{{Short description|Origin of the name Belarus}} The name ''Belarus'' (''Беларусь'', ''Biełaruś'') can be literally translated as ''White Ruthenia'' (''Белая Русь'', ''Biełaja Ruś'').<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Harper |first=Jo |date=2021-06-17 |title=It's Belarus, not White Russia: Why rebranding a country starts with its name |url=https://emerging-europe.com/its-belarus-not-white-russia-why-rebranding-a-country-starts-with-its-name/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260526184926/https://emerging-europe.com/its-belarus-not-white-russia-why-rebranding-a-country-starts-with-its-name/ |archive-date=May 26, 2026 |access-date=2026-05-26 |website=Emerging Europe |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name="books.google.de">{{cite book |title=An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of the Russian and Soviet Empires |isbn=9780313274978 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CquTz6ps5YgC&dq=baltoruthenians&pg=PA88|last1=Olson |first1=James Stuart |last2=Pappas |first2=Lee Brigance |last3=Pappas |first3=Nicholas Charles |last4=Pappas |first4=Nicholas C. J. |year=1994 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic }}</ref>
According to one version the old Rus' lands that were not conquered by the Tatars (i.e., Polack, Viciebsk and Mahiloŭ) had been referred to as "White Rus". White in this case means independent, free (A. Potebnja, M. Lyubavsky, M. Doŭnar-Zapolski).<ref name="Zaprudnik 1993 2">{{Harvnb|Zaprudnik|1993|p=2}}</ref>
Another version suggests that the name comes from the white color of the hair or clothing of the inhabitants of these lands (V. Tatishchev, Max Vasmer, Jaŭchim Karski).<ref name="Zaprudnik 1993 2" /><ref>{{Harvnb|Minahan|1998|p=35}}</ref> Modern researchers find this dubious.
The third version suggests that "White Rus" was the name given to the lands whose population was Christian, as opposed to Black Rus', where paganism allegedly persisted for a long time.<ref>''Юхо Я. А.'', Белая Русь // ЭГБ. Т. 1. Мн., 1993</ref>
The fourth version is based on the fact that White means great or ancient (N. Karamzin), and the names of the most ancient states among the Croats are constructed accordingly - White Croatia, and among the Serbs - White Serbia.
==Etymological development== ''Rus'<nowiki/>'' is generally considered to be a borrowing from Finnic ''Ruotsi'' ("Sweden").<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Hellquist |first=Elof |url=http://archive.org/details/svensketymologis00hell |title=Svensk etymologisk Ordbok |date=1922 |publisher=Lund, Gleerup |others=Robarts - University of Toronto |pages=658}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last1=Brink |first1=Stefan |title=The viking world |last2=Price |first2=Neil S. |date=2008 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-33315-3 |series=The Routledge worlds |location=London |pages=4–10}}</ref> There are two theories behind the origin of ''Rus'''/''Ruotsi'', which are not mutually exclusive. It is either derived more directly from OEN ''rōþer'' (OWN ''róðr''<ref name=":0" />), which referred to rowing, the fleet levy, etc., or it is derived from this term through ''Rōþin'', an older name for the Swedish coastal region Roslagen.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=РУСЬ |url=https://vasmer.slovaronline.com/11386-RUS |access-date=2023-07-03 |website=Словарь Онлайн |language=ru}}</ref>
[[File:Stemp Efrasinia Polackaja.jpg|thumb|left|Stamp with the Cross of St. Euphrosyne from 1992|335x335px]]The name ''Rus{{'}}'' is often conflated with its Latin forms ''Ruthenia'' and ''Russia'', that is why Belarus is sometimes mistakenly called ''White Russia''.<ref name=":2" />
The name first appeared in German and Latin medieval literature; the chronicles of Jan of Czarnków mention the imprisonment of Lithuanian grand duke Jogaila and his mother at "{{lang|la|Albae Russiae, Poloczk dicto}}" in 1381.<ref name="vauchez">{{Harvnb|Vauchez|Dobson|Lapidge|2001|p=163}}</ref>
