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Vitebsk
Vitebsk or Vitsyebsk (, ; , ; ) is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has 358,927 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-largest city. It is served by Vitebsk Vostochny Airport and Vitebsk Air Base. History Middle Ages Vitebsk developed from a river harbor where the Vićba River (Віцьба, from which it derives its name) flows into the larger Western Dvina, which is spanned in the city by the Kirov Bridge. Archaeological research indicates that Baltic tribes had settlements at the mouth of Vitba. In the 9th century, Slavic settlements of the tribal union of the Krivichs replaced them. According to the '' Chronicle of Michael Brigandine'' (1760), Princess Olga of Kiev founded Vitebsk (also recorded as Dbesk, Vidbesk, Videbsk, Vitepesk, or Vicibesk) in 974. Other versions give 947 or 914. Academician Boris Rybakov an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Principality Of Vitebsk
The Principality of Vitebsk () was a Ruthenian principality centered on the city of Vitebsk in modern Belarus, that existed from its founding in 1101 until it was nominally inherited into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1320. Vitebsk would later fall under the complete authority of Lithuania in 1508. History The area around Vitebsk was controlled by the Principality of Polotsk beginning from the 10th century. Following the death of Vseslav of Polotsk in 1101, Polotsk was divided into six smaller principalities each to be inherited by one of his six surviving sons. Vseslav's second-born son, Sviatoslav Vseslavich inherited the lands surrounding Vitebsk and started the Vitebsk branch of the princes of Polotsk. In 1106, Sviatoslav had partaken in a raid against the Baltic tribes in Semigallia with his brothers. In 1127, the prince of Kiev, Mstislav Vladimirovich, began a war with the princes of Polotsk over trade routes and pillaged several cities including Polotsk. Following ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belarus
Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an area of with a population of . The country has a hemiboreal climate and is administratively divided into Regions of Belarus, six regions. Minsk is the capital and List of cities and largest towns in Belarus, largest city; it is administered separately as a city with special status. For most of the medieval period, the lands of modern-day Belarus was ruled by independent city-states such as the Principality of Polotsk. Around 1300 these lands came fully under the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and subsequently by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth; this period lasted for 500 years until the Partitions of Poland, 1792-1795 partitions of Poland-Lithuania placed Belarus within the Belarusian history in the Russian Empire, Russian Empire for the fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vitebsk Voivodeship
Vitebsk Voivodeship (; ; ) was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (from 1569 Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) from the 15th century until the partitions of Poland in 1795. History Zygmunt Gloger in his monumental book Historical Geography of the Lands of Old Poland provides this description of the Witebsk Voivodeship: “Witebsk (in Latin Vitebscum), located on the Dvina river, was one of main gord of the Principality of Polotsk. In the second half of the 12th century, it emerged as a local center of government. Conquered by one of the sons of Mindaugas in ca. 1239, it became a permanent part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since the times of Gediminas. In ca. 1342 Witebsk was already the seat of a starosta, who in the early 16th century were named voivodes. First voivode of Witebsk was Jerzy Chlebowicz (...) The Dvina river divided the voivodeship into two parts, of which northern one was smaller. Since the town of Witeb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vitebsk (air Base)
Vitebsk (also Vitebsk Northeast or Andronovichi) is a former air base in northern Belarus located 8 km northeast of the city of Vitebsk. It was a small airfield complex with a large single tarmac. In Soviet times it was home to the 339th Military Air Transport Regiment (339 VTAP) flying 32 Ilyushin Il-76 The Ilyushin Il-76 (; NATO reporting name: Candid) is a multi-purpose, fixed-wing, four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter designed by the Soviet Union's Ilyushin design bureau as a commercial freighter in 1967, to replace the Antonov An-1 ... cargo jets as well as Antonov An-22 planes. The regiment was disbanded in 1996. References External links Belarus, a drone warfare training hub for Moscow's proxies Intelligence Online, March 18, 2025 (requires free registration) Soviet Military Transport Aviation Military installations of Belarus Airports in Belarus Buildings and structures in Vitebsk Vitebsk Belarusian Air Force Military installations closed in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vitebsk Vostochny Airport
Vitebsk Vostochny Airport (, ) (also known as Vitebsk Southeast Airport) is an airport serving Vitebsk city in northern Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a .... It is located southeast of the city. Airlines and destinations References RussianAirFields.com Airports built in the Soviet Union Airports in Belarus Vitebsk Buildings and structures in Vitebsk region {{Belarus-transport-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polotsk
Polotsk () or Polatsk () is a town in Vitebsk Region, Belarus. It is situated on the Dvina River and serves as the administrative center of Polotsk District. Polotsk is served by Polotsk Airport and Borovitsy air base. As of 2025, it has a population of 79,285. Nomenclature The Old East Slavic name, ''Polotesk'', derives from the Polota river, which flows into the neighboring Western Dvina. The Vikings rendered that name as ''Palteskja''. Geography Lakes * Lake Babyna Climate History Polotsk is one of the earliest mentioned cities of the Eastern Slavs. The '' Primary Chronicle'' mentioned Polotsk in the year 862 (as Полотескъ, /poloteskŭ/), together with Murom and Belozersk. However, an archaeological expedition from the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus suggests that Polotsk existed in the first half of the 9th century. The first known prince of Polotsk was Rogvolod (ruled 945–978). He had two sons and a daughter n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Algirdas
