Map Courtesy
of World Fact Book
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Throughout much of
history, the area
which
is now known as Belarus was
part
of various countries including
Grand
Duchy of Lithuania, the
Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth
and
the Russian Empire. In 1918 the
country
declared independence as
the
Belarusian National Republic,
since
1919 as the Bolsheviks took
over
Belarus it was known as the
Byelorussian
SSR. Eventually, in
1922,
Belarus became a republic
in
the Soviet Union. The republic
officially
declared its sovereignty on
27
August 1990, and following the
collapse
of the Soviet Union, declared
independence
as the Republic of Belarus
on
25 August 1991. (courtesy Wikipedia)
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