Modern State
Number of Belarusians in Russia
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1959 | 844,000 |
| 1970 | 964,700 |
| 1989 | 1,206,000 |
| 2002 | 807,970 |
Because of cultural closeness of Belarusians to Russians and weakly expressed national identity, Belarusians are more than other ethnic minorities exposed to assimilation in Russia. Despite mass inflow of migrants from Belarus during last centuries, children of immigrants rarely identify themselves as Belarusians.
Currently, more and more Belarusian organisations are created in different regions of Russia.
In 2003 a Belarusian cultural society Belorusy Yugry was registered in Surgut.
The largest and strongest Belarusian diaspora organisation in Russia is the Jan Čerski Society for Belarusian Culture in Irkutsk. The organisation unites descendants of Belarusian settlers in Siberia, and has several branches and issues a newspaper.
In Moscow there is the Frantsishak Skaryna Society for Belarusian Culture and an informal union of Belarusian students. In Bashkortostan there is a Belarusian national cultural centre Siabry founded in 1996. In Kaliningrad Belarusians are united in the culture society Karalaviec.
In the last decade Belarusian community of Russia is of separate opinion on the current presidency of Alexander Lukashenko. Some organisations support the democratic opposition. Other, more recently founded organisations as the Federal National Cultural Autonomy of Belarusians in Russia are supported by the embassy of Belarus, and have a more positive opinion on the policies of the regime.
Besides Russian citizens of Belarusian descent, there are about 400 thousands Belarusians currently working in Russia.
Read more about this topic: Belarusians In Russia
Famous quotes containing the words modern and/or state:
“I ask especially that no state shall, by law or otherwise, authorize the return of the saloon, either in its old form or in some modern guise.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)
“But the nomads were the terror of all those whom the soil or the advantages of the market had induced to build towns. Agriculture therefore was a religious injunction, because of the perils of the state from nomadism.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)