Belarus
 Belarus | |
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| Information | |
| Language: | Russian, Belarusian (not generally spoken) |
| Capital: | Minsk |
| Population: | 9,800,000 |
| Currency: | Belarusian Ruble (BRB) |
| Hitchability: | from  (average) (average) to  (very good) (very good)
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Belarus is an ex-USSR country in Eastern Europe. The European route E30 passes through it, entering at Brest on Polish border, and leaving at the Russian border between Orsha and Smolensk.
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 destinations signs in Russian when required
In big cities, especially Minsk, you can expect youth to speak at least some level of English. If you are hitch-hiking to Russia along E30/M1, expect some truck drivers to speak Polish as well as Russian.
Also, there are two versions of the Belarusian flag - the official one is 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 it in public.
Cities
<map lat='53.8' lng='28' zoom='6' view='0' float='right' width='420' height='380'/>
- Brest (rus: Брест, bel: Брэст, pol: Brześć)
- Gomel (rus, bel: Гомель)
- Grodno (rus: Гродно, bel: Гродна)
- Minsk (rus: Минск, bel: Мiнск)
- Mogilev (rus: Могилёв, bel: Магiлёў)
- Vitebsk (rus: Витебск, bel: Вiцебск)
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This article is a stub. This means that the information available to us is obviously insufficient. In these places little information is available or the description is severely outdated. If you have been there, whether hitchhiking, for travel or as part of an organized tour − be sure to extend this article! |
