Independence Day in Belarus

People all across BELARUS are celebrating their country's independence today. Belarus' Independence Day commemorates the July 3rd, 1944 liberation of Minsk after several years of German occupation. Happy Independence Day, Belarusians!

Struve Geodetic Arc

What is the Struve Geodetic Arc, a UNESCO World Heritage Site spanning across the countries of BELARUS, ESTONIA, FINLAND, LATVIA, LITHUANIA, MOLDOVA, NORWAY, RUSSIA, SWEDEN, and UKRAINE? The UNESCO World Heritage Site webpage (↗) provides an interactive map and description:

The Struve Arc is a chain of survey triangulations stretching from Hammerfest in Norway to the Black Sea, through 10 countries and over 2,820 km. These are points of a survey, carried out between 1816 and 1855 by the astronomer Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve, which represented the first accurate measuring of a long segment of a meridian. This helped to establish the exact size and shape of the planet and marked an important step in the development of earth sciences and topographic mapping. It is an extraordinary example of scientific collaboration among scientists from different countries, and of collaboration between monarchs for a scientific cause. The original arc consisted of 258 main triangles with 265 main station points. The listed site includes 34 of the original station points, with different markings, i.e. a drilled hole in rock, iron cross, cairns, or built obelisks.

Surveyors from around the world and other people involved in geodesy and geography might consider adding a [probably expensive] trip through Eastern Europe onto their travel "Bucket List"! The UNESCO description is available under license Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Intergovernmental Organization 3.0 license (↗).

Belarus Exports

The following produce and materials are major exports of BELARUS: chemicals, equipment and machinery, flax and grain, marl, metal, mineral products, packaged food, peat, potatoes, sugar beets, televisions, textiles and synthetic fibers, timber, and tractors. According to the International Monetary Fund (data.imf.org), countries and territories buying and importing most of those exports in 2016 include Russia (top importer), Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Lithuania, China, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Latvia, India, Belgium, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, the United States, Moldova, Turkmenistan, and Norway.

Bialowieza Forest UNESCO Heritage Site

Post #1 of UNESCO Heritage Sites Week

There are currently almost 30 transnational UNESCO World Heritage Sites transcending the boundary between more than one country. The Bialowieza (Białowieża) Forest is one example, situated along the western border of BELARUS and east-northeastern border of POLAND. Established as a heritage site in 1979, the Białowieża Forest is essentially one of Europe's only circa-8,000 BC forests remaining. Coniferous evergreens and deciduous trees commingle to provide habitat, shelter, and shade for various species including rare mammals and a bunch of birds. A lot more than the current population of about 300 European Bison used to live in this forest, but there was a period of time when there were no bison in the forest. Fortunately, the European Bison was reintroduced to Białowieża Forest shortly before 1930 and is now experiencing a general population increase. The bison is just one species saved by the Eastern European forest environment, and just one reason why this forest is featured as a World Heritage Site.

Belarus Endangered Species

As of August 15th, 2014, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ lists only 3 critically endangered and 6 endangered species in BELARUS, an Eastern European country located close by to recent conflicts occurring between Russia and Ukraine. The European Eel, European Mink, and Sociable Lapwing are the three critically endangered species, while endangered species in Belarus include the Przewalski's Horse (which is fortunately increasing its population), Red-Breasted Goose, Thick Shelled River Mussel, Velvet Scoter bird, Waterwheel aquatic plant (the only existing species in the Aldrovanda genus), and Yellow-Breasted Bunting. Considering Belarus occupies over 200,000 square miles of land, there of course could be unknown species with very low population sizes; this is practically the case for every country, since biologists, scientists, etc. will always discover new species!

Discover more about Belarus! (link to my blog post)

Northernmost and Southernmost Landlocked Countries

BELARUS, a former Soviet nation located in eastern Europe and east of Poland, is the world's northernmost landlocked country (Kazakhstan is very close), while LESOTHO, a small kingdom in southern Africa that achieved independence from the United Kingdom, is the world's southernmost landlocked country.

Belarus

BELARUS is located in Eastern Europe. Belarus is north of Ukraine, southeast of Latvia and Lithuania, west of Russia, and east of Poland. The capital of Belarus is Minsk, which is the living space for over 1.8 million residents. Other cities include Smalyavichy east of Minsk across the 28° E longitude line, Brest and Pinsk in the southwest, Hrodna and Lida in the west, Braslaw, Polatsk, and Vyerkhnyadzvinsk in the north, Krychaw and Mahilnow in the northeast, and Homyel', Mazyr, and Zhlobin (Žlobin) in the southeast. The currency is the Belarusian Ruble, and the ISO 4217 currency code is BYR.