The territory of Belarus was settled by the initial inhabitants at the time of the Middle Palaeolithic Age (100-35 thousand years ago) and by the Mesolithic Age was fully inhabited. During the Neolithic Age (end of the 5^th ? end of the 3^rd millennium) the population went through the transition to the producing economy including farming and cattle breeding. At the end of the 3^rd ? beginning of the 2^nd millennium BC the land was settled by the Indo-European tribes, which contributed to the transition to the Bronze Age. The Iron Age in the area lasted from the 8-6^th centuries BC to the 8^th century AD. At the 2^nd half of the 1^st millennium AD the 3 Slavic tribal unions (krivichi, dregovichi, radimichi) were formed.

At the 9^th ? beginning of the 12^th century the Polotsk Duchy and the Turov Duchy were established and included almost the whole territory of today?s Belarus within the Kiev Russ boundaries, a great ancient Russian state. From the end of the 10^th century the Orthodox (Byzantine) Christianity, stone architecture and literature spread over the land. The first Belarusian saint and the first Slavic woman canonized by the Church was St. Efrasinnia of Polotsk (1110-1173). She herself copied many books for the library of the Cathedral of Polotsk, the most ancient library in Belarus' in the 12-16 cc.

In 1240, after the Tatar overthrow of Kiev, the dominant principality of Kiev Russ, Belarus and part of Ukraine came under the control of Lithuania. The resulting state was called the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Russ, and Samogitia. Because territories inhabited by East Slavs made up about 90 percent of the Grand Duchy, they exerted a great cultural influence on the new state. Official business was conducted in a Slavic language (a predecessor of both Belarusian and Ukrainian) based on Orthodox culture, and the law code was based on that of Kiev Russ traditions a custom. The first capital of the state was Belarusian city of Navagrudak. The ancient Russian (Belarusian) culture has had an upper hand within the Great Lithuanian Duchy, with Belarusian having become the state language.

After the Krevsk Union was concluded in 1385 the proliferation of the Roman Catholic religion began. The Establishment of the Great Lithuanian Duchy and its Union with Poland have given an opportunity to fight exterior enemies successfully. The victory over the German Crusaders at the Grunvald Battle of 1410 was of utmost importance for Belarus. But, There were another side of changes after conducting the Union. Soon, the Roman Catholicism became the official religion of Lithuania shortly after Jagiello's conversion, the Lithuanian and some of Belarusian nobilities began converting from Orthodoxy to Catholicism and assimilating Polish culture (including the language).

This process took two centuries and was accelerated by the Union of Lublin, caused by the difficulties in a war with Moscow Principality. As a result of the Union of Lublin (1569) Great Lithuanian Duchy and Poland founded the Rzeczpospolita, a federal state. Thus, the Belarusian peasantry was ruled by some of those who shared neither their language nor its religion, Eastern Orthodoxy. The final event of such a trends was the Brest Church Union of 1596 when the Orthodox Church of Belarus was subordinated to the Roman Pope.

The most Orthodox Church oriented slices of society took a real resistance to such a processes. As a good example can be named, Svidrigaylo War at 30-th of the 15^th centuries, the Vitebsk Rebellion of 1623, The Ukrainian Liberation War of 1648-1654 which is resulted in the active actions in Belarus against the Polish catholic pressure in 1648-1651.

At the same time, these events and features are not a dominant tendency of the Belarusan history. In fact, as a consequences of a common existence of a two main streams of Christianity gave a good foundation to religious toleration and cultural diversity in Belarus. Especially, it gave a ground for cultural, political and economical development of Belarus during 16 century, which is really evidencing that.

A great influence to the Belarusian culture did the European Renaissance in 16^th century. Belarus gave a lot of worldwide famous culture figures. Such as Dr. Francysk Skaryna (1486-1540) - a great scholar and Doctor of Medicine of the University of Padua (Italy). He founded the first Cyrillic publishing house (in Prague), where he commented and edited 23 books in ancient-Belarusan, mostly Bibles. Among the others was such a famous figure as Ipaci Pocei. He was one of the founders of the Christian Unia or Greek Catholic Church. This church has conserved the rich Orthodox ritualistic tradition and yet was under the Pope's rule. Unia was sought as an escape from the polarization between Orthodox and Catholic churches, channeling respectively russian and polish influences on the Great Lithuanian Duchy of, the heart of which was Belarus. This polarization resulted in many religious conflicts and unjustices. Unia was an attempt to establish the own Belarusian religion that would allow Belarus to stand as a sovereign nation. It was also a reaction on the Reformation happening in Great Lithuanian Duchy at that time.

