By 1150, Minsk rivaled Polotsk as the major city in the former Principality of Polotsk. Minsk is the major cultural centre of Belarus. During World War II the Minsk railway station was completely destroyed. [25] On 25 March 1918, Minsk was proclaimed the capital of the Belarusian People's Republic. Factories, municipal buildings, power stations, bridges, most roads, and 80% of the houses were reduced to rubble. Church of St. Elizabeth Convent (Russian Orthodox), There are more than 400 travel agencies in Minsk, about a quarter of them provide agent activity, and most of them are tour operators. A municipal water supply was introduced in 1872, the telephone in 1890, the horse tram in 1892, and the first power generator in 1894. [82], Capitals of European states and territories, Significant depictions in popular culture, Między Wschodem i Zachodem: international conference, Lublin, 18–21 June 1991, railway from Romny in Ukraine to the Baltic Sea port of Libava, 1st Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Republican Centre of Radioactive and Environmental Control, National Academic Grand Opera and Ballet Theatre of the Republic of Belarus, Belarusian National History and Culture Museum, 2016 European Speed Skating Championships, 2019 European Figure Skating Championships, Academy of Public Administration under the aegis of the President of the Republic of Belarus, Belarusian State University of Agricultural Technology, Maxim Tank Belarusian State Pedagogical University, Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics, Belarusian State University of Physical Training, Belarusian State Technological University, Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts, International Sakharov Environmental Institute, International Institute of Labour and Social Relations, List of twin towns and sister cities in Belarus, https://www.belstat.gov.by/en/ofitsialnaya-statistika/Demographic-and-social-statistics/population-and-migration/population/annual-data/, http://www.elib.bsu.by/bitstream/123456789/28000/1/%D0%9E%D0%B7%D0%B5%D0%BC%20%D0%93.%D0%97.,%20%D0%97%D0%B0%D0%BF%D1%80%D1%83%D0%B4%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9%20%D0%98.%D0%98.%20%D0%9A%20%D0%92%D0%9E%D0%9F%D0%A0%D0%9E%D0%A1%D0%A3%20%D0%9E%20%D0%92%D0%AB%D0%94%D0%95%D0%9B%D0%95%D0%9D%D0%98%D0%98%20%D0%93%D0%A0%D0%90%D0%9D%D0%98%D0%A6%20%D0%9C%D0%98%D0%9D%D0%A1%D0%9A%D0%9E%D0%99%20%D0%90%D0%93%D0%9B%D0%9E%D0%9C%D0%95%D0%A0%D0%90%D0%A6%D0%98%D0%98%20-%20%D0%A1.%20109-112.pdf, "Eternal Daylight Saving Time (DST) in Belarus", "Въ лЂто 6563 [1055] – [6579 1071]. It was part of a region annexed by the Russian Empire in 1793, as a consequence of the Second Partition of Poland. [64] Monthly ticket for one kind of transport costs 27 BYN and 49 BYN for all four. The rapid population growth was primarily driven by mass migration of young, unskilled workers from rural areas of Belarus, as well as by migration of skilled workers from other parts of the Soviet Union. Among the monuments we can mention the Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, one of the few Baroque styles surviving the war, the Cathedral of St. Joseph and the Fortified Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in which especially two twin towers. The population in January 2018 was 1,982,444,[5] (not including suburbs) making Minsk the 11th most populous city in Europe.

Minsk's contributions form nearly 46% of Belarusian budget. Ales Michalevic, who was kept in this jail, accused the KGB of using torture. [citation needed] Unlike many other cities in the CIS and Eastern Europe Minsk was not heavily de-industrialised in the 1990s. [59] GRP of Minsk measured in rubles is 33 billion, or around 1/3 of Gross domestic product of Belarus. The Russians dominated the city's culture as had the Poles in earlier centuries. Edited 300 magazines and more than 700 newspapers. Substantial numbers of recent migrants from the rural areas use Trasyanka (a Russo-Belarusian mixed language) in their everyday lives. [6] The settlement developed on the rivers. There was a construction boom that led to the building of 2 and 3-story brick and stone houses in Upper Town. [citation needed], Before the Second World War, Minsk had a population of 300,000 people, but this had fallen to around 50,000 by 1944.

[citation needed], In the first three decades of the post-war years, the most numerous new residents in Minsk were rural migrants from other parts of Belarus; the proportion of ethnic Belarusians increased markedly. [7], From 1569, it was a capital of the Minsk Voivodeship, in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 2012, Gross Regional Product of Minsk was formed mainly by industry (26.4%), wholesale (19.9%), transportation and communications (12.3%), retail (8.6%) and construction (5.8%). It was rebuilt in 1945 and 1946 and served until 1991. Which Countries Were First To Elect Women Leaders? However, much of the industrial infrastructure was destroyed during World War I and especially during World War II. making it the 5th busiest metro network in the former USSR (behind Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kyiv and Kharkiv). The land of the airport is currently being redeveloped for residential and commercial real estate, branded as Minsk-City. The most prominent are immigrants from the Caucasus countries – Armenians, Azerbaijanis and Georgians each numbering about 2,000 to 5,000.