Minsk. (Olympiad Form 8-9)

There are many places in our country that we can be proud of, but Minsk is the most loved of them. Minsk is an ancient city with a rich history.

Today Minsk is a big growing city with its giant industrial enterprises, airports, the underground, universities, museums and art galleries.

I’d advise tourists to go the Philarmony, the Circus,Yanka Kupala Belarussian Drama Theatre, Opera and Ballet House, the Art Museum or concert halls.

Our capital is considered to be a beautiful, clean, green and calm city. It is the city with broad streets and avenues, shady parks. It would be wonderful to spend some time in the Gorky and Cheluskintsy parks or in the central botanical garden.

The guests of Minsk can enjoy restaurants and museums situated in one of the oldest districts “Troitskoe Predmestye”.

If you come to Minsk you should definitely visit its famous National Library or at least have a look at it. The design of the building of the National Library is unique. It is a diamond-shaped structure symbolizing the significance of learning. The core of the building is the elevator going through all the floors. Right at the entrance, the sculpture of the Belarussian printer Francysk Skorina is placed. The western wall is decorated by an alley commemorating great cultural figures of the past. A park is made around the library building.

Minsk Metro is also worth visiting. The metro is not only the means of transport. The architects and designers did their best to make the underground stations look pleasant and joyful. The stations are decorated with marble and granite. Beautiful lamps and remarkable mosaic make the stations look like halls of a palace. The Metro impresses everybody by its cleanliness.

I would also recommend walking along the city’s busiest streets, Nezavisimost avenue leading to Victory Square with the obelisk and the Eternal Flame in honour of the war victims. There are also other monuments and places to see in Minsk, memorials, museums, monuments, business and shopping centers.

If you come to Minsk you’ll certainly fall in love with our capital.

Novopolotsk. (Olympiad. Form 8-9)

Novopolotsk is my native town. I was born here and the dearest people to me, my family and my friends live here. It’s a city in Vitebsk region of Belarus with a population of about100 thousand. The city was founded in 1985, it is located close to the city of Polotsk and the name literary means “New Polotsk”.

The history of Novopolotsk dates back to the year 1958, when a large number of enthusiasts,, workers and builders seeking for new experiences and romantic feelings came to establish a new town. There was a reason for that: a big oil refinery plant was to be set up. When new factories were being built they were placed far enough from Polotsk so that the radiation and dangerous gases wouldn’t reach the city. However it was later decided that it would be acceptable to built a few buildings closer to the factory for the workers to live in. With them came a hospital, a fire station and a school. A few more buildings were built and the city of Novopolotsk was born. The population grew over the years, even though it was located dangerously close to several factories

Nowadays Novopolotsk has grown into a clean, green city that stands proudly on the river Dvina. It has 15 secondary schools, many kindergartens and the Polotsk State University, lots of modern buildings and shopping centres. Novopolotsk is one of the youngest towns in Belarus, but it has its symbols. They are an anthem, a flag and an emblem. The emblem is a flower. It’s a white water-lily. Novopolotsk is famous for its chemical plants “Naftan” and “Polymir” and for its talented, hard-working and hospitable people, sportsmen, painters and musicians.

In conclusion I’d like to say that there is no place like home. And I’m proud of my native town and I think it’s the best place in the world.

Belarusian Statehood

Belarus is a presidential republic, where the President is the head of state, the guarantor of the Constitution and people’s rights and freedoms. The Presidential elections take place every five years. The constitution of the Republic of Belarus was adopted in 1994. The Constitution provides personal rights and freedoms of the citizens of the Republic of Belarus and establishes the responsibility of the state before its citizens for the creation of conditions for free development of the individual.

The constitution guarantees the citizens of the Republic of Belarus the right to health protection, including free treatment in state health-care institutions. The Fundamental Law also guarantees free general education and professional teaching training. Secondary special and higher education is accessible to all, depending on the abilities of each person. The citizens have the right to social security at old age, in case of illness, disability, loss of breadwinner, and in other cases regulated by law.

State power in the Republic of Belarus is exercised through three main branches- legislative, executive and judicial. These bodies are independent.

