20 Interesting Facts About Belarus

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1. There are 20800 rivers which floe on the territory of Belarus. There are 9 rivers that are longer than 500 km: Berezina (takes place entirely on the territory of Belarus); Neman and Vilia (originate in the territory of Belarus); Western Dvina, Dnieper, Sozh, Pripyat, the Western Bug and Gorin (transit rivers).

2. 345 meters above sea level - the highest point in Belarus, the mountain Dzerzhinskaya. It situated in 30 kilometers of Minsk, near Dzerzhinsk, in the village Skirmantovo. Dzerzhinskaya previously called "The Holy Mountain", and it was renamed in 1958.

3. Belarus - is the largest European country, which has no access to the sea. The nearest seaside is at a distance of 200 km.

4. In borders of our country there are several European countries can accommodate: for example, Greece, Belgium and Switzerland.

5. Belarus called the "lungs of Europe" (36% of the territory of our state - forests). Therefore, we can feel the ease of breathing even in the cities.

6. Swamps occupy almost 1.7 million hectares of the territory in Belarus. There are huge amounts of carbon dioxide, which is adsorbed from the atmosphere by the swamps. And swamps gain increasing popularity among tourists.

7. 77% of Belarusians - citizens, which means that only 23% live in the countryside. Because of this, travelers can not meet anyone, crossing a country road.

8. In Belarus, there are a lot deposits of minerals. The biggest of them - potassium salt deposit near Soligorsk. It is the largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world deposits of potash salt.

9. Throughout its history, Belarus has changed a lot of names. For example, the Great Principality of Lithuania, Russian and Jemoit (or Litva). Its population was called Litvini, and they spoke the Old Belarusian language (which was the official language of several centuries).

10. We celebrate Christmas twice: in December 25 - Catholic, in January 7 - Orthodox. These days are official holidays in Belarus.

11. Belarus - is the only country of the former USSR, which is still uses the Soviet symbols (with minimal changes).

12. Ьany foreign celebrities have the Belarusian ancestors. For example, Lisa Kudrow, Scarlett Johansson, Harrison Ford, Michael Douglas and Lewis Meyer.

13. The famous artist Marc Chagall is also Belarusian! A lot of his paintings he dedicated to his native city Vitebsk.

14. Due to the Belarusian Boris Keith, who had worked on rocket fuel, APOLLO mission was accomplished - the first human's journey to the moon.

15. World of Tanks - the famous computer game, created by Belarusian company Wargaming. The Belarussian airline "Belavia" has aircraft with the symbols of Wargaming. Viber application is also created in Belarus - a well-known messenger that allows you to communicate without the use of mobile communication, but with the help of the Internet.

16. In Belarus, the programmer - is the well paid profession, thus in our country there are a lot of companies, related to information technologies.

17. Our country can boast a large number of of famous musicians: among them, and beatmaker who creates music for American performers, and winners of the children's "Eurovision", and hip-hop artists.

18. One of the world's best tennis players Victoria Azarenka - a Belarusian too. In 2012, she was the World No.1.

19. In 2014, "BelAZ" released the largest truck in the world. His height - 8.7 meters and carrying capacity - up to 500 tons. Unfortunately, this giant can be seen in the quarries only.

20. In July 2016 Belarus has passed to the new money. New Belarusian rubles are similar to the euro, and one of these beautiful banknotes was nominated for "The bill of the year."

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