Andre Ward or Timmy Bradley

america americans glass hearts dr shaw hi mcdonalds quitter disgrace dirty fighter derp derp derp

 

Belarus, (i /bɛləˈruːs/ bel-ə-ROOS; Belarusian: Беларусь, Russian: Беларусь, see Etymology), officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe,[7] bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno (Hrodna), Gomel (Homiel), Mogilev (Mahilyow) and Vitebsk (Viciebsk). Forty percent of its 207,600 square kilometres (80,200 sq mi) is forested,[8] and its strongest economic sectors are agriculture and manufacturing.

Until the 20th century, the lands of modern day Belarus belonged to several countries, including the Principality of Polotsk, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Russian Empire, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. As a result of the Russian Revolution, Belarus became a founding constituent republic of the Soviet Union and was renamed as the Belorussian SSR. The final unification of the modern day Belarusian lands took place in 1939 when lands that were part of the Second Polish Republic were united with the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic as a result of the Soviet invasion of Poland.[9][10][11][12][13][14] The territory and its nation were devastated in World War II, during which Belarus lost about a third of its population and more than half of its economic resources.[15] The republic was redeveloped in the post-war years. In 1945 the Belorussian SSR became a founding member of the United Nations, along with the Soviet Union and the Ukrainian SSR.

The parliament of the republic declared the sovereignty of Belarus on 27 July 1990, and during the collapse of the Soviet Union, Belarus declared independence on 25 August 1991. Alexander Lukashenko has been the country's president since 1994. Under his lead and despite objections from Western governments, Soviet-era policies, such as state ownership of the economy have been continued. According to some organizations and countries, elections have been unfair, and political opponents have been violently suppressed.[16][17][18] Since 2000, Belarus and Russia signed a treaty for greater cooperation, with some hints of forming a Union State. Belarus also has the highest Human Development Index among members of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Most of Belarus's population of 9.49 million reside in the urban areas surrounding Minsk and other oblast (regional) capitals.[19] More than 80% of the population are native Belarusians, with sizable minorities of Russians, Poles and Ukrainians. Since a referendum in 1995, the country has had two official languages: Belarusian and Russian. The Constitution of Belarus does not declare an official religion, although the primary religion in the country is Russian Orthodox Christianity. The second most popular, Roman Catholicism, has a much smaller following by comparison, but both Orthodox and Catholic Christmas and Easter are officially celebrated as national holidays.

 

The name "Belarus" derives from the term "White Ruthenia" (White Rus). There are several claims to where the origin of the name "White Rus" came from.[20] An ethno-religious theory suggests that the name used to describe the part of old Ruthenian lands within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that was mostly populated by the early Christianized Slavs, as opposed to Black Ruthenia, which to a greater extent was inhabited by predominantly pagan Balts.[21] Another possible origin for the name is for the white clothing that was worn by the local Slavic population.[20][22] Yet another theory suggests that the old Ruthenian lands (Polatsk, Vitsiebsk and Mahilyow) which were not conquered by the Tatars were referred to as "white". Other sources claim that before 1267, the land not conquered by the Mongols was considered "White Rus".[20] The most traditionalist view is the impressionist tendency in Slavonic cultures to refer to points of the compass by colour, specifically "black" being "south" and "white" indicating "north", insofar as the "White Sea" is to the north and the "Black Sea" is to the south or as Beograd (white capital) is the Serb deference that it is to the north of their true historic capital, Pristina. Ruthenia was originally the name of the mid Dniepr region, the cradle of Kievan Rus (modern-day Ukraine).[citation needed] Hence the land to its immediate north would be "White Ruthenia" (Belarus).

