White Russia

White Russia, alternatively known as White Rus' or White Ruthenia, is an archaism for the eastern part of present-day Belarus, including the cities of Polotsk, Vitebsk, and Mogilev.

Ruthenia is the latinized version of Rus’, a region in Eastern Europe inhabited by Slavs and the cradle of Kievan Rus’, a 9th to 12th century state that existed in the territories of modern-day Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia.

In English, the use of the term "White Russia" to refer to all of Belarus is obsolete. Many other languages, however, continue to use a literal translation of "White Russia" to refer to Belarus.

Belarus translates to White Russia in many modern languages. In the German language, the usual name for the state of Belarus even today is Weißrussland (White Russia). In official use (e.g. by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), the name Belarus is often preferred.

Likewise, Belarus is normally translated as "White Russia" into a number of other languages, including Dutch, Greek, Chinese, Turkish, and the Scandinavian, Baltic, and Uralic language families.

In French, most people still use the word "Biélorussie" to describe the country now known as Belarus, and "biélorusse" to describe its people (like they still use Birmanie for Myanmar, or Pékin for Beijing).

The term "White Russians" in its specific political sense is a twentieth-century development, and entirely unrelated to the far older use of White Russia as a name for Belarus.

Many other variants of this name appeared in ancient maps: for instance, Russia Alba, Russija Alba, Wit Rusland, Weiss Reussen, White Russia, Hviterussland, Hvíta Rússland, Weiss Russland, Ruthenia Alba, Ruthénie Blanche and Weiss Ruthenien (Weißruthenien), assigned to various territories, often quite distant from that of present Belarus. For example, at one time the term was applied to Novgorod.

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