The National Assembly (the Parliament) is a representative and legislative body of the Republic of Belarus. It consists of two chambers – the House of Representatives and the Council of the Republic. The elections of the deputies to the House of Representatives are direct by secret vote.

The executive power is exercised by the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. The Government is accountable to the President and the Parliament.

Courts perform the judicial power in the republic.

The symbols of the Republic of Belarus as a sovereign state are its national flag, national emblem and national anthem. The National Flag of the Republic is a cloth consisting of two stripes: a red upper stripe and a green lower stripe. The vertical red-on-white Belarusian decorative pattern occupies one-ninth of the flag’s length

The National Emblem of Belarus represents a green contour of the Republic of Belarus in golden rays radiated by the sun over the globe. Above the contour there is a red five-pointed star. The emblem is framed in the wreath of golden wheat-ears and with clover flowers on the left and flax flowers on the right. The green ribbon at the bottom carries the golden inscription “The Republic of Belarus”

The National Anthem was composed to the music by N Sokolovsky and it symbolizes Belarusian historical musical traditions. The lyrics were written by M. Klimkovich and V Karizna and they emphasize patriotism and industriousness of the country’s citizens, friendly relations among people of different nationalities living in our country

Sightseeing in Minsk

Minsk is the largest cultural centre of Belarus. A lot of tourists come to Minsk every year. They are attracted by its architecture, clean and wide streets, its old and modern sights, theatres and of course, museums and art galleries.

The State picture Gallery, the largest museum of fine arts in the republic was founded in 1939. During the Great Patriotic War many paintings and statues of the gallery were taken away or destroyed by fascists. Soon after the war a decision was taken to restore the picture gallery in Minsk. New works were bought, some people gave their private collections to the gallery. In 1957 the picture gallery was renamed into the State Art Museum. The museum has got a collection of over 20.000 exhibits, over 9 000 of them are works of art by Belarusian artists. Belarusian art occupies the principal place in the collection of the museum. It contains Belarusian icons of the 15^th-16^th centuries. The museum also collected paintings by Belarusian artists who lived in the 19^th century. Some of them lived and worked in Russia but the roots of their works come from Belarusian culture and traditions.

The collection of the Belarusian art during the Great Patriotic War opened with the sculptural portraits of the Heroes of the Soviet Union N. Gastello by A.Bembel, and F. Smolyachkov by Z. Azgur, and the painting “Young Partisan” by Y.Zaytsev. Later paintings by M, Savitsky and other famous artists were included into the collection.

The museum also displays the best landscape paintings by Belarusian artists. Very often landscapes with portraits of people against them make the pictures more emotional and colourful.. “Landscape thinking” is characteristic of such famous Belarusian artists as D. Aleynik, L. Shchemelev, V. Sumarev, V. Versotsky who reveal the beauty of Belarusian nature as the spiritual condition so necessary for everyone.

A collection of West European art is also of great interest to visitors. It’s not vast, it includes portraits, landscapes and etchings done by famous artists.

Other museums popular with visitors are the Belarusian Museum of the Great Patriotic War, the State Museum of Belarus and Yanka Kupala Literary Museum. In the State Museum of Belarus you can see documents, photos, weapons, collections of instruments of the primitive man, displays of fauna and flora and other unique things from the history of Belarus and its culture. Yanka Kupala Literary Museum gives a good idea of the literary activity of the most talented and beloved Belarusian poet and writer.

Here in Minsk you can also find several smaller literary museums and picture galleries, especially if you go sightseeing in the oldest part of Minsk- Trinity Suburb.

“East or West Home is Best” “ There is no Place Like Home”

Well, it’s difficult to give an exact definition to the word ‘home’

I personally think that first of all ‘ home’ means your Motherland, the place where you were born, where you spent your childhood, went to school, made friends, maybe met your first sweetheart.

My homeland is Belarus. You can’t but admire the amazing beauty of this country.

I personally love my country for its blue sky, the peculiar flavor of its soil. I love it for its lakes with crystal-clear waters and fast-flowing rivers and for the fresh green rye fields. Perhaps Belarus is one of the few remaining places on our planet where you can see the miracle of the untouched nature.

