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| | BACKGROUND Belarus |
 | | Independent Belarus Belarus Following the August 1991 coup d'état in Moscow and declarations of independence by Estonia, Latvia, and Ukraine, the Supreme Soviet in Minsk declared the independence of Belarus on August 25, 1991, by giving its Declaration of State Sovereignty the status of a constitutional document and renaming the country the Republic of Belarus. |
 | | Some 70 percent of the radiation spewed was carried by the wind to Belarus, where it affected at least 25 percent of the country--especially the Homyel' (Gomel' in Russian) and Mahilyow (Mogilëv in Russian) voblastsi (sing., voblasts'), or counties, in the south and southeast, and 22 percent of the population. |
 | | Belarus has instituted a pronatal policy to counteract women's reluctance to have children, but difficult economic conditions and fear of birth defects caused by environmental pollution continue to be major causes of the decline in the birthrate. |
| www.district87.org /staff/gordonr/russia/belarus.htm (10814 words) |
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