Editing Minsk (section)

== Demographics ==
[[File:City of Minsk population pyramid in 2022.svg|thumb|City of Minsk population pyramid in 2022]]
[[File:Svislach bank 1.jpg|thumb|Apartment buildings in Minsk]]

[[File:Minsk city (Belarus), Sentinel-2 satellite image, 2019-05-19.jpg|thumb|Minsk agglomeration from space]]{{Historical populations|1897|90912|1926|123613|1939|238948|1959|515975|1970|907104|1979|1261869|1989|1589436|1999|1680567|2009|1836808|2019|2018281|source=<ref>{{cite web|title=Cities & towns of Belarus|url=http://pop-stat.mashke.org/belarus-cities.htm|publisher=Population statistics of Eastern Europe & former USSR}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Number and territorial distribution of the population|url=https://census.belstat.gov.by/saiku/?guest=true&lang=en&default_view_state=edit#query/open//public/F101N_ru.saiku|publisher=[[National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus]]}}</ref>}}During its first centuries, Minsk was a city with a predominantly Early East Slavic population (the forefathers of modern-day [[Belarusians]]). After the 1569 [[Polish–Lithuanian union]], the city became a destination for migrating Poles (who worked as administrators, clergy, teachers and soldiers) and Jews ([[Ashkenazim]], who worked in the retail trade and as craftsmen, as other opportunities were prohibited by discrimination laws). During the last centuries of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]], many Minsk residents became [[Polonization|polonised]], adopting the language of the dominant Poles and assimilating to its culture.{{citation needed|date=December 2011}}

After the second partition of Poland-Lithuania in 1793, Minsk and its larger region became part of the [[Russian Empire]]. The [[Russians]] dominated the city's culture as had the Poles in the earlier centuries.{{citation needed|date=December 2011}}

At the time of the [[Russian Empire Census|1897 census]] under the Russian Empire, Jews were the largest ethnic group in Minsk, at 52% of the population, with 47,500 of the 91,000 residents.<ref>Joshua D. Zimmerman, ''Poles, Jews and the Politics of Nationality'', Univ of Wisconsin Press, 2004, {{ISBN|0-299-19464-7}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=6sbr9cZyw_4C&dq=population+Brest+Poles+Jews&pg=PA16 Google Print, p.16]</ref> Other substantial ethnic groups were Russians (25.5%), Poles (11.4%) and Belarusians (9%). The latter figure may be not accurate, as some local Belarusians were likely counted as Russians. A small traditional community of [[Lipka Tatars]] had been living in Minsk for centuries.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Andrew |title=Belarus: The last European dictatorship |date=2021 |isbn=978-0-300-26087-8 |location=New Haven |publisher=Yale University Press |pages=30 |oclc=1240724890}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Tatars In Belarus Hope For Help From Tatarstan |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/Tatars_In_Belarus_Hope_For_Help_From_Tatarstan/2126354.html |access-date=2022-08-17 |newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |date=31 August 2010 |language=en |archive-date=21 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221021103903/https://www.rferl.org/a/Tatars_In_Belarus_Hope_For_Help_From_Tatarstan/2126354.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Between the 1880s and 1930s, many Jews, as well as peasants from other backgrounds, emigrated from the city to the United States as part of a [[Belarusian diaspora]].{{citation needed|date=December 2011}}
[[File:2019 07 02 16 23 IMG 2649.jpg|left|thumb|Jewish [[Holocaust]] memorial "[[The Pit (memorial)|The Pit]]" in Minsk]]
The high mortality of the First World War and the Second World War affected the demographics of the city, particularly the destruction of Jews under the [[Nazism|Nazi]] occupation of the Second World War. Working through local populations, Germans instituted deportation of Jewish citizens to concentration camps, murdering most of them there. The Jewish community of Minsk suffered catastrophic losses in [[the Holocaust]]. From more than half the population of the city, the percentage of Jews dropped to less than 10% more than ten years after the war. After its limited population peaked in the 1970s, continuing anti-Semitism under the Soviet Union and increasing nationalism in Belarus caused most Jews to emigrate to Israel and western countries in the 1980s; by 1999, less than 1% of the population of Minsk was Jewish.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Institute for Jewish Policy Research: Belarus |url=https://www.jpr.org.uk/country?id=14 |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=www.jpr.org.uk |archive-date=11 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811061745/https://jpr.org.uk/country?id=14 |url-status=live }}</ref>

