Beloved Belarus Trivia Quiz

Answer: Red, White, Green

The flag of Belarus is a larger, red stripe on top of a smaller, green stripe. To the left of the stripes is a decorative pattern that is red and white. The red stripe represents the history of Belarus, the color of the Belarussian forces at the Battle of Grunswald, and of the Red Army, when they fought the Nazis. The green stripe represents Belarus' bright future and many forests.

Answer: No coastline

Belarus is a landlocked nation and so it does not have a coastline.

Answer: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara

Dzyarzhynskaya Hara is the highest point in Belarus at 346 meters (1130 feet) and is located near the village of Dzyarzhynsk, which is west of the capital, Minsk. The was formerly called Svyataya Hara but was renamed to its current name after Felix Dzerzhinsky, the founder of the Cheka and OGPU, which became the KGB, who is a national hero in Belarus.

Answer: Five

Belarus is bordered by Latvia on the north, Lithuania on the northwest, Russia to the east, Poland to the west, and Ukraine to the south.

Answer: Forests

Forests cover nearly one third of Belarus, which makes wood an important and abundant resource.

Answer: Belarus Ruble

Belarus uses the Belarussian ruble as its currency and has since May of 1992, before that it used the Russian Ruble. Trying to have a currency along the lines of the Euro, Belarus may begin to use the Russian Ruble again, beginning in January of 2008.

Answer: False

Actually, Belarus has been losing population for several years now. In 2005, the growth rate was -0.06 percent and the birthrate was only 1.43.

Answer: Russian Orthodox

The large majority of Belarussians are Russian Orthodox, with small populations of Protestants and Catholicism. There use to be a sizable population of Jews in Belarus, but after the Holocaust, there are very few remaining. Fewer than one percent of the population is now Jewish.

Answer: Mir Castle Complex

The Mir Castle Complex was built from the late 15th century to the early 16th century by Duke Ilinich. In 1568, the castle passed to Duke Radzivil and stayed in his family until 1813. The castle is located in the town of Mir in the Karelichy district of Belarus.

The castle was designated a World Heritage Site in 2000. Three other World Heritage Sites are also located in Belarus, the Belovezhskaya Pushcha (shared with Poland), the Architectural, Residential and Cultural Complex of the Radziwill Family at Nesvizh, and the Struve Geodetic Arc (shared with Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Moldova, Russia, Sweden and Ukraine).

Answer: 1986

When one of the reactors at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine exploded in 1986, radiation was spewed out over a large area. Almost twenty percent of Belarus's territory, mainly the southeastern portion was affected and much of the region is uninhabitable. It is thought that nearly 70 percent of the radiation emitted entered into Belarussian territory.