Introduction
An industrial city, Minsk is the capital of Belarus, a country in Eastern Europe. Located about 400 miles (640 kilometers) southwest of Moscow, Minsk lies in the hills of central Belarus. The city is built on the banks of the Svisloch River.
Places of interest
Minsk is an educational, cultural, and scientific center. The city has a number of theaters, including a theater of opera and ballet. It is also home to the nation's academy of sciences, a medical institute, and several museums and research institutes.
Minsk has had to be rebuilt several times due to war and fires, and almost all of its buildings have been built since the 1940s. The Mariinsky Cathedral and the 17th-century church of the Bernadine monastery are among the few structures that remain from the city's past.
Economy
The economy of Minsk is driven mainly by heavy industry. Machine building, particularly the manufacture of trucks and tractors, generates most of the city's income. Other products include electric motors, bearings, machine tools, radios and television sets, and refrigerators. The city also has light industries that produce food products, clothing, furniture, and paper goods.
History
The history of Minsk dates from about AD 1000, when it was a fortress town in a region that became known as Belarus. Minsk, along with the rest of Belarus, became part of Russia in 1101. The city was passed to Lithuania in the 14th century. It later belonged to Poland and was eventually regained by Russia in 1793.
In 1812 the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Russia, and French troops occupied and damaged much of Minsk. Shortly after World War I ended in 1918, Belarus became an independent republic. However, it soon came under the control of the newly created Soviet Union. In 1919 Minsk became the capital of the region then known as Belorussia.
When German forces attacked the Soviet Union during World War II, Minsk again suffered. The scene of intense fighting between German and Soviet troops in 1944, the city was largely destroyed. After the war, Minsk was rebuilt with numerous parks, wide boulevards, and many blocks of large apartment buildings.
In 1991 the Soviet Union collapsed, and Minsk became the capital of an independent Belarus. Belarus then joined the Commonwealth of Independent States—a group made up of former Soviet countries—which has its headquarters in Minsk. Population (2000 estimate), 1,688,000.