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. Numerous skilled [[Russians]] and other migrants from other parts of the [[Soviet Union]] migrated for jobs in the growing manufacturing sector.<ref name="Zimmerman 2004">Zimmerman (2004), ''Poles, Jews, and Politics''</ref> In 1959 Belarusians made up 63.3% of the city's residents. Other ethnic groups included Russians (22.8%), Jews (7.8%), Ukrainians (3.6%), Poles (1.1%) and [[Tatars]] (0.4%). Continued migration from rural Belarus in the 1960s and 1970s changed the ethnic composition further. By 1979 Belarusians made up 68.4% of the city's residents. Other ethnic groups included Russians (22.2%), Jews (3.4%), Ukrainians (3.4%), Poles (1.2%) and Tatars (0.2%).<ref name="Zimmerman 2004" />

According to the 1989 census, 82% percent of Minsk residents have been born in Belarus. Of those, 43% have been born in Minsk and 39%&nbsp;– in other parts of Belarus. 6.2% of Minsk residents came from regions of western Belarus (Grodno and Brest Regions) and 13%&nbsp;– from eastern Belarus (Mogilev, Vitebsk and Gomel Regions). 21.4% of residents came from central Belarus (Minsk Region).{{citation needed|date=December 2011}}

According to the 1999 census, Belarusians make up 79.3% of the city's residents. Other ethnic groups include Russians (15.7%), Ukrainians (2.4%), Poles (1.1%) and Jews (0.6%). The Russian and Ukrainian populations of Minsk peaked in the late 1980s (at 325,000 and 55,000 respectively). After the break-up of the [[Soviet Union]] many of them chose to move to their respective mother countries, although some families had been in Minsk for generations. Another factor in the shifting demographics of the city was the changing self-identification of Minsk residents of mixed ancestry – in independent Belarus they identify as Belarusians.{{citation needed|date=December 2011}}

The [[Jewish population]] of Minsk peaked in the early 1970s at 50,000 according to official figures; independent estimates put the figure at between 100,000 and 120,000. Beginning in the 1980s, there has been mass-scale emigration to Israel, the US, and Germany. Today only about 10,000 Jews live in Minsk. The traditional minorities of Poles and Tatars have remained at much the same size (17,000 and 3,000 respectively). Rural Poles have migrated from the western part of Belarus to Minsk, and many Tatars have moved to Minsk from [[Tatarstan]].{{citation needed|date=December 2011}}

Some more recent [[minority group|ethnic minority]] communities have developed as a result of immigration. The most prominent are immigrants from the [[Caucasus]] countries – [[Armenians]], [[Azerbaijani people|Azerbaijanis]] and [[Georgians]] each numbering about 2,000 to 5,000. They began migrating to Minsk in the 1970s, and more immigrants have joined them since. Many work in the [[retailing|retail trade]] in open-air markets. A small but prominent Arab community has developed in Minsk, primarily represented by recent economic immigrants from [[Syria]], [[Lebanon]], [[Egypt]], [[Algeria]], etc. (In many cases, they are graduates of Minsk universities who decide to settle in Belarus and bring over their families). A small community of [[Romani people|Romani]], numbering about 2,000, are settled in suburbs of north-western and southern Minsk.{{citation needed|date=December 2011}}

