Minsk: Capital and largest city of Belarus
Minsk or Miensk (Мінск (official spelling in Belarus), Менск; Минск ; Mińsk) is the capital and a major city of Belarus.
About 2 million people lived in the city as of 2021. Minsk is also a headquarters of the Commonwealth of Independent States. As a capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is also the capital of Minsk voblast (province) and Minsk raion. Minsk is built next to the Svislach and Niamiha rivers. The timezone in Minsk is GMT +2.
Minsk Мінск · Минск | |
|---|---|
 .jpg)    .jpg) Clockwise from top: Minsk business district (Pobediteley Avenue), the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul, Railway Station Square, the Red Church, National Opera and Ballet Theatre, and Minsk City Hall | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Location within Belarus  Location within Europe | |
| Coordinates: 53°54′N 27°34′E / 53.900°N 27.567°E | |
| Country |  Belarus |
| First mentioned | 1067 |
| Government | |
| • Chairman | Vladimir Kukharev |
| Area | |
| • Total | 409.53 km2 (158.12 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 280.6 m (920.6 ft) |
| Population (1 January 2023) | |
| • Total | 1,992,862 |
| Gross Regional Product | |
| • Total | Br 58.9 billion (€20 billion) |
| • Per capita | Br 29,500 (€10,000) |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Postal Code | 220001-220141 |
| Area code | +375 17 |
| ISO 3166 code | BY-HM |
| License plate | 7 |
| Website | www.minsk.gov.by |
In 2019, Minsk hosted the European Games.
History
The oldest mentions of Minsk date back to the 11th century (1067). In 1326 Minsk became a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and received its town privileges in 1499. From 1569 it was a capital of the Minsk Voivodship in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was annexed by Russia in 1793 as a result of the Second Partition of Poland. During 1919–1991 Minsk was the capital of the Byelorussian SSR.
During the Second World War the city was damaged. Most of the buildings and structures in the city turned into ruins. But it was rebuilt. In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed. The city became the capital of the Republic of Belarus.
Geography
Climate
Minsk has a continental climate. The average annual precipitation is about 700 mm. Summer is warm, but not hot. The average daily temperature in July is +19.1 °C (+66,3 °F). Winter is mild, the average daily temperature in January is −4.2 °C (+24,4 °F). Fog is common in the autumn and spring.
References
Other websites
- Photos of Minsk on GOMINSK.ORG Archived 2008-06-22 at the Wayback Machine
- Photos on Globus.tut.by
- Weather of Minsk - minsk.the.by
This short article about a place or feature can be made longer. You can help Wikipedia by adding to it.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia Simple English article Minsk, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license ("CC BY-SA 3.0"); additional terms may apply (view authors). Content is available under CC BY-SA 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
®Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wiki Foundation, Inc. Wiki Simple English (DUHOCTRUNGQUOC.VN) is an independent company and has no affiliation with Wiki Foundation.