As the names "Ruthenia" and "Rus" have very often been confused with their modern derivative "Russia", White Ruthenia has often been referred to as "White Russia". This misinterpretation has been supported by the Moscovite regents after the fall of Kievan Rus. The Moskovite dukes, starting with Ivan IV, considered themselves to be the rightful successors of the Ruthenian grand duke dynasty, and their use of the name "Russia" as referring to all former Ruthenian (east slavic) lands became a political weapon and a casus belli for claiming the west Ruthenian territories from Lithuania and Poland.[23] The name first appeared in German and Latin medieval literature. In chronicles written by Jan of Czarnków, he spoke of the Lithuanian grand duke Jogaila and his mother being imprisoned in 1381 at "Albae Russiae, Poloczk dicto".[24] The Latin term "Alba Russia" was again used by Pope Pius VI when establishing a Jesuit Society in 1783. His official Papal bull exclaimed "Approbo Societatem Jesu in Alba Russia degentem, approbo, approbo."[25] Historically, the country was referred to in English as "White Ruthenia". The first known use of "White Russia" to refer to Belarus was in the late-16th century by Englishman Sir Jerome Horsey, who was known for his close contacts with the Russian Royal Court.[26] During the 17th century, Russian tsars used "White Rus"" when describing the lands captured from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.[27]

Belarus was formally named "Belorussia" (Russian: Белоруссия; the latter part similar, but spelled and stressed differently from Россия, "Russia") in the days of the Russian Empire, and the Russian tsar was usually styled "Tsar of All the Russias", as "Russia" or the "Russian Empire" was formed by all the Russias — the Great, Little, and White. At the time, "Byelorussia" was the only Russian language name of the country; under the Russian Empire, Belarus was generally seen as a part of the Russian nation and the Belarusian language was viewed as a dialect of Russian.[28] After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, the term White Russia caused some confusion because it was also the name of the military force that opposed the "red" Bolsheviks.[29] During the period of the Belorussian SSR, the term "Byelorussia" was embraced as part of a national consciousness. In the Polish-held Western Belarus, "Byelorussia" became commonly used in the regions of Bialystok and Grodno during the interwar period.[30]

The term "Belorussia" (its names in other languages such as English being based on the Russian form) was only used officially until 1991, when the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic decreed by law that the new independent republic should be called "Belarus" (Беларус&#1100 in Russian and in all other language transcriptions of its name. The change was made to reflect adequately the Belarusian language form of the name. The use of Byelorussian SSR and any abbreviations of that name was allowed from 1991 until 1993.[31] Conservative forces in the newly independent Belarus did not support the name change and opposed its inclusion in the 1991 draft of the Constitution of Belarus.[32]

Accordingly, the name "Belorussia" was replaced by "Belarus" in English,[33] and, to some extent, in Russian (although the traditional name still persists in that language as well); likewise, the adjective "Belorussian" or "Byelorussian" was replaced by "Belarusian" in English (though Russian has not developed a new adjective). "Belarusian" is closer to the original Russian term of "bielaruski."[33] Belarusian intelligentsia in the Stalin era attempted to change the name from "Belorussia" to a form of "Krivia" because of the supposed connection with Russia.[34] Some nationalists also object to the name for the same reason.[35][36] However, several popular newspapers published locally still retain the old name of the country in Russian in their names, for example Komsomolskaya Pravda v Byelorussii, which is the localized publication of a popular Russian tabloid. Also, those who wish for Belarus to be reunited with Russia continue to use "Belorussia".[36] Officially, the full name of the country is "Republic of Belarus" (Рэспубліка Беларусь, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus").[31][37] listen (help·info)

 

Bulgaria ( /bʌlˈɡɛəriə/ Bulgarian: България, officially the Republic of Bulgaria (Република България, Republika Bulgaria,[7] [rɛˈpublikɐ bɤ̞ɫˈɡarijɐ]), is a country in Southern Europe. Bulgaria borders five other countries: Romania to the north (mostly along the Danube), Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south. The Black Sea defines the extent of the country to the east.

