Byelorussian SSR (TheodoresTomfooleries)

Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка (Belarusian) Белорусская Советская Социалистическая Республика (Russian)
Flag State Emblem
Motto: "Пралетарыі ўсіх краін, яднайцеся!" "Workers of the world, unite!"
Anthem: State Anthem of the Byelorussian SSR
Status	Constituent republic of the Soviet Union
Capital and largest city	Minsk
Official languages	Byelorussian Russian
Recognised languages	Polish Ukrainian
Religion (2022)	64% Christianity 36% no religion
Demonym(s)	Byelorussian Soviet
Government	Unitary Marxist-Leninist one-party soviet socialist republic
• First Secretary	Vasily Novikov
• State Chairman	Alexander Lukashenko
• Premier	Aleksey Sokol
Legislature	Supreme Soviet
Area
• Total	207,600 km2 (80,200 sq mi)
Population
• 2022 estimate	12.780 million
• 2019 census	12,548,262
• Density	60.44/km2 (156.5/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2022 estimate
• Total	$267.117 billion
• Per capita	$21,287
GDP (nominal)	2022 estimate
• Total	$107.534 billion
• Per capita	$8,569
Currency	Soviet Ruble (SUR)
Date format	CE, mm dd yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+7
ISO 3166 code	BY
Internet TLD	.su

Byelorussia, officially the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, is a constituent republic of the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe. It borders Lithuania to the west, Latvia to the northwest, Russia to the east and Ukraine to the south. With a population of 12.78 million in 2022 and an area of 207,600 km², it is the 6th largest republic of the Soviet Union by area and population. The capital and largest city is Minsk. Other cities of significance include Gomel, Mogilev, Vitebsk and Grodno.

Byelorussia has been variously ruled over by different kingdoms, principalities, and other such states. Most of Byelorussia initially formed a part of the Kievan Rus', an East Slavic state which fractured in the 13th century with the Mongol invasions, in the centuries that followed most of Byelorussia fell under control of Lithuania and later Poland-Lithuania. The Partitions of Poland in the late 1700s brought Belarus under the control of the Russian Empire, which in 1917 collapsed with the Russian revolution and the ensuing civil war. Byelorussia declared its independence from Russia as the Byelorussian Democratic Republic, but the Bolshevik-led Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia and later the Byelorussian Socialist Soviet Republic took over Byelorussia by the 1920s. Western Byelorussia fell under control of Poland in the Polish-Soviet War, while in 1922 the Byelorussian SSR was one of the founding members of the Soviet Union, along with Ukraine, Russia, and Transcaucasia. Territorial concessions from Russia and the Soviet invasion of Poland resulted in the modern day borders of Byelorussia, with the exception of the Białystok region which was returned in 1945. The German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 saw Byelorussia lose a quarter of its population and half of its economic resources due to military operations. After the war, Byelorussia became a founding member of the United Nations alongside the Soviet Union.

Byelorussia today is a major center of manufacturing in the Soviet Union, home to the BelAZ, MAZ and MTZ manufacturers and plants. Byelorussia is also home to a large Russian minority.