Minsk

Country | Belarus

Settled | 1067

Population | 1,921,807
Area (sq mi) | 158.1 sq mi
Population density (/sq mi) | 15,450
Current mayor | Andrei Shorets

Minsk is the capital of Belarus. It also served as the capital of the Byelorussian SSR until Belarus broke free from the Soviet Union.

## History[edit]

The medieval name of Minsk is "Mensk". It exist at least since 1067 and was part of the Kievan Rus. Since 1101 it was the capital of the Principality Minsk. At the beginning of the 14th century it was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Later Minsk became more and more polnish influence. After the seizure of power by the communists they renamed Mensk to Minsk. For its location Minsk was very affected during the Second World War.[1] After the decay of the Soviet Union in 1991, many residents wanted to rename Minsk to Mensk, but the pro-Russian politics of Alexander Lukashenko stopped this.

## See also[edit]

* Kurapaty

## References[edit]

1. ↑ http://minsk.gov.by/ru/tempage/history/