34 Facts About Minsk

Minsk is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers.

Minsk is one of the administrative capitals of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Eurasian Economic Union .

From 1919 to 1991, after the Russian Revolution, Minsk was the capital of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, in the Soviet Union.

The resulting form of the name, Minsk, was taken over both in Russian and Polish, and under the influence of Russian this form became official in Belarusian.

Minsk was first mentioned in the name form Menesk? in the Primary Chronicle for the year 1067 in association with the Battle on the River Nemiga.

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The Principality of Minsk was established by one of the Polotsk dynasty princes.

In 1129, the Principality of Minsk was annexed by Kiev, the dominant principality of Kievan Rus'; however in 1146 the Polotsk dynasty regained control of the principality.

In 1242, Minsk became a part of the expanding Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

The second wave of devastation occurred during the Great Northern War, when Minsk was occupied in 1708 and 1709 by the army of Charles XII of Sweden and then by the army of Peter the Great.

The last decades of the Polish rule involved decline or very slow development, since Minsk had become a small provincial town of little economic or military significance.

Minsk was annexed by Russia in 1793 as a consequence of the Second Partition of Poland.

Minsk became the headquarters of the Western Front of the Russian army and housed military hospitals and military supply bases.

On 25 March 1918, Minsk was proclaimed the capital of the Belarusian People's Republic.

In January 1919 Minsk was proclaimed the capital of the Belorussian SSR, though later in 1919 and again in 1920, the city was controlled by the Second Polish Republic during the course of the Polish-Bolshevik War between 8 August 1919 and 11 July 1920 and again between 14 October 1920 and 19 March 1921.

Under the terms of the Peace of Riga, Minsk was handed back to the Russian SFSR and became the capital of the Belorussian SSR, one of the founding republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Some anti-Soviet residents of Minsk, who hoped that Belarus could regain independence, did support the Germans, especially at the beginning of the occupation, but by 1942, Minsk had become a major centre of the Soviet partisan resistance movement against the invasion, in what is known as the German-Soviet War.

Minsk was recaptured by Soviet troops on 3 July 1944 in Minsk Offensive as part of Operation Bagration.

Construction of Minsk Metro began on 16 June 1977, and the system was opened to the public on 30 June 1984, becoming the ninth metro system in the Soviet Union.

Minsk is located on the southeastern slope of the Minsk Hills, a region of rolling hills running from the southwest to the northeast– that is, to Lukomskaye Lake in northwestern Belarus.

Minsk is in the area of mixed forests typical of most of Belarus.

Minsk has a warm summer humid continental climate though unpredictable many a times, owing to its location between the strong influence of the moist air of the Atlantic Ocean and the dry air of the Eurasian landmass.

Protesters took to the streets in the capital, Minsk, following the death of an opposition activist, Roman Bondarenko.

GRP of Minsk measured in Belarusian rubels was 55 billion or around.

Minsk was turned into a major production site for trucks, tractors, gears, optical equipment, refrigerators, television sets and radios, bicycles, motorcycles, watches, and metal-processing equipment.

Outside machine-building and electronics, Minsk had textiles, construction materials, food processing, and printing industries.

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In 2013, Minsk hosted the European Junior Rowing Championships at the Republican Center of Olympic Training for Rowing And Canoeing to the north-west of the city.

Minsk hosted the 2014 IIHF World Championship at the Minsk Arena.

Minsk Arena is the only indoor speed skating rink in Belarus.

Minsk is the only city in Belarus with an underground metro system.

Minsk is located at the junction of the Warsaw-Moscow railway running from the southwest to the northeast of the city and the Liepaja-Romny railway running from the northwest to the south.

In 2020, Minsk entered the top 3 most cycling cities in the CIS – after Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

Minsk-1 was closed in December 2015 because of the noise pollution in the surrounding residential areas.

Minsk has about 451 kindergartens, 241 schools, 22 further education colleges, and 29 higher education institutions, including 12 major national universities.

Minor planet 3012 Minsk discovered by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Chernykh in 1979 is named after the city.