The Republic of Belarus

The Republic of Belarus (the short name is Belarus) was founded on January 1, 1919. It was included in the body of the USSI1 beginning with December 30 1922. On July 27 199U the Supreme Soviet of the republic adopted the Declaration of stale sovereignty of the Republic of Belarus.

Belarus is a presidential Republic. State power is divided into legislative, executive and judicial.

The President of the Republic of Belarus is the head of the State. According to the Constitution, the legislative organ of state power of the Republic of Belarus is Parliament. It consists of two chambers: the House of Representatives and the Soviet of the Republic.

The executive power of the Republic of Belarus belongs to the Government, in other words, the Soviet (Council) of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus. And it is responsible before the Parliament of our State.

The judicial Power in the Republic of Belarus is vested in courts. Local government and self-government are put into practice by local Soviets of Deputies, executive and administrative organs, referenda, meetings and others.

Minsk is the capital of the Republic of Belarus, its political, economic, scientific and cultural centre. It is one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in our republic. Its name was first mentioned in chronicles in 1067.

Minsk is situated on the river Svisloch and occupies an area of 200 square kilometres. Its population is about 1.8 million. Minsk is situated among picturesque hills on the south-eastern slopes of the Minsk Hills.

There are a lot of cities and towns in Belarus. Information has come down to us from ancient times not only about Minsk, but also about Grodno, Gomel, Brest, Vitebsk, Mogilev. Belarus has 6 regions with centres in these cities.

The Republic of Belarus is one of the most highly industrialized countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Highly developed branches are up-to-date power engineering and machine-building, textiles and chemicals, food products and consumer goods radio-electronics and precision instruments, mineral fertilizer and synthetic fibre manufacturing, construction and public utilities as well as many other advanced branches of economy.

The industry of Belarus is characterized by truck-and-tractor building, oil-extracting and oil-refining industries, as well as by production of tractors, big lorries, machine-tools, automatic lines, electronics devices, computers, motor-cycles, bicycles, TV-sets, watches, refrigerators and other articles. The biggest enterprises are the automobile plants in Minsk and Mogilev, the Belarusian Automobile Plant in Zhodino, the Minsk Tractor Plant, the Oil Refinery and Chemical Plant in Novopolotsk and a number of others.

Belarus has also a well-developed transport infrastructure which includes rail and motor roads, oil and gas pipelines. Manufacturing of consumer goods and food products is also (steadily) growing.

Agriculture specializes in milk and meat production. The main crops cultivated here are grain, potatoes, flax, herbs and vegetables.

There are few power stations in Belarus today. With the discovery and exploration of oil from Polessiee, the republic has not become self-sufficient energy. 80 % of energy the Republic of Belarus buys from Russia.

The foreign trade of the Republic of Belarus is traditionally practiced in two basic directions: eastern – with the CIS countries and western – with the non-CIS countries. More than 400 types of goods of Belarusian industry are exported to 86 countries of the world. Goods manufactured in the Republic of Belarus have won 40 gold medals at international exhibitions and fairs. This fact shows a very high level of product quality.

Great Britain

There are four countries in the United Kingdom: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The population of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is more than 57 million people. It is mostly urban: nine tenth of it lives in towns and cities.

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy. This means that it has a monarch a king or a queen) as its Head of State whose power is limited by Parliament. Laws of Great Britain are made by Parliament. It consists of two chambers: the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The House of Commons is more important as it governs the country. The members of the House of Commons are elected by secret ballot. They belong to different political countries. The main parties are the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. The chief executive is the Prime Minister. He heads the Government but is not the Head of State. The Prime Minister takes policy decisions with the agreement of his ministers. He often holds Cabinet Meetings at his official residence at No 10 Downing Street, which is very near the Houses of Parliament in Westminster. The Power of the Cabinet is controlled by Parliament

Great Britain is a highly developed industrial power. The factors contributing to the country’s industrial development are the advantageous position of the British Isles on the crossways of sea-routes and the development of trade. Great Britain is one of the largest trading nations in the world. In 1973 the country joined the European Economic Community, which is known today as the European Union. Trade with the countries of the European Union is now more than one-half of all Britain’s trade with other countries. The manufacturing and service industries, together with construction account for about 93 per cent of Britain’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product); the rest is shared by energy production and agriculture.

Rising living standards have led to a growth of the role of services. The service industries include business service, trade, travel and tourism. The service sectors also include education, public health administration.

In recent years new industries such as aerospace, chemicals, oil, gas, electronics, biotechnology have made serious progress. Major manufactures include motor vehicles, aerospace equipment, electronic data-processing and telecommunication equipment, metal goods, precision instruments, petrochemicals and other chemicals. High-technology industries are being developed. Nuclear power plays an important role in helping to meet the country’s needs. At the same time the traditional old industries such as steel, coal production, shipbuilding, production of textiles have met serious difficulties and declined. As the development of the new industries does not compensate the decline of the traditional old industries unemployment remains a serious problem. In recent years unemployment has been reduced but it still remains high.

The British economy is mainly based on private enterprise. A little over 2 per cent of Britain’s working population is engaged in agriculture, which is a lower proportion than in any other major industrialized country. Due to large-scale mechanization, productivity in agriculture is very high.

The transactions connected with the activities of banks, insurance companies, brokers and other financial institutions of the City of London provide world-wide financial services, and the City is a most important financial centre of the world. London is one of the biggest financial, commercial and industrial cities, as well as one of the largest port-towns in the world.

London, the largest city in Europe, dominates Britain. The financial and business centre of London is the City. The most important English banks and commercial companies are to be found here, including the Bank of England, the Stock Exchange, the Old Bailey. Two masterpieces are situated within the city: St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London. The finest part of London (the West End) lies to the west of the City. This is a district of luxurious mansions and parks which belong to the aristocracy.

The eastern part of London (the East End) is inhabited mainly by workers and clerks; there is little greenery here and the streets are narrow.

Westminster is the aristocratic official part of London. It includes Buckingham Palace, The Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. The British Museum, famous for its huge library and collections of ancient manuscripts, is also situated in London.

The reputation of London University’s institutions in business education, engineering, medicine or political science draws students from all over the world.

London is connected by railways, automobile roads, sea routes with numerous towns of the country and the rest of the world. Trains run from Victoria termini (station) in the centre of London across the country and to the continent through the Channel Tunnel. London has five airports: Heathrow in the west, Gatwick in the south, Stansted in the north, Luton in the north and the city airport in the City of London. Public transport of London is provided by the underground (the Tube), opened in 1863 buses, taxes and the Docklands. Light Railway.

London, a city of contrasts, combines a mixture of the old and the new, the best and the worst, the outdated and the most modern. London is full of life and continues to grow and develop. The country's largest cities are Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh.

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