From the middle of the 18^th century the political domination of the magnates disintegrated the state and created prerequisites for the neighboring countries to interfere into its domestic affairs. Following the first division of Rzeczpospolita in 1772 the Eastern part of Belarus and the second division the central part were incorporated into the Russian Empire. Upon the rebellion of 1794 headed by T.Kostushko failed the Western part of Belarus was incorporated into Russia as well. The Polish-minded Belarusian landlords supported Napoleon during the 1812 War hoping to restore the Great Lithuanian Duchy. The peasants on their part organized the guerrilla movements. In 1830-1831 and 1863-1864 Poland, Lithuania and Belarus went through the polish national liberation upheavals. The most popular leader among the peasants was Kastus Kalinouski, publisher of the clandestine newspaper "Peasant's Truth. He led the Belarusan people to the real freedom, but without the polish support he has got a failure and at the age of 26 he was executed in March 1864 in Vilna.

As a o these rebellions in 1839 the Greek Catholic Church was abolished in Belarus, its followers were converted to the Orthodox religion. In 1861 the serfdom was abolished in Belarus.

The 2^nd half of the 19^th century witnessed the rapid development of capitalism in Belarus, the railways were built and banks were founded. From the end of 1880s the Marxism was being proliferated in Belarus, the 1^st Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Worker?s Party took place in Minsk. The workers and peasants of Belarus participated actively in the 1905-1907 Revolution. The revolution has given an impetus to the national liberation movement, the newspaper ?Nasha Niva? began to be published.

During the World War I (1914-1918) the territory of Belarus became an arena for large-scaled warfare. In 1915 the western part of the country was occupied by the German troops. After the February revolution of 1917 the Soviets (councils) of workers, peasants and soldiers deputies were formed with SR (Socialists Revolutionaries), mensheviks, Bund (Union) political Parties having upper hand.

On the 7-9^th of April, 1917 the Congress of the Belarusian national organizations took place. Its delegates put in claim for state autonomy for Belarus within Russia. After the October Socialist Revolution in Petrograd succeeded, the Soviet power was declared in Minsk on November the 8^th, 1917, thus the Bolsheviks seized power in Belarus. In December 1917 they dissolved the All-Belarusian Congress in Minsk, which intended to declare the Belarusian civil statehood. The German troops occupied almost all the territory of Belarus in March-April 1918. During the occupation the part of the delegates of the All-Belarusian Congress and the representatives of the political parties declared on March 25, 1998 the Belarusian People?s Republic ? independent and free state. On the 1^st of January, 1919 the Bolsheviks proclaimed in Smolensk the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic. On the same day the Provisional Worker?s and Peasant?s Government trough manifesto proclaimed the BSSR with capital in Minsk. On 27^th of February, 1919 BSSR and Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic merged in the Lithuanian-Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic.

During the Soviet-Polish War in April, 1920 the polish troops captured the major part of Belarus. In July, 1920 the Red Army renewed the Soviet power in Belarus. On July 31st, 1920 the second proclamation of the BSSR (consisting of 6 districts of the Minsk province) took place. According to the Riga Peace Agreement of 1921 the Western Belarus became part of Poland. On the 30^th of December, 1922 the USSR was established with the BSSR being included. In 1924 and 1926 two BSSR enlargement took place with the Vitebsk and Gomel provinces being incorporated.

In the 20^th-30^th industrialization and mass collectivization of the Belarusian agriculture was carried out. The political reprisals of 1930^th (the Purge) was a severe test for the country. At the initial stage of the WWII, in September of 1939 the Red Army liberated the Western part of Belarus, which was included in the BSSR.

In the first months of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) the territory of Belarus was occupied by the Nazi Germans. About 4.5 million Belarusian people fought at the fronts of the war as well as within the European Resistance movement. In some parts of Belarus the guerrilla-administered areas were established, over which occupant?s administration had no control. In July of 1944 the Soviet Army in co-operated action with guerrillas liberated the territory of Belarus. Belarus suffered severe losses during the war. About quarter of population perished, more than half of the national health was destroyed, 209 cities and 9,2 thousand villages were ruined. The occupants burnt 619 villages (including Khatyn) with its inhabitants.

In the post-war years the industry and agriculture of the country have been restored. The country?s economy was integrated within the USSR single industrial and agricultural complex. The consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe of 1986 have become disastrous for Belarus.

In the second half of the 80^th - beginning of 90^th the disintegration processes within the USSR began. On the 27^th of July, 1991 the Supreme Soviet of the BSSR adopted the Declaration on State sovereignty of the BSSR. On the 25^th of August, 1991 the Supreme Soviet of the BSSR suspended the Communist Party of Belarus. On the 19 August, 1991 the BSSR was renamed to the Republic of Belarus. In December of 1991 the Belavezh Accord on Denouncement of the 1922 Treaty resulted in the break-up of the USSR. Belarus joined the Community of Independent States.

On March the 15^th, 1994 the Supreme Soviet adopted Constitution, which declared Belarus unitary, democratic, social-oriented and legal state. On the 10^th of July 1994 Mr. Alyaksandr Lukashenka was elected as a first President of Belarus. Following the referendum of November, 24^th, 1996 the 1994 Constitution of Belarus with amendments came into force. On the 2^nd of April, 1996 the Treaty on Community of Belarus and Russia and on the 2^nd of April, 1997 the Treaty on Union of Belarus and Russia were signed.