Before the Mongol invasions, the name White Rus' was used for the Duchy of Rostov-Suzdal or Novgorod, but later the name shifted to the Duchies of Vitebsk and Polotsk. In the early 16th century, the Polish geographer Jan of Stobnica expanded the meaning of the term to mean all the Rus' lands under the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Andrzej Wierzbicki |title=Polish-Belarusian Relations: Between a Common Past and the Future |date=2018 |publisher=Nomos Verlag |isbn=9783845291147 |page=17}}</ref>
The Latin term "Alba Russia" (White Ruthenia) was used again by Pope Pius VI in 1783 to recognize the Society of Jesus there, exclaiming "{{lang|la|Approbo Societatem Jesu in Alba Russia degentem, approbo, approbo}}."<ref>{{Harvnb|de Courson|1879|p=281}}</ref>
During the 17th century, the Russian tsars used "White Rus" to describe the lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.<ref>{{Harvnb|Plokhy|2001|p=327}}</ref>
The Russian imperial (and then Soviet) term ''Byelorussia'' ({{langx|ru|link=no|Белору́ссия}}, ''Belorussiya'', literally “White Russia”) was coined in the 18th–19th centuries, and the Russian Tsar was usually styled "the Tsar of All the Russias", as ''Russia'' or the ''Russian Empire'' was formed by three parts of Russia—the Great, Little, and White.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XAItI5C_JPUC&q=Belorussia+Russian+Empire&pg=PA116 |title=Where Nation-States Come From: Institutional Change in the Age of Nationalism |author=Philip G. Roeder |year=2011 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-13467-3 }}</ref> That usage implied Belarusian lands were simply part of "all Russia," that all the peoples on those territories, including the Belarusians, were "just Russian," subsuming local identity.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oUydX_3rG0AC&q=Belorussia+name&pg=PA385 |title=Handbook of Language and Ethnic Identity: The Success-Failure Continuum in Language and Ethnic Identity Efforts |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-19-983799-1 |last1=Fishman |first1=Joshua |last2=Garcia |first2=Ofelia |publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref>
Officially, the full name of the state of Belarus is "Republic of Belarus" ({{lang|be|Рэспубліка Беларусь}}, {{lang|be-Latn|Respublika Biełaruś}}, {{lang|be-Latn|Respublika Belarus}},{{Audio|Be-Рэспубліка Беларусь.oga|listen}} {{lang|ru|Республика Беларусь}}).<ref name="bynamelaw" /><ref>{{cite web |date=2007 |title=Belarus – Government |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/belarus/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109091720/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/belarus |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 9, 2021 |access-date=22 December 2007 |work=The World Factbook |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency}}</ref>
== Name for the Belarusian state == After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, the term "White Russia" caused some confusion, as the name of the military force that opposed the red Bolsheviks was called "White Russians" or "the Whites".<ref>{{Harvnb|Richmond|1995|p=260}}</ref>
In 1918 Belarusians briefly established the Belarusian People’s Republic (''White Ruthenian Democratic Republic'') (in the chaos after World War I). Soon after, much of Belarus became the Byelorussian SSR, a republic of the USSR (1920s–1991). The Soviet name ''Byelorussian'' (''Belorussian'') was derived from the Russian “Belorussiya,” again meaning “White Russia,” and was imposed in official use.
Belarusian intelligentsia in the Stalin era attempted to change the name from ''Byelorussia'' to a form of ''Kryvia''/''Krivia'' (the name connected with the ancient Belarusian tribe of Kryvichs) because of the connection with Russia.<ref>{{Harvnb|Treadgold|Ellison|1999|p=230}}</ref> But, as a result, ''Byelorussia'' gave rise to the contemporary names used for the SSR in English and other languages.
Importantly, the people of Belarus themselves continued to use ''Biełaruś'' (Belarus) and ''Biełaja Ruś'' (White Rus’) in their language as for centuries before.