=== Languages ===
[[File:Chinese sinage, Main Railway Station, Minsk, Belarus.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Chinese signage, Minsk railway station (2018)]]
Throughout its history Minsk has been a city of many languages. Initially most of its residents spoke [[Ruthenian language|Ruthenian]] (which later developed into modern [[Belarusian language|Belarusian]]). However, after 1569 the [[official language]] was [[Dialects of Polish#Northern Borderlands dialect|Polish]].<ref>Między Wschodem i Zachodem: international conference, Lublin, 18–21 June 1991</ref> In the 19th-century Russian became the official language and by the end of that century it had become the language of administration, schools and newspapers. The Belarusian national revival increased interest in the Belarusian language – its use has grown since the 1890s, especially among the [[intelligentsia]]. In the 1920s and early 1930s Belarusian was the major language of Minsk, including use for administration and education (both secondary and tertiary). However, since the late 1930s Russian again began gaining dominance.{{citation needed|date=December 2011}}

A short period of Belarusian national revival in the early 1990s saw a rise in the numbers of Belarusian speakers. However, in 1994 the newly elected president [[Alexander Lukashenko]] slowly reversed this trend. Most residents of Minsk now use Russian exclusively in their everyday lives at home and at work, although Belarusian is understood as well. Substantial numbers of recent migrants from the rural areas use [[Trasianka|Trasyanka]] (a Russo-Belarusian mixed language) in their everyday lives.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Liskovets |first=Irina |date=2009 |title=Trasjanka: A code of rural migrants in Minsk |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1367006909348678 |journal=International Journal of Bilingualism |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=396–412 |doi=10.1177/1367006909348678 |s2cid=144716155 |issn=1367-0069}}</ref>

=== Religion ===
There are no reliable statistics on the religious affiliations of those living in Minsk, or among the population of Belarus generally. The majority of Christians belong to the [[Belarusian Orthodox Church]], which is the exarchate of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] in Belarus. There is a significant minority of [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholics]].{{citation needed|date=December 2011}}

[[File:New synagogue in Minsk.jpg|thumb|New synagogue in Minsk]]

As of 2006, there are approximately 30 religious communities of various denominations in Minsk.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.local-life.com/minsk/articles/churches|title=Churches and Cathedrals &#124; Minsk Life|website=www.local-life.com|access-date=16 May 2024|archive-date=16 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240516161726/https://www.local-life.com/minsk/articles/churches|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.by/docs/en/bf_2006/12.Churches%20and%20religious%20communities.pdf|title=''gov.by''|access-date=8 September 2017|archive-date=8 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170908070327/http://www.mfa.gov.by/docs/en/bf_2006/12.Churches%20and%20religious%20communities.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>  The only functioning [[monastery]] in the city is [[St Elisabeth Convent (Minsk)|St Elisabeth Convent]]; its large complex of churches is open to visitors.

=== Crime ===
[[File:2020 Belarusian protests — Minsk, 30 August p0023.jpg|thumb|Police during the [[2020–21 Belarusian protests]]]]
Minsk has the highest crime rate in Belarus&nbsp;– 193.5 crimes per 10,000 citizens.<ref name=prest.3/><ref>{{Cite news |date=25 January 2011 |title=Уровень преступности в Минской области&nbsp;– один из самых высоких в стране |language=ru |publisher=TUT.BY |url=http://news.tut.by/society/212780.html |access-date=21 May 2011 |archive-date=26 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110826025235/http://news.tut.by/society/212780.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> 20–25% of all serious crimes in Belarus, 55% of bribes and 67% of mobile phone thefts are committed in Minsk.<ref name="prest.3">{{Cite news |date=29 June 2010 |script-title=ru:Лукашенко недоволен минскими властями |language=ru |publisher=TUT.BY |url=http://news.tut.by/society/175052.html |access-date=21 May 2011 |archive-date=26 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110826023515/http://news.tut.by/society/175052.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="prest.2">{{Cite news |date=18 April 2011 |script-title=ru:Кражи составляют в Минске около 70% преступлений |language=ru |publisher=TUT.BY |url=http://news.tut.by/society/223781.html |access-date=21 May 2011 |archive-date=26 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110826030547/http://news.tut.by/society/223781.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, attorney general Grigory Vasilevich stated that the homicide rate in Minsk in 2008 was "relatively fine".<ref>{{Cite news |date=2 October 2008 |script-title=ru:Генпрокуратура анализирует состояние с преступностью в Беларуси по коэффициенту преступности |language=ru |publisher=interfax.by |url=http://www.interfax.by/news/belarus/46593 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110826130140/http://www.interfax.by/news/belarus/46593 |archive-date=26 August 2011}}</ref>

