Minsk (Belarusian: Мінск, Менск; Russian: Минск; Yiddish: מינסק Minsk, Polish: Mińsk) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, situated on the Svislach and Nyamiha rivers. As the national capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administrative centre of Minsk Region (voblast) and Minsk raion (district). In 2013, it had a population of 2,002,600.
The earliest historical references to Minsk date to the 11th century (1067), when it was noted as a provincial city within the principality of Polotsk. The settlement developed on the rivers. In 1242, Minsk became a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It received town privileges in 1499.
From 1569, it was a capital of the Minsk Voivodship in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was part of a region annexed by the Russian Empire in 1793, as a consequence of the Second Partition of Poland. From 1919–1951, after the Russian Revolution, Minsk was the capital of the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic within the Soviet Union.
Twin cities[]
Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Bangalore, British Empire- Nottingham, British Empire
Havana, Cuba- Lyon, France
- Bonn, Germany
- Tehran, Iran
- Milan, Italy
- Riga, Latvia
- Changchun, Manchuria
- Kathmandu, Nepal
- Eindhoven, Netherlands
- Lodz, Poland
- Chișinău, Romania
- Dushanbe, Soviet Union
- Frunze, Soviet Union
- Yerevan, Soviet Union
- Ankara, Turkey
- Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Saigon, Vietnam
