Total population | |
---|---|
c. 9.5–10 million | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Belarus 7.95 million | |
United States (Belarusian ancestry) |
600,000–768,000 |
Russia | 521,443 (2010) |
Ukraine | 275,763 (2001) |
Latvia | 68,174 (2011) |
Kazakhstan | 66,476 (2010) |
Poland | 47,000 (2011) |
Lithuania | 41,100 |
Moldova | 20,000 |
Canada | 15,565 |
Estonia | 12,171 (2016) |
Italy | 8,529 |
France | 7,500 |
United Kingdom | 7,000 |
Argentina | 7,000 |
Brazil | 7,000 |
Sweden | 2,833 |
Belgium | 2,000 |
Australia | 1,560 (2006) |
Greece | 1,168 |
Portugal | 1,002 (2009) |
Languages | |
Belarusian Russian |
|
Religion | |
Orthodox Christianity (majority), Roman Catholicism (minority) | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Other East Slavs |
Belarusians (Belarusian: беларусы, bielarusy; Russian: белорусы), or Byelorussians, are an East Slavic ethnic group who are native to modern-day Belarus and the immediate region. There are over 9.5 million people who proclaim Belarusian ethnicity worldwide, with overwhelming majority residing either in Belarus or the adjacent countries where they are an autochthonous minority.
Belarusians are an East Slavic ethnic group who populate the majority of the Republic of Belarus. Belarusian minority populations live in countries neighboring Belarus: in Ukraine, in Poland (especially in the Podlaskie Voivodeship), in the Russian Federation and in Lithuania. At the beginning of the 20th century Belarusians constituted a minority in the regions around the city of Smolensk in Russia.
Significant numbers of Belarusians emigrated to the United States, Brazil and Canada in the early 20th century. During Soviet times (1917–1991), many Belarusians were deported or migrated to various regions of the USSR, including Siberia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
Since the breakup of the USSR in 1991 several hundred thousand have emigrated to the Baltic states, the United States, Canada, Russia, and EU countries.
The two official languages in Belarus are Belarusian and Russian. Russian is the most spoken language, principally by 72% of the population, while Belarusian is only used by 11.9% in everyday life. According to a study, in varying degrees, the vast majority of residents speak the Belarusian language: 29.4% are fluent, being able read and write it, 52.5% can speak and read the language, 8.3% can understand it but can't speak or read it, while a further 7% are able to understand the parts of Belarusian language that are similar to Russian. Belarusian is a language of the East Slavic group.