Belarus was ruled and inhabited by Slavs, Mongols and Lithuania. Belarus became the part of Russian Empire during 1772-1917. Poland and Russia also ruled Belarus alternatively during 19th century. After the Russian revolution, Belarus was declared as Belarusian People’s Republic. But during the Polish-Soviet war of 1919-1921, almost half of the territory of Belarus was lost to Poland. During World War II the German army fully occupied Belarus. In 1945, Belarus became a member of Organization of the Incorporated Nation, United Nation along with Soviet Union and Ukrainian SSR. In 1954, Belarus entered the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Belarus was renamed as the Republic of Belarus in 1991 and a new constitution of the Republic of Belarus was adopted in 1994. The first presidential election was held in 1994 and Alexander Lukashenko became the first President of the Republic of Belarus.
In 2000, Belarus signed a treaty along with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan for greater cooperation on establishing the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC). In Belarus, 80% of population is ethnic Belarusian and the rest 20% population consists of Russians, Poles and Ukrainians. But Belarus has two official languages – Belarusian and Russian. Though there are no official religions in the constitution of Belarus but Eastern Orthodox Christianity are the primary religion and the secondary religious group is Roman Catholicism. However, both Orthodox and Catholic versions of Christmas and Easter are celebrated in Belarus as national holiday.