Algirdas (; , ; – May 1377) was List of Lithuanian monarchs, Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1345 to 1377. With the help of his brother Kęstutis (who defended the western border of the Duchy) he created an empire stretching from the present Baltic states to the Black Sea and to within of Moscow. Early life and rise to power Algirdas was one of the seven sons of Grand Duke Gediminas. Before his death in 1341, Gediminas divided his domain, leaving his youngest son Jaunutis in possession of the capital, Vilnius. With the aid of his brother, Kęstutis, Algirdas drove out the incompetent Jaunutis and declared himself Grand Duke in 1345. He devoted the next thirty-two years to the development and expansion of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. After becoming the ruler of Lithuania, Algirdas was titled the King of Lithuania () in the Livonian Chronicles instead of the terms ''knyaz'' () or ''Grand prince, velikiy knyaz'' (grand prince). Two factors are thought to have contributed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Cities And Largest Towns In Belarus
This is a list of cities and towns in Belarus. Neither the Belarusian nor the Russian language makes a distinction between "city" and "town" as English does; the word ''horad'' ( ) or ''gorod'' ( ) is used for both. Overview Belarusian legislation uses a three-level hierarchy of town classifications. According to the Law under May 5, 1998, the categories of the most developed urban localities in Belarus are as follows: * ''capital'' — Minsk; * ''city of regional subordinance'' (; ) — urban locality with a population of not less than 50,000 people; it has its own body of self-government, known as ''Council of Deputies'' (; ) and an executive committee (; ), which stand on the level with these of a ''raion'' (). * ''city of district subordinance'' (; ) — urban locality with a population of more than 6,000 people; it may have its own body of self-government (; ) and an executive committee (; ), which belong to the same level as these of rural councils and of s.c. ''haradski p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Regions Of Belarus
At the top level of administration, Belarus is divided into six regions and one capital city. The six regions are oblasts (also known as ''voblastsi''), while the city of Minsk has a special status as the capital of Belarus. Minsk also serves as the administrative center of Minsk Region. At the second level, the regions are divided into districts (raions). The layout and extent of the regions were set in 1960 when Belarus (then the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic) was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union. History At the start of the 20th century, the boundaries of the Belarusian lands within the Russian Empire were still being defined. In 1900 it was contained within all of the Minsk and Mogilev governorates, most of Grodno Governorate, parts of Vitebsk Governorate, and parts of Vilna Governorate. World War I, the independence of Poland, as well as the 1920–1921 Polish–Soviet War affected the boundaries. In 1921, Belarus had what is now all of Minsk Go ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Cities And Towns In Belarus
This is a list of cities and towns in Belarus. Neither the Belarusian nor the Russian language makes a distinction between "city" and "town" as English does; the word ''horad'' ( ) or ''gorod'' ( ) is used for both. Overview Belarusian legislation uses a three-level hierarchy of town classifications. According to the Law under May 5, 1998, the categories of the most developed urban localities in Belarus are as follows: * ''capital'' — Minsk; * ''city of regional subordinance'' (; ) — urban locality with a population of not less than 50,000 people; it has its own body of self-government, known as ''Council of Deputies'' (; ) and an executive committee (; ), which stand on the level with these of a ''raion'' (). * ''city of district subordinance'' (; ) — urban locality with a population of more than 6,000 people; it may have its own body of self-government (; ) and an executive committee (; ), which belong to the same level as these of rural councils and of s.c. ''haradski p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daugava River
The Daugava ( ), also known as the Western Dvina or the Väina River, is a large river rising in the Valdai Hills of Russia that flows through Belarus and Latvia into the Gulf of Riga of the Baltic Sea. The Daugava rises close to the source of the Volga. It is in length, of which are in Latvia and in Russia. It is a westward-flowing river, tracing out a great south-bending curve as it passes through northern Belarus. The city of Ķekava is located 6 miles south of the west bank of the river. Latvia's capital, Riga, bridges the river's estuary four times. Built on both riverbanks, the city centre is from the river's mouth and is a significant port. Etymology According to Max Vasmer's ''Etymological Dictionary'', the toponym Dvina cannot stem from a Uralic language; instead, it possibly comes from an Indo-European word which used to mean 'river' or 'stream'. The name ''Dvina'' strongly resembles '' Danuvius'' which is itself derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''*dānu' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kirov Bridge
Kirov Bridge (Belarusian: Кіраўскі мост) is a bridge, on the Dzvina river, in the city of Vitsebsk in northern Belarus. References Bridges in Belarus Crossings of the Daugava River Bridges built in the Soviet Union Buildings and structures in Vitebsk {{Belarus-bridge-struct-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