With a territory of 110,994 square kilometers (42,855 sq mi), Bulgaria ranks as the 16th-largest country in Europe. Several mountainous areas define the landscape, most notably the Stara Planina (Balkan) and Rodopi mountain ranges, as well as the Rila range, which includes the highest peak in the Balkan region, Musala. In contrast, the Danubian plain in the north and the Upper Thracian Plain in the south represent Bulgaria's lowest and most fertile regions. The 378-kilometer (235 mi) Black Sea coastline covers the entire eastern bound of the country. Bulgaria's capital city and largest settlement is Sofia, with a permanent population of 1,378,000 people.[8]

The emergence of a unified Bulgarian ethnicity and state dates back to the 7th century AD. All Bulgarian political entities that subsequently emerged preserved the traditions (in ethnic name, language and alphabet) of the First Bulgarian Empire (681–1018), which at times covered most of the Balkans and eventually became a cultural hub for the Slavs in the Middle Ages.[9] With the decline of the Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396/1422), Bulgarian territories came under Ottoman rule for nearly five centuries. The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 led to the establishment of a Third Bulgarian state as a principality in 1878, which gained its full sovereignty in 1908.[10] In 1945, after World War II, it became after a questionable referendum a communist state[11] and was a part of the Eastern Bloc until the political changes in Eastern Europe in 1989/1990, when the Communist Party allowed multi-party elections and Bulgaria undertook a transition to parliamentary democracy and free-market capitalism with mixed results.

Bulgaria functions as a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic. A member of the European Union, NATO, the United Nations, the World Trade Organization and a founding state of the OSCE, it has a high Human Development Index of 0.743, ranking 58th in the world in 2010.[12]

 

Belarus is a presidential republic, governed by a president and the National Assembly. The term for the president is five years, but due to a 1996 referendum, the election that was supposed to occur in 1999 was pushed back to 2001. Under the 1994 constitution, the president could only serve for two terms as president, but due to a change in the constitution, term limits were eliminated. The National Assembly is a bicameral parliament comprising the 110-member House of Representatives (the lower house) and the 64-member Council of the Republic (the upper house).

The House of Representatives has the power to appoint the prime minister, make constitutional amendments, call for a vote of confidence on the prime minister, and make suggestions on foreign and domestic policy. The Council of the Republic has the power to select various government officials, conduct an impeachment trial of the president, and accept or reject the bills passed by the House of Representatives. Each chamber has the ability to veto any law passed by local officials if it is contrary to the Constitution of Belarus.[72]

Since 1994, Alexander Lukashenko has been the president of Belarus. The government includes a Council of Ministers, headed by the prime minister and five deputy prime ministers.[73] The members of this council need not be members of the legislature and are appointed by the president. The judiciary comprises the Supreme Court and specialized courts such as the Constitutional Court, which deals with specific issues related to constitutional and business law. The judges of national courts are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Council of the Republic. For criminal cases, the highest court of appeal is the Supreme Court. The Belarusian Constitution forbids the use of special extrajudicial courts.[72]


House of Government in Minsk, with a statue of Vladimir Lenin in the foregroundAs of 2007, 98 of the 110 members of the House of Representatives are not affiliated with any political party and of the remaining 12 members, 8 belong to the Communist Party of Belarus, 3 to the Agrarian Party of Belarus, and 1 to the Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus. Most of the non-partisans represent a wide scope of social organizations such as workers' collectives, public associations and civil society organizations.

Neither the pro-Lukashenko parties, such as the Belarusian Socialist Sporting Party and the Republican Party of Labour and Justice, nor the People's Coalition 5 Plus opposition parties, such as the Belarusian People's Front and the United Civil Party of Belarus, won any seats in the 2004 elections. Groups such as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) declared the election "un-free" because of the opposition parties' poor results and media bias in favor of the government.[74]

In the country's 2006 presidential election, Lukashenko was opposed by Alaksandar Milinkievič, a candidate representing a coalition of opposition parties, and by Alaksandar Kazulin of the Social Democrats. Kazulin was detained and beaten by police during protests surrounding the All Belarusian People's Assembly. Lukashenko won the election with 80% of the vote; the Russian Federation and the CIS called the vote open and fair[75] while the OSCE and other organizations called the election unfair

 

I'mma go with Timmy. Both are bad, but he seems to have been doing it for a longer time than Ward.