Besides I love my country for the unusual beauty of the people around us. They are dignified and gifted, patient and hardworking, undemanding and modest. They are hospitable and are always ready to welcome guests and to treat them to something tasty, for example machanka with light porous pancakes or crispy draniki

Actually I love Belarus because it’s my home, the place I belong to

When I say ‘home’ I also mean my family, to be more exact, the atmosphere in it. I am happy to have a really good family. My parents are so loving and caring, supportive and tactful. They value my viewpoints and invite my opinions. They rarely show anger, especially in arguments. And what is more important they show strong belief in my abilities. The point is that my family is the place where I feel safe and protected.

The Nature of Belarus

“ Spreading the white sails of their wings, the storks are flying over our Motherland. There are thousands upon thousands of them- who can tell how many? One can see them on roof-tops of farmers’ huts and trees, on the columns of old ruined palaces and pillars of chapels standing amidst freshly green fields of rye. Their nests are everywhere…” These words belong to a famous Belarussian author Vladimir Korotkevich. Another poet Rygor Borodulin also called our land the “white stock shore”. One cannot agree more with this poetic description. A white stock is considered to be a symbol of peace and happy household, the things our land is known for.

To describe the beauty of our land one really needs to be a poet. If you go north, you will see a land of Braslav lakes with crystal-clear blue waters surrounded by pine groves. If you go west, you will find yourself in the Brest province- the land of immense fields and meadows. In the south you’ll be engulfed by infinite forests and marches. We call this land Polessye. The hilly lands of the Logoisk province are called Belarussian Switzerland..

In order to see and admire the beauty of our country you should sail down its fast-flowing rivers. The most beautiful rivers of Belarus are the Dniper, the Neman, the Dvina.

It’s a well-known fact that Belarus is called a lake country. There are about 10,800 lakes here. Lake Naroch is the pride of Belarus. Its surface stretches for 80 square kilometers. It is noted for its great depth, transparent water and beautiful scenery around it.

The Braslav Lakes are located in the North-West of Belarus. They were given a status of a national park in August 1995, and are known as one of the most picturesque places of Belarus. The flora of Braslav Lakes counts more than 800 species of plants. Various species of fish, birds and animal inhabit the area. Such endangered species as banger, lynx, brown bear and flying squirrel, included into the Red Book, are among them. The national park is the place for active and passive recreation, tourism, fishing and hunting.

The swamps of Belarus deserve a special mention. They are even included in the Guinness Book of Records. These unique natural ecosystems take up nearly a quarter of the country. In scale and diversity of life there are no equal places in Europe.

The real treasure of Belarus lies in its forests. Large and small, old and new, they cover a third of the country. Their canopy shelters a multitude of animals and birds. National parks and reserves- Belovezhskaya Pushcha, Braslavsky and Narochansky National Parks, Beresinsky Reserve and others- have been created to ensure the best protection for the rarest examples of Belarussian nature. Here one can enjoy the diversity of flora and fauna, some of which have survived only in Belarus.

The natural environment of Belarus is incredibly rich and varied. The beauty of its natural landscapes continues to charm its inhabitants and visitors. Actually Belarus is one of the few remaining places on our planet where one can see the miracle of the untouched nature. This very fact creates favorable conditions for developing tourism and recreation services.

Belarus. (form6)

Belarus is in the center of Europe. The population of Belarus is about 10 mln. People. The area of the country is 207,6 thousand sq. km. There are 6 regions in Belarus. Lake Naroch is the largest lake in Belarus. The Dnieper is the longest river. The clours of the national flag are green, red and white. The capital of Belarus is Minsk. Belarus is famous for its white storks. People say they are a symbol of good luck. The white colour is the symbol of peace. The blouses and shirts in the Belarussian national costume are white with beautiful red ornaments. The symbol of Belavezhskaya Pushcha is the bison. The symbol of Belarussian fields is the cornflower.

There are a lot of places of interest in Bealrus. One of them is Mir Castle. Mir Castle is in Grodno region. Radzivil Sirotka built a castle there in (1583) in the 16^th century.