About Belarus
Although we are based in Northern Ireland, most of our project work takes place in Belarus. Belarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, it is bordered by Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Russia and Ukraine. It's capital city is Minsk and it has a population of almost 2 million people (that's more than the whole of Northern Ireland!).
The Official Languages of Belarus are Belarusian and Russian, both of which use the cyrillic alphabet. Russian is more commonly spoken however Belarusian is used for official documents, street signs and in public transport. The currency in Belarus is the New Belarusian Ruble. In September 2018, 1euro is worth 2.2 Belarusian rubles. Today, the currency has coins called kopecks, but before 2016 the country only had notes, back then 1euro was worth 22,000 rubles!!! |
Where is Belarus?Belarus is located on the continent of Europe, but it is not part of the European Union.
It is bordered by Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Russia and Ukraine. Despite popular belief, Belarus is not a part of Russia. |
Russian LanguageBelarus has two official languages – Russian and Belarusian. However, most people use Russian when communicating between one another.
Click the button below to learn some basic greetings in Russian. |
Belarusian FoodThe question many of our volunteers ask us when travelling on our projects – 'what will I be able to eat there?', 'what's the food like?', 'will I starve?'.
Our answer? Don't worry. Most products are available in Minsk. Outside of the city there is less variety, but you will be able to find the usual vegetables and meats. Belarusians are also a nation of potato eaters, so you'll find spuds are in abundance. That said, if volunteers have any specific dietary requirements, we advise them to let us know in advance. |