Byelorussian SSR

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Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic
Беларуская Савецкая
Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка

1919 — 1991


(In Detail)	(In Detail)

State motto:
Belarusian: Пралетарыі ўсіх краін, яднайцеся!
Translation: Workers of the world, unite!

Capital

Minsk

Official language

Belarusian, Polish, Russian and Yiddish (before WWII)

Established
In the USSR:
- Since
- Until

January 1, 1919

December 30, 1922
August 25, 1991

Area
- Total
- Water (%)

Ranked 6th in the USSR
207,600 km²
negligible

Population
- Total
- Density

Ranked 5th in the USSR
10,151,806 (1989)
48.9/km²

Currency

Ruble (рубель)

Time zone

UTC + 3

Anthem

Anthem of Byelorussian SSR

History of Belarus
Early East Slavs
Principality of Polatsk
Kievan Rus'
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Imperial Russia
Belarusian National Republic
Belarusian SSR
Independent Belarus

The Byelorussian SSR (Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic; Belarusian: Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка; Russian: Белору́сская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респу́блика; abreviated БССР, BSSR) was one of the four original founding members of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922, together with the Ukrainian SSR, the Transcaucasian SFSR and the Russian SFSR. It was also known by the name of White Russia.

The republic's capital was Minsk. The Byelorussian SSR was created on January 1, 1919.

[edit] History

Part of the Russian Empire before World War I, Belarus first declared independence on 25 March 1918, forming the Belarus National Republic. The Republic was, however, short-lived, and the regime was overthrown soon after the German withdrawal. In 1919 Belarus became the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR), and merged into the Lithuanian-Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. After the Polish-Soviet War ended in 1921, Byelorussian lands were split between Poland and the recreated Byelorussian SSR, which became a founding member of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922. In September 1939, the Soviet Union annexed the Polish-held Byelorussian land as a result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

After World War II, the Byelorussian SSR was given a seat in the United Nations General Assembly together with the Soviet Union and Ukrainian SSR, becoming one of the founding members of the UN. This membership was generally meaningless, and simply a way of giving the USSR three votes.

Following the August Coup, the Supreme Soviet of Belarus declared independence from the USSR on August 25, 1991. The republic was renamed the Republic of Belarus on September 19, 1991. On December 8, 1991 it was a signatory, along with Russia and Ukraine, of the Belavezha Accords, which replaced the USSR with the Commonwealth of Independent States.