Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

is one of the two

official language An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...

s of

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

(the other being

Belarusian Belarusian may refer to: * Something of, or related to Belarus * Belarusians, people from Belarus, or of Belarusian descent * A citizen of Belarus, see Demographics of Belarus * Belarusian language * Belarusian culture * Belarusian cuisine * Byelor ...

). Being dominant in the media, education and other areas of public life, Russian is ''de facto'' the main language of the country.

Distribution per 1897 census

After 1995

In 1995, according to the results of the

1995 Belarusian Referendum A four-question referendum was held in Belarus on 14 May 1995, alongside parliamentary elections. The four issues were the possibility of giving the Russian language equal status with Belarusian, whether new national symbols should be adopted, ...

, the Russian language was declared the second official language. According to the

Belarus Census (2009) The Belarus Census of 2009 was the second census in Belarus after it became an independent state after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The census was carried out during October 14–24, 2009. The initial results are to be announced by February ...

, 41.5% of the Belarusian population declared Russian as their

mother language A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...

and 70.2% declared Russian "the language spoken at home" (the second language-related question of the Census).

References

External links

Калита И. В. Современная Беларусь: языки и национальная идентичность
Ústí nad Labem, , 2010, 300 s.
Yu. Koryakov, A Typology of Linguistic Situations and Linguistic Situation in Belarus
a Ph.D. thesis, 2002, Moscow State University {{Russian language

Belarusian culture Belarus–Russia relations Russification Russian language in Belarus

Distribution per 1897 census

After 1995

See also

References

External links