In 1991 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Supreme Soviet of Belarus, a continuation of that of the previous Byelorussian SSR, moved to change the republic's name to the ''Republic of Belarus'' ({{lang|ru|Республика Беларусь}} spelled in Russian), which has the abridged form "Belarus". The law decreed that all the forms of the new term be transliterated into other languages from their Belarusian language forms, and the use of the name of ''Byelorussian SSR'' and any abbreviations thereof be phased out before the end of 1993.<ref name="bynamelaw">{{cite web |url=http://pravo.kulichki.com/zak/year1991/doc47159.htm |title=Law of the Republic of Belarus – About the name of the Republic of Belarus |access-date=6 October 2007 |date=19 September 1991 |publisher=Pravo – Law of the Republic of Belarus |language=ru }}</ref> Conservative forces in the newly independent Belarus did not support the name change and opposed its inclusion in the 1991 draft of the Constitution of Belarus.<ref>{{Harvnb|Ryder|1998|p=183}}</ref> Due to the 1991 decree, the name ''Byelorussia'' was superseded by ''Belarus'' in English,<ref name="Zaprudnik 1993 4-5">{{Harvnb|Zaprudnik|1993|pp=4–5}}</ref> and the adjective ''Belorussian'' or ''Byelorussian'' by ''Belarusan'',<ref name="Як нас заве сьвет — «Беларашэн» ці Belarus(i)an?">{{cite web |title="Як нас заве сьвет — «Беларашэн» ці Belarus(i)an?" |url=https://www.svaboda.org/a/27189235.html/ |access-date=2016-07-28 |website=www.svaboda.org}}</ref> which sounds like population's historical name of ''Ruthene.''{{clarify|date=October 2025}}
In 1995, the regime of Alexander Lukashenko, pushed for the more Russia-like adjective form of ''Belarusian''. Some nationalists object to the name for the same reason.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://euroradio.fm/en/swedish-government-urged-change-belarus-official-name |title=Swedish government urged to change Belarus's official name |access-date=2 February 2010|date=13 July 2009 |work=European Radio for Belarus }}</ref><ref name="levy">{{Harvnb|Levy|Spilling|2009|p=95}}</ref>
== Names of Belarus in different languages == Nowadays the name "Belarus" is more popular than “Belorussia” in Russia,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wikipedia все же переименовала Беларусь {{!}} СмартПресс |url=https://smartpress.by/news/wikipedia-vse-zhe-pereimenovala-belarus/ |access-date=2026-05-26 |website=smartpress.by |language=ru}}</ref> but the term “Belorussia” continues to be used sometimes,<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 February 2014 |title="Беларусь" vs "Белоруссия": ставим точку в вопросе |url=https://people.onliner.by/2014/02/26/bel-17 |work=Onliner |language=ru}}</ref> and the term ''Belorussia'' is still common among groups that wish for Belarus to be annexed by Russia.<ref name="levy" />
In some languages Belarus is often still referred to by a literal translation of "White Russia", including Dutch, Afrikaans (both ''{{lang|nl|Wit-Rusland}}''), and German (''{{lang|de|Weißrussland}}'').<ref>{{cite web |date=8 November 2021 |title=Reisadvies Belarus (Wit-Rusland) |url=https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/reisadviezen/inhoud/belarus-wit-rusland}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Belarus: Reise- und Sicherheitshinweise |url=http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/DE/Laenderinformationen/00-SiHi/BelarusSicherheit.html |work=Auswärtiges Amt}}</ref> However, speakers of those languages in some countries, such as the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, have been observed to increasingly favor forms resembling ''Belarus''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=De Jong |first1=Sjoerd |date=12 September 2020 |title=Keus tussen 'Belarus' en 'Wit-Rusland' is niet alleen taalkundig |url=https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2020/09/12/keus-tussen-belarus-en-wit-rusland-is-niet-alleen-taalkundig-a4011772 |access-date=29 September 2020 |website=NRC}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Brouwers |first1=Arnout |date=23 September 2020 |title=Nederland erkent president Loekasjenko niet, maar EU treft nog geen sancties tegen Belarus |url=https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-achtergrond/nederland-erkent-president-loekasjenko-niet-maar-eu-treft-nog-geen-sancties-tegen-belarus~b8c78343/ |access-date=29 September 2020 |website=Volkskrant}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Klein |first1=Oliver |date=11 August 2020 |title=Warum Weißrussland plötzlich Belarus heißt |url=https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/politik/weissrussland-bezeichnung-belarus-100.html |access-date=29 September 2020 |website=ZDF Heute |publisher=ZDF}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Bertolaso |first1=Marco |date=7 August 2020 |title=Warum auch wir von "Belarus" sprechen |url=https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/in-eigener-sache-warum-auch-wir-von-belarus-sprechen.2852.de.html?dram:article_id=481918 |access-date=29 September 2020 |website=deutschlandfunk.de}}</ref> As a result, Sweden began to call the country ''Belarus'' in 2019, Germany - in 2020, Denmark - in 2021. On May 29, 2022, the Norwegian authorities changed the name of ''Hviterussland'' to ''Belarus.<ref>[https://www.regjeringen.no/no/aktuelt/hviterussland-blir-til-belarus/id2916338/ regjeringen.no]</ref>''
