Geography
According to abbreviationfinder, Minsk is the capital of the Republic of Belarus and the center of the province and district bearing the same name. It is situated on the Minsk Rise on the banks of the Svislach River. The surface of the city is 256 square kilometers, territorially it is divided into 9 administrative districts.
Minsk is the largest city in the country. By population, Minsk ranks 116th among cities in the world. The city currently has an estimated population of 1,900,000 residents, that is, 17% of the entire population of Belarus. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status within Belarus and is also the capital of the Minsk voblast.
Geographic location
The city of Minsk is located in the central part of Belarus, in the Dnieper river basin. Minsk is situated between the Svislach and Niamiha rivers.
Climate
It has a continental climate with cold winters and warm summers. The hottest month of the year in Minsk is July, but temperatures are normally above 20 ° C also in June and August.
In general, the warmest period in Minsk is in summer, which goes from May to September, being this hot and humid. Speaking of winter, on average monthly temperatures remain below zero from December to February, this being a fairly rainy period.
Demography
Most of the population lives in the urban areas around Minsk. More than half of the residents of Minsk are Belarusians. In addition, representatives of the following ethnic groups live in the city: Russians, Ukrainians, Poles, Jews, Lithuanians, etc. See population of Belarus.
Vegetation, fauna and river resources
Absolutely all visitors to Minsk pay attention to the abundance of vegetables in the Belarusian capital. According to the calculations of specialists, more than 2 million trees grow in the city. On average, each resident of Minsk corresponds to 34 square meters of vegetable plantations. And above all, Minsk is territorially one of the most compact cities in Europe. With its almost two million residents, its territory occupies about 20 km from north to south and about 22 km from west to east. The whole secret lies in the skill of the urban planners who have alternated an imposing urbanization with green recreation areas.
Actually, the project of its creation is unique. Minsk is situated on an elevation that plays the dividing role between the basins of the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea, that is why all the rivers leave the city, and not the other way around. And Minsk’s main river artery, the Svislach, is small. While the rapid industrial development in the post-war era significantly increased the demand for the city’s technical water (back then, the population of Minsk was supplied with water from underground sources, while today only 60% of the total volume of aquatic resources consumed by the capital is supplied from underground sources). And thirty years ago the Vileysko-Minskaya Aquatic System: with the help of pumping stations, the waters of the Viliya River they rose by a special channel of 62 km at the height of 71 m and they converged with the waters of the Svislach. In other words, the Viliya’s water was not only poured back, but was forced to run upstairs. Incidentally, the Svislach is one of the rivers in the Black Sea basin, while the Viliya belongs to the Baltic Sea basin. Thus, the needs of a large city forced the Viliya to turn back and bring its waters to the Black Sea. Thanks to the realization of this project, the Minsk industry received the water, in the nearest suburb some beautiful resting areas appeared with a cascade of 14 reservoirs, while in the capital the so-called aquatic diameter of parks with two green water semicircles that cross the entire city.
The people of Minsk take special pride in the Lebiazhiy Public Forest Zoo, located within the city on Pobediteley Avenue. A relatively small territory (about 60 hectares) is inhabited by 10 species of birds included in the Red Book. Here they have discovered the rail: in Europe these birds are in danger of extinction, in addition, there are 14 more species of birds whose number in Europe is very small.
Transport
Minsk has an extensive network of buses, trolleybus and trams, it also has the metro whose first line was put into operation in 1984, at present the network is made up of two lines whose extensions are currently under construction
Minsk International Airport is the most important in Belarus and serves not only the entire capital area but the entire country. In addition to domestic flights, it also operates with several important destinations in Europe and some in Asia, with the majority destinations in Russia and neighboring countries. Just over 1 million passengers went through it in 2009. Public buses, express, minibuses and taxis they connect the Minsk airport with the urban area. There are 2 buses with regular routes to the airport: lines 173 and 300. Bus 300 connects the airport with the Minsk train station in 30 minutes and with the “Vostochniy” and “Moskovskiy” bus stations. Bus 173 goes to Sokol. The taxi rank is in front of gate 5-6.
