsk has developed its own sense of architectural continuity?
3. Various possibilities for entertainment the capital offers to its dwellers and visitors.
4. What makes Minsk an industrial center?
5. What the enterprises of the city manufacture?
6. What are the most important educational establishments of Minsk?
Text B: Minsk
Minsk is the capital of the Republic of Belarus. It is the countrys political, financial, industrial, scientific and cultural centre. The President of the Republic of Belarus, the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus, the Parliament and the Government reside in Minsk. It is also home to the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States, diplomatic corps, consulates and representative offices of international organizations in the Republic of Belarus.
Minsk is the most economically developed city in Belarus. It manufactures almost a quarter of the countrys industrial products. The main branches are: food production, light industry, motor industry, tractor manufacturing, instrument making, radio engineering and electronic equipment manufacturing. More than 300 industrial enterprises of the city manufacture cargo trucks, tractors, powerful wheel-tire tractors, comfortable buses, trolley buses and trams, motorcycles and bicycles, TV sets, furniture, fabrics and many other products. The acknowledged leaders of industrial sector are Minsk Tractor Works (being among the eight top producers of tractors in the world), MAZ (Minsk Automobile Plant), Minsk Refrigerators Plant Atlant, Minsk Motor Plant, Minsk Mechanical Plant named after S.I.Vavilov, Integral, and many others.
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Minsk is the largest educational and scientific centre of Belarus. It numbers 34 higher educational establishments: among them the Belarusian State University, the Academy of Management of the President of the Republic of Belarus, the Belarusian State Economics University, the Belarusian National Technical University, the Belarusian State Academy of Arts. Scientific researches are carried out at higher educational establishments such as: the Belarusian State University, the Belarusian National Technical University, the Minsk State Linguistic University, the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioengineering.
Minsk was first described in the Story of Bygone Years, an early chronicle, as a fortress of the Polotsk Principality associated with a feudal battle on the Nemiga River in 1067.
Minsk is dotted with parks, including Gorki Park, Yanka Kupala Park, Cheluskintsy Park, Victory Park, Alexandrovski Garden, the Central Botanical Gardens and the water-and-park Svisloch reserve. The parks provide an escape from the citys maze of streets and buildings. In the Botanical Gardens you can stroll from a rainforest to a formal French park, explore an alpine rock garden, or learn about plants of the Far East all in one afternoon.
A well-planned city, Minsk has developed its own sense of architectural continuity, balancing the monolithic buildings of business with the living needs of its people. The present-day city is almost entirely of new construction; most of the principal buildings in the centre are in architectural style of the early Soviet period the Government House, the building of the Central Party Committee, the Red Army Club, the Opera and Ballet Theatre, the Academy of Sciences and others.
The Holy Spirit Cathedral, the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul, the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Maryinski Cathedral, St. Symon and St. Alena Church, or the red church all survive as relics of the past.
The major Minsk theatres and museums were instrumental in turning the city into a cultural mecca of Belarus: the Belarus State Theatre of Opera and Ballet (or the Belarus Bolshoi), the Yanka Kupala National Drama Theatre, the Gorky Drama Theatre, the National Art Gallery, the State Museum of History, the Museum of the Great Patriotic War.
Minsks charm is not easy to describe. At work or at play, the inhabitants ultimately do create the citys character, but its physical presence bustling streets, concrete texture, park oases, the skyline over the Svisloch sets the pace for the city-dwellers.
Comprehension check
7. Decide if the following statements are True or False. Say, why?
1. The first mention of Minsk in the chronicles dates back to 1076.
2. Minsk suffered heavy losses during World War II.
3. The best and most expensive hotels, restaurants, clubs, theatres, cinemas and the richest shops are found in the Trinity Suburb.
4. Present-day Minsk is a well-planned city with numerous shady parks, broad streets and avenues, modern buildings and a few churches which have survived as relics of the past.
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5. If you want to know more about the history of our country, you can go to the State Museum of History.
6. There arent any sports facilities in Minsk to welcome international events.
Vocabulary practice
8. Match the definitions with the words from the right column.
| 1. a system of twisting paths leading to a central point | a) to manufacture |
| 2. an old object or custom that reminds people of the past | b) dweller |
| 3. to be busily active, often with much noise | c) maze |
| 4. a person who lives in the stated place | d) relic |
| 5. to make or produce | e) to bustle |
9. Find in the text the nouns that are described by the following adjectives.
| alpine | cultural |
| architectural | scientific |
| concrete | educational |
| provincial | residential |
| monolithic | bustling |
Reading
10. Read the text below and try to complement it with the facts known to you.