The crime rate grew significantly in 2009 and 2010:<ref name=prest.3/> for example, the number of corruption crimes grew by 36% in 2009 alone.<ref>{{Cite news |date=10 March 2010 |title=В Минске увеличивается число выявленных коррупционных преступлений&nbsp;– Генпрокуратура |language=ru |publisher=interfax.by |url=http://www.interfax.by/news/belarus/68970 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110826125751/http://www.interfax.by/news/belarus/68970 |archive-date=26 August 2011}}</ref> Crime detection level varies from 13% in burglary<ref name="prest.1">{{Cite news |date=2 January 2009 |script-title=ru:Я из ЖЭСа. Разрешите вас обокрасть! |language=ru |publisher=interfax.by |url=http://www.interfax.by/article/36323 |access-date=21 May 2011 |archive-date=16 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316014450/http://www.interfax.by/article/36323 |url-status=dead }}</ref> to 92% in homicide<ref name=prest.4/> with an average 40.1%.<ref>{{Cite news |date=27 October 2009 |title=В Минске снижается число хищений сотовых телефонов&nbsp;– Генпрокуратура |language=ru |publisher=interfax.by |url=http://www.interfax.by/news/belarus/62597 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102085851/http://www.interfax.by/news/belarus/62597 |archive-date=2 November 2013}}</ref> Many citizens are concerned for their safety at night and the strongest concern was expressed by residents of Chizhovka and Shabany [[microdistrict]]s (both in [[Zavodski District]]).<ref name="prest.4">[http://www.pravo.by/showtext.asp?1139568277743 Рейтинг всех служб и подразделений ГУВД Мингорисполкома вырос], ''National Law Portal of Belarus'' (10 February 2006). {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723185810/http://www.pravo.by/showtext.asp?1139568277743 |date=23 July 2011 }}</ref>

The SIZO-1 detention center, IK-1 general prison, and the [[State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus|KGB]] special jail called "''Amerikanka''" are all located in Minsk. [[Alexander Lukashenko]]'s rivals in the [[2010 Belarusian presidential election|2010 presidential election]] were imprisoned in the KGB jail<ref>[http://naviny.by/rubrics/english/2010/12/21/ic_articles_259_171752/ Lukashenka's presidential rivals held in KGB jail] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518141325/http://naviny.by/rubrics/english/2010/12/21/ic_articles_259_171752/ |date=18 May 2013 }}, ''Belarus News'' (21 December 2010)</ref> along with other prominent politicians and civil activists. [[Ales Michalevic]], who was kept in this jail, accused the KGB of using torture.<ref>[http://naviny.by/rubrics/english/2011/02/28/ic_news_259_362284/ Mikhalevich to complain to UN Committee Against Torture about his detention conditions in KGB jail] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518163659/http://naviny.by/rubrics/english/2011/02/28/ic_news_259_362284/ |date=18 May 2013 }}, ''Belarus News'' (28 February 2011)</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12606265 Belarus 'tortured protesters in jail'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110617051458/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12606265 |date=17 June 2011 }}, [[BBC News]] (1 March 2011)</ref>

On 15 November 2020, more than 1,000 protesters were arrested during an anti-government protest. Protesters took to the streets in the capital, Minsk, following the death of an opposition activist, [[Death of Raman Bandarenka|Raman Bandarenka]]. The activist died after allegedly being beaten up by the security forces. The protesters put flowers at the site where he was detained before succumbing to his injuries.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54953599|title=Belarus: 'Over 1,000 arrested' at latest anti-government protest|work=BBC News|date=15 November 2020|access-date=15 November 2020|archive-date=15 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201115223918/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54953599|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:2020 Belarusian protests — Minsk, 30 August p0017.jpg|thumb|[[2020–21 Belarusian protests]] — Minsk, 30 August 2020]]