Belarus explained to kids

Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital and most populous city is Minsk. Over 40% of its 207,600 square kilometers (80,200 sq mi) is forested. Its major economic sectors are service industries and manufacturing. Until the 20th century, different states at various times controlled the lands of modern-day Belarus, including the Principality of Polotsk, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Russian Empire. In the aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution, Belarus declared independence as the Belarussian Soviet Socialist Republic, one of the components of the Soviet Union. Belarus lost almost half of its territory to Poland after the Polish–Soviet War of 1919–1921. Much of the borders of Belarus took their modern shape in 1939, when some lands of the Second Polish Republic were reintegrated into it after the Soviet invasion of Poland, and were finalized after World War II. During WWII, military operations devastated Belarus, which lost about a third of its population and more than half of its economic resources. The republic was redeveloped in the post-war years. In 1945 the Byelorussian SSR became a founding member of the United Nations, along with the Soviet Union and the Ukrainian SSR. The parliament of the republic proclaimed the sovereignty of Belarus on 27 July 1990, and during the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Belarus declared independence on 25 August 1991. Alexander Lukashenko has served as the country's first president since 1994. Belarus has been labeled "Europe's last dictatorship" by some Western journalists, on account of Lukashenko's self-described authoritarian style of government. Lukashenko continued a number of Soviet-era policies, such as state ownership of large sections of the economy. Elections under Lukashenko's rule have been criticized as unfair; and according to independent media, political opponents have often faced harassment by the Belarusian government. Belarus is also the last country in Europe using the death penalty. Belarus has one of the highest human development index among Eastern European countries. Belarus is landlocked, with an area of 207,600 square kilometers (80,200 sq mi), and a forested area of over 40%. It lies between latitudes 51° and 57° N, and longitudes 23° and 32° E. Its neighbors are Russia to the northeast, Latvia to the northwest, Lithuania to the west, Poland to the west, and Ukraine to the south. The country's longest border is with Russia, at 1,222 kilometers (759 mi); its shortest is with Lithuania, at 101 kilometers (63 mi). Belarus is also bordered by Poland (418 kilometers (260 mi)), and Ukraine (389 kilometers (242 mi)). The capital, Minsk, is located near the center of the country, at the confluence of the Svislač and Nyamiha Rivers.