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[[trash:Belarus]]
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== General information ==
72% of the population live in towns and cities, and virtually all the population speaks Russian as their first language. In rural areas a mix of Russian and Belarusian may be spoken, but it is '''not''' a good idea to try to speak Belarusian (in the capital of the country you will especially be frowned upon by the police, as Belarusian is the language of governmental opposition). It is therefore better to make destination [[signsigns]]s in Russian when hitchhiking.
Also, there are two versions of the Belarusian flag – the official one is the red-green flag (also jokingly known as “dusk over a swamp”), whereas the one used by the opposition is a three-striped white-red-white flag. For your own safety, it is not advised to demonstrate the latter one in public.
The average waiting time is about 20 minutes. It’s better to travel using main roads as road traffic on local roads is pretty poor. In Belarus there are no roads with limitations for hitchhikers, you can start stopping a car wherever you like, the only exception is bridges. Roadsides are usually big enough to stop even a truck. Main roads are of a very good condition while roads in rural areas might unpleasantly surprise you.
'''Note''': In Belarus you must obligatory wear a flicker (light-returning element) when you are on the road after sunset. The [[police]] have a plan to get some amount of violators each month, so the possibility of penalty (about EUR 10) is quite high. It's better to buy a flicker (it costs from EUR 1), and it's not a problem – now they are sold in any shop in Belarus. And it's [[hitchhiker's safety|a good idea]] to use them anyway when [[hitchhiking at night]].
== Maps ==
== Customs and Borders ==
Belarus is neither in the [[European Union]] nor in the [[Schengen Agreement|Schengen]] Common Travel Area, and most non-[[Commonwealth of Independent States|CIS]] nationals would require a visa to enter the country.
Please note that while there is no border control between Belarus and Russia Belarusian transit visa is still required for foreigners when transiting through the country from Russia to Poland, or vice versa. You can't get a visa at the border.
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[[trash:Belarus]]
[[Category:Belarus| ]]
[[de:Weißrussland]]