2020 Travel the World - Week 34

I started a Travel the World Series last year. (It should be noted that I did a similar thing in 2018, only it was the 50 states.) For 50 weeks in 2019, I visited a different country (virtually) and shared facts about that country. I then selected one tidbit of information about that week's country as inspiration for a card. Fifty weeks; fifty countries... BUT there are 195 countries in the world so that was just a little over 25% of them. Of course I couldn't stop, so this year I'm continuing with fifty more countries, one per week.

This week's country is...

Belarus

Belarus is situated on the east of Europe. It has borders with Ukraine, Poland, Russia, Lithuania and Latvia.

There are few countries in the world that are completely landlocked, and Belarus is one of them. 

Belarus is slightly smaller than the state of Kansas in size.

Belarus is pretty much flat all across its territory, having no natural mountains. 

Approximately 40% of Belarus is covered by forest.

Belarus experiences hot summers and long, cold winters. It often snows heavily from September through early March, and the weather is sometimes very harsh, with strong winds and snowstorms. 

They receive an average of 30" of rain annually. About 70% of the rain comes from April to October. Spring is its driest season.

The largest and oldest forest of Europe with the largest animal in Europe is situated in Belarus. We are talking here about the Bialowieza Forest on the border with Poland and the animal is European Bison.

The most common inhabitants of the Belarusian forests are moose, wild boar, red deer, roe deer, wolf, hare, fox, and squirrels. There are some rare and protected species as well, such as European bison, lynx, badger, and even the brown bear.

There are more than 20,000 rivers in Belarus.

Independence Avenue is the country's longest street. Stretching over 9 miles across the capital, Independence Avenue passes through five different squares including Victory Square and October Square. Throughout history, it has not only grown in length and width but has also had 14 name changes – more than any other street in Minsk.

Belarusians are some of the warmest, friendliest and most hospitable people you will ever meet. Even if they can’t speak your language they will go above and beyond to help you in absolutely any way they can.

Higher education is free in Belarus.

The literacy rate in Belarus is one of the highest in the world at 99%.

Maslenitsa Week (some might call it Pancake Week) is an Eastern Slavic holiday celebrated in Belarus in the last week before Lent. Pancakes are rustled up in every home to be enjoyed with friends and family, as well as being served up at local street festivals. 

The humble potato is a staple of Belarusian cuisine and it’s rare that you’ll sit down to a meal where they’re not featured.

The National Library of the Republic of Belarus, opened in 2006 in Minsk, is one of the largest in the world. With a total building area is ​​112 thousand square meters, books occupy 55 thousand square meters, and this whole structure weighs 115 thousand tons.

Belarusians love a good superstition. A particularly popular one is that you should never whistle in your house or you’ll blow all your money away. They also say that you shouldn’t clean your house once a guest has left until they’ve reached their final destination, or it’s believed that you’re clearing them out of your life for good.

Belarus has the distinction of printing one of the first-ever bibles. This was done in 1517 in Prague.

The Belarusian economy is mainly dependent on the agriculture and manufacturing industries.

Major industries in Belarus include metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, televisions, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, and refrigerators.

 

Agriculturally, Belarus produces potatoes, sugar beets, flax, grain, beef, and milk.

The largest dump truck in the world is produced in Belarus. BelAZ-75710 weighs 360 tons, the height of its wheels is 4 meters, and if someone wants to buy one, it will cost about $10 million!

Athletics, football, gymnastics, skiing, biathlon, ice hockey, tennis, fencing, wrestling, volleyball, handball, swimming, chess, and checkers are among the most popular sports in Belarus.

Minsk, the country's capital, is a green city with more than 844,000 trees.

World War II took the lives of almost 25% of the population of Belarus.

Every city in Belarus has a Lenin street named after Vladimir Lenin – a Russian communist revolutionary, politician and political theorist.

Belarus has a free medical system. Any citizen can go to any physician and receive the necessary treatment free of charge. Cardiology, cardio-surgery, neuro-surgery, and transplantology are all well developed in Belarus.

The bra was invented by a woman from Belarus, though she had moved to the United States.

I decided to let this Belarus fact be the inspiration for this week's card... Black tea and coffee are favorite beverages in Belarus.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Stamp Set: La La Land Coffee Break Marci stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored with Copic Markers

Papers: Accent Opaque 120# White and SU Cinnamon Cider CS and DP from my scrap file

Dies/Punches: MFT Stitched Mod Rectangle Die, Rubbernecker Nested Rectangle Stitch Die, and SU Circle Punches

Embellishments: Paper Studio Mini Brads