On 16 March 2018, the Embassy of Belarus in Beijing requested the use of ''Báilúosī'' ({{zh|s=白罗斯|t=白羅斯|labels=no}}) (literally "White Rus") for the Chinese language, although ''Báiélúosī'' ({{zh|s=白俄罗斯|t=白俄羅斯|labels=no}}) is still common, which means literally "White Russia".<ref name="brofficial">{{cite web|title="白罗斯"而不是"白俄罗斯'|url=http://china.mfa.gov.by/zh/embassy/news/b8b3447550dfb5ec.html|accessdate=2023-07-18|author=|date=2018-03-16|format=|publisher=Embassy of Belarus in China|language=zh-hans}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/web/gjhdq_676201/gj_676203/oz_678770/1206_678892/1206x0_678894/ |title=白俄罗斯国家概况 |publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China |access-date=2022-07-18}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.mofa.gov.tw/CountryInfo.aspx?CASN=3&n=162&sms=33&s=70 |title=白俄羅斯共和國 |publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China |access-date=2023-07-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=白俄罗斯 |url=https://www.un.org/zh/about-us/member-states/belarus |publisher=United Nations |access-date=2023-07-18}}</ref>
In Lithuanian, besides the name “Baltarusija” (White Russia), Belarus is also being called “Gudija”.<ref>{{Cite web|url= http://www.vlkk.lt/konsultacijos/4292-gudija-baltarusija|title= "Gudija" ar "Baltarusija"?|work= State Commission of the Lithuanian Language|language= lt|access-date= 2020-12-09|archive-date= 2020-11-30|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201130162211/http://www.vlkk.lt/konsultacijos/4292-gudija-baltarusija|url-status= dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url= https://telegraf.by/arhiv/lithuania_refuses_to_call_belarus_as_belarusia/|title= Lithuania Refuses to Call Belarus as "Belarusia"|date= 16 April 2010|work= Telegraf.by|access-date= 9 December 2020|archive-date= 15 April 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210415084001/https://telegraf.by/arhiv/lithuania_refuses_to_call_belarus_as_belarusia/|url-status= dead}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Bibliography== {{refbegin}} * Thomas M. Bohn (2025). Weißrussland oder Belarus? Die Weiße Ruß in Historiographie und Kartographie. Harassowitz, Wiesbaden 2025, ISBN 978-3-447-12380-8. * {{Cite book | last = de Courson | first = Barbara Frances Mary | title = The Jesuits: their foundation and history, Volume 1 | publisher = Benziger Brothers | year = 1879 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=s0MQAAAAIAAJ&q=Alba+Russia&pg=PA281 }} * {{Cite book|last=Minahan|first=James|title=Miniature Empires: A Historical Dictionary of the Newly Independent States|publisher=Greenwood|year=1998|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RSxt-JB-PDkC&q=White+Rus&pg=PA35|isbn=0-313-30610-9}} * {{Cite book|last1=Levy|first1=Patricia|first2=Michael|last2=Spilling|title=Belarus|publisher=Benchmark Books|year=2009|location=New York|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KTwkKhg1BbsC&q=Belarusian+name&pg=PA95|isbn=978-0-7614-3411-5}} * {{Cite book|last=Plokhy|first=Serhii|title=The Cossacks and Religion in Early Modern Ukraine|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2001|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NCzzxNisc1MC&q=white+rus+commonwealth&pg=PA327|isbn=0-19-924739-0}} * {{Cite book|last=Richmond|first=Yale|title=From Da to Yes: Understanding the East Europeans|publisher=Intercultural Press|year=1995|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Y8GNIp42ysC&q=Byelorussia+name&pg=PA260|isbn=1-877864-30-7}} * {{Cite book|last=Ryder|first=Andrew|title=Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States|publisher=Routledge|year=1998|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qmN95fFocsMC&q=Belarus+name+law+1991&pg=PA183|isbn=1-85743-058-1}} * {{Cite book|last1=Vauchez|first1=André|first2=Richard Barrie|last2=Dobson|first3=Michael|last3=Lapidge|title=Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages|publisher=Routledge|year=2001|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qtgotOF0MKQC&q=White+Ruthenia&pg=PA163|isbn=1-57958-282-6}} * {{Cite book|last1=Treadgold|first1=Donald|first2=Herbert J.|last2=Ellison|title=Twentieth Century Russia|publisher=Westview Press|year=1999|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xs8sYy1vIS0C&q=belorussia+nationalists+name&pg=PA230|isbn=0-8133-3672-4}}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} * {{Cite book|last=Zaprudnik|first=Jan|title=Belarus: At a Crossroads in History|publisher=Westview Press|year=1993|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qtnTh3-2Ki8C&q=Belarusia+name&pg=PA1|isbn=0-8133-1794-0|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160502113012/https://books.google.com/books?id=qtnTh3-2Ki8C&pg=PA1&dq=Belarusia+name&cd=3|archive-date=2 May 2016}} {{refend}} {{Europe topic|Name of|title=Names of European states and territories}} Belarus Category:History of Belarus