 

I did not know that Milinkievič opposed Lukashenko. That is news to me.

 

Belarus and Russia have been close trading partners and diplomatic allies since the breakup of the Soviet Union. Belarus is dependent on Russia for imports of raw materials and for its export market.[87] The Union of Russia and Belarus, a supranational confederation, was established in a 1996–99 series of treaties that called for monetary union, equal rights, single citizenship, and a common foreign and defense policy.[87] However, the future of the Union has been placed in doubt because of Belarus's repeated delays of monetary union, the lack of a referendum date for the draft constitution, and a 2006–07 dispute about petroleum trade.[87]

On 11 December 2007, reports emerged that a framework for the new state was discussed between both countries.[88] On 27 May 2008, Belarusian President Lukashenko said that he had named Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin the "prime minister" of the Russia-Belarus alliance. The meaning of the move was not immediately clear; however, there was speculation that Putin might become President of a unified state of Russia and Belarus after stepping down as Russian president in May 2008, although this has not happened.[89]

Belarus was a founding member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS); however, recently other CIS members have questioned the effectiveness of the organization.[90] Belarus has trade agreements with several European Union member states (despite other member states' travel ban on Lukashenko and top officials),[91] as well as with its neighbors Lithuania, Poland and Latvia (all of whom are EU members).[92] The travel bans from the European Union have been lifted in the past for not only letting Lukashenko attend diplomatic meetings but also as a way to engage both the government and opposition groups in dialogue.[93]

Bilateral relations with the United States are strained because the U.S. Department of State supports various anti-Lukashenko NGOs and because the Belarusian government has made it harder for US-based organizations to operate within the country.[94] The 2004 US Belarus Democracy Act continued this trend, authorizing funding for what the US considers to be pro-democracy Belarusian NGOs and forbidding loans to the Belarusian government except for humanitarian purposes.[95] Despite this, the two nations cooperate on intellectual property protection, prevention of human trafficking and technology crime, and disaster relief.[96]

Belarus has increased cooperation with China,[97] strengthened by the visit of President Lukashenko to China in October 2005.[98] Belarus has strong ties with Syria,[99] which President Lukashenko considers a key partner in the Middle East.[100] In addition to the CIS, Belarus has membership in the Eurasian Economic Community and the Collective Security Treaty Organisation.[92] Belarus has been a member of the international Non-Aligned Movement since 1998[101] and a member of the United Nations since its founding in 1945. Belarus is also a member of the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). As an OSCE participating State, Belarus's international commitments are subject to monitoring under the mandate of the U.S. Helsinki Commission.[102]

 

You're telling me!

Believe it or not, Lukashenko has described himself as having an "authoritarian ruling style." Which Western countries dont agree with, they see his rule as some kind of dictatorship.

 

Really, how interesting. Did you know;

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:think

I always thought Herzegovina had borders of it's own. This is most surprising, to a European degree.

 

Most Western nations (US/Canada) are too primitive to comprehend the rulign styles of European nations. I have studied the US in exhaustive detail, and have gleaned that it will not stand the test of time, while naiton like Serbia will persist.

If the US followed a more Eurpean model of rule, it would be more prosperous.

 

Interesting.:think

So what you're saying is that countries such as Serbia are constantly prepared in case of something going wrong? And due to this, they will eventually flourish over time in contrast to contries like the US which will falter due to extravagant spending and energy consumption?

 

:deal :dealThese nations lead discipline lifestyles, have controlled populations, and are fairly balanced. We also invest in the environment and innovative technologies.