Belarus

Discover Belarus

Fun Foods

Draniki

When the Chernobyl nuclear reactor exploded on April 26, 1986, it wasn't even in Belarus. It was in Ukraine across the border. But Belarus got slammed with the worst radiation fallout from the world's biggest nuclear disaster. The country is still dealing with the consequences today.

But Chernobyl is just the latest tragedy in Belarus's brutal history.

Eastern Slavs settled Belarus in the 5th to 9th centuries and became part of Kievan Rus'. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ran things for centuries, then the Russian Empire took over in the late 1700s.

Belarus declared independence March 25, 1918, but the Soviets crushed it and forced Belarus into the USSR. When Nazi Germany invaded on June 22, 1941, the Brest Fortress took the first hit of Operation Barbarossa and earned the name "Hero-Fortress."

The Nazis killed over 2 million Belarusians during three years of occupation. That's 25 to 30 percent of the population. They burned 9,200 villages to the ground.

Belarus finally got independence August 25, 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed. Alexander Lukashenko has ruled as authoritarian president since 1994.

Belarus's past is easier to visit than its present.

Mir Castle is a UNESCO site from the 16th century mixing Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque styles.

Brest Fortress is now a massive WWII memorial.

Belovezhskaya Pushcha is one of Europe's last primeval forests where European bison roam free.

Draniki are potato pancakes and the national dish. Belarus has over 300 potato recipes. Belarusians call potatoes "the second bread" because they're so filling.

Potatoes came to Belarus in the mid-1600s when Frantisek Stefan Sapega brought them from South America. Now there's even a festival called "Bulba-Kartoshka-Potatoes" celebrating potato dishes.

Belarus has UNESCO-recognized crafts like vytsinanka (intricate paper cutting) and straw weaving. Tree beekeeping is another UNESCO heritage tradition still practiced today.