Belarus is an ancient Slavic country located in the geographical heart of Europe. It has had a centuries’ tradition of cooperation, tolerance and fortitude. The country had to go through several stages in its tragic but at the same time glorious history to become such as it is today.

The territory of Belarus started to be populated in the early Stone Age. The first governmental formations were in the towns of Polotsk (862), Pinsk, Turov and Minsk already in the 6 – 8th centuries. In the 9th century Kievan Rus, the first Slavic state was formed on the territory of what was to become Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine in subsequent centuries. The historic importance of the existence of that Slavic state was the fact that in 988 the Russian Prince Vladimir the Saint baptized the population of Kiev in the Dnieper river and afterwards brought Christianity to other lands subjected to him including the present Belarus. However, Kievan Rus did not exist long due to the internecine wars led by feudal princes.

Polotsk was the first to separate from Kieran Rus to form an independent state the Grand Duchy of Polotsk. That was one of the largest and powerful states in Europe in the early Middle Ages stretching along the whole length of the Western Dvina river up to the Baltic Sea. It reached the highest level in its development under a prince Vseslav (1044-1101). Under his rule trade and handicrafts flourished. It was on his order that a magnificent St.Sophia Cathedral was built in 1066 in Polotsk to imitate St.Sophia in Constantinople, Kiev and Novgorod. The construction of St. Sophia put Polotsk into the same rank with such big cities as Kiev and Novgorod.. Under Vseslav's rule a number of other Christian churches were constructed. Vseslav was tolerant to adherents of paganism and did not destroy their prayer houses. He was searching for concord between different religions and through that the unification of people. 72 years of his life he dedicated to the creation and strengthening of the first Belarusian state. Now an equestrian statue to him stands in Polotsk (district centre of the Vitebsk region today).

In 1183 Lithuania was formed and grew in power incorporating Belarusian lands to jointly fight crusaders and Tatar – Mongols. Being a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Belarus had a certain degree of autonomy or even importance. Suffice it to say that the Belarusian town of Novogrudok became the first capital of Lithuania. It was only in 1323 that the capital was shifted to Vilno (present Vilnius). Polotsk was still a big city and sessions of the Court of Appeals were held either in Minsk or Novogrudok. The Old Belarusian language was the state language in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from the mid 14th till the end of 17th century. That was the time of the Belarusian Renaissance when humanism, written language, philosophy and literature arose. In the early 16th century Francisk Skorina from Polotsk published 22 volumes of the Bible translated by him into his mother tongue. It was one of the first translations of the Bible into the language of a living nation in the world. Other prominent figures of the Belarusian Renaissance included educators, philosophers writers, poets, translators and printers such as Symon Bydny, Simeon Polotsky.

In 1569 the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish Kingdom established the Lithuanian–Polish confederation Rzech Pospolita to resist the growing power of Moscow. That was the union of two states where each of them had its own government, army, laws and even the language. Thus the Belarusian lands found themselves incorporated in that new state. Despite the fact that formally Rzecz Pospolita guarnteed both states equal rights in reality the Kingdom of Poland gained some political advantages over the Grand Duchy of Lithiania. Poland was muh more represented in the Seim The government of the Commomwealth pursued the policy of Polonization and propagated Catholisism. That policy found no support among the Belarusians who were mainly Orthodox. The compromise between the Orthodoxy and Catholosism resulted in the Brest Church Union of 1596 according to which the Orthodox Church recognised supremacy of the Pope and Catholic doctrines, while keeping its rights and organization. By the end of the 18th century more than 70% of the population of Belarus belonged to the Union Church.

In 1795 after the three partions of the state Recz Pospolita ceased to exist and after an elapse of more that 400 years Belarus again was joined to Russia. When Belarus was part of the tsarist Russia it didn't have any state status. Not a single law was adopted to separate Belarus into a certain region enjoying its own rights. That was reflected in the name which was given to the Belarusian lands in 1840 — North-Western Borderland.

During World War I in March 25,1918 when the territory of Belarus was occupied by the German troops the Byelorussin People's Republic was proclaimed. However, that republic didn't have the Constitition, its own military forces and borders, finance and other attributes of statehood.

It was only in January 1,1919 that the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed. In December 1922 the Communist governments of Russia, Belarus the Ukraine and the Caucasus created the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (the USSR). In the pre-WWII period, nearly one thousand industrial enterprises were built, science, national culture and art were developing
In June 1941 the war broke. The whole territory of Belarus was occuped by the end of August. Belarusian people didn't resign to the status of the invaded nation and resisted the Nazi occupation. There were hundreds of partisans detachments and underground organisations. The liberation, however, became a reality only in July-August 1944 but after the war Belarusians had to start everything a new because the whole country laid in ruins.
It is hard to describe in a few words how the wounded country was rehabilitated and restored. The difficulties were enormous. That was done thanks to the tireless labour of all Belarusian people, young and old. Towns and villages were rebuilt, indusries rehabilated, new towns and entrprises constructed. Within subsequent decades Belarus grew into one of the most advanced republics in the USSR.

However, a real breakthrough has been done in all spheres of life after Belarus proclaimed its independence. It was in July 1990 that the BSSR Supreme Council adopted the Declaration on State Sovereignity of Belarus. It was given the constititional law status in August 1991, the BSSR was renamed into the Republic of Belarus. In December 1991 the Heads of states and governments of Russia, the Ukraine and Belarus signed the Act On the Denunciation of the Union Treaty of 1922 in Viskuly (Belovezhskaya Pushcha, Belarus, Brest region). The USSR ceased to exist. The Republic of Belarus bacame an independent and sovereign state.