Editing Belarusians (section)

==History==
=== The Neolithic and the Bronze Age ===
{{Seealso|Comb Ceramic culture}}
In the Neolithic most of present-day Belarus was inhabited by Finno-Ugrians. Indo-European population appeared in the Bronze Age.<ref>История Беларуси. С древнейших времен до 2012 г. / под ред. Е. К. Новика. — 3-е изд. — Минск: Вышэйшая школа, 2012. — С. 12, 13, 20. — 542 с.</ref><ref>Гісторыя Беларусі: У 2 ч. Частка 1. Са старажытных часоў да канца XVIII ст. / І. П. Крэнь і інш. — Мінск: РІВШ БДУ, 2000. — С. 303—304. — 656 с.</ref>

=== Early Middle Ages ===
[[File:Slavic tribes in the 7th to 9th century.svg|thumb|Slavic tribes in the 7th-9th century]]In the [[Iron Age]], the south of present-day Belarus was inhabited by tribes belonging to the [[Milograd culture]] (7th–3rd century BC) and later [[Zarubintsy culture]]. Some considered them to be Balts.{{Sfn|Shved|Grzybowski|2020|p=54}} Since the beginning of [[Common Era|common era]], these lands were penetrated by the Slavs, a process that intensified during the [[Migration Period|migration period]] (4th century).{{Sfn|Shved|Grzybowski|2020|p=54}} A peculiar symbiosis of Baltic and Slavic cultures took place in the area, but it was not a fully peaceful process, as evidenced by numerous fires in Balts' settlements in the 7th-8th centuries.{{Sfn|Pankowicz|2004|p=90}} According to Russian archaeologist {{Ill|Valentin Sedov|ru|Седов, Валентин Васильевич}}, it was intensive contacts with the Balts that contributed to the distinctiveness of the Belarusian tribes from the other [[East Slavs|Eastern Slavs]].{{Sfn|Shved|Grzybowski|2020|p=55}}

The Baltic population gradually [[Slavicisation|became Slavic]], undergoing assimilation, a process that for eastern and central Belarus ended around the 12th century.{{Sfn|Shved|Grzybowski|2020|p=55}} Belarusian lands in the 8th-9th centuries were inhabited by 3 tribal unions: the [[Krivichs]], [[Dregoviches]] and [[Radimichs]]. Of these, the Krivichs played the most important role; [[Polotsk]], founded by them, was the most important cultural and political center during this period. The principalities formed at that time on the territory of Belarus were part of [[Kievan Rus']]. The process of the beginning of the East Slavic linguistic community and the separation of Belarusian dialects slowly took place.{{Sfn|Shved|Grzybowski|2020|p=55}}

=== In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ===
[[File:21. Litvin.jpg|thumb|Litvin man in the 18th century]]
As a result of Lithuanian expansion, the lands of Belarus became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. This fact accelerated the Slavicization of the Baltic population. Between the 13th and 16th centuries, a distinct [[Ruthenian language]] was formed.{{Sfn|Shved|Grzybowski|2020|p=57-58}} It is called  "Old Belarusian language" by Belausian researchers and "Old Ukrainian" by the Ukrainian ones. The rulers and the elite of the Grand Duchy adopted elements of Ruthenian culture, primarily Ruthenian language, which became the main language of writing. Belarusians began to emerge as a nationality during the 13th and 14th centuries in the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] mostly on the lands of the upper basins of [[Neman River]], [[Dnieper River]], and the [[Daugava River|Western Dvina River]].<ref>Беларусы : у 10 т. / Рэдкал.: В. К. Бандарчык [і інш.]. — Мінск : Беларус. навука, 1994–2007. — Т. 4 : Вытокі і этнічнае развіццё... С. 36, 49.</ref> The Belarusian people trace their distinct culture to the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]], earlier [[Kievan Rus']] and the [[Principality of Polotsk]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Belarus - Culture, Traditions, Arts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Belarus/Cultural-life |access-date=2023-08-11 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en |archive-date=2023-07-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230715090912/https://www.britannica.com/place/Belarus/Cultural-life |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Litvin]] was a term used to describe all residents of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, primarily those belonging to the [[Lithuanian nobility|noble state]], without distinction of ethnicity or religion. At the same time, the term Ruthenian (''Rusyn'') was in use, referring primarily to all persons professing Orthodoxy; later since the end of the 16th century it took on a broader meaning, and also referred to all the persons of Eastern Slavic origin, regardless of their religion. At the same time, there was a geographical division within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania between [[Lithuania proper]] and Rus'. However, it did not correspond to an ethnic or confessional division, as Lithuania proper included a large part of central and western Belarus with cities such as [[Polotsk]], [[Vitebsk]], [[Orsha]], [[Minsk]], [[Barysaw]] and [[Slutsk]], while the remaining lands inhabited by Slavs were called Rus.{{Sfn|Shved|Grzybowski|2020|p=57}} From the 17th century onward, the name [[White Ruthenia]] ({{langx|be|Белая Русь|Biełaja Ruś}}) spread, which initially referred to the territory of today's Eastern Belarus ([[Polotsk]], [[Vitebsk]]). The term "Belarusians", "Belarusian faith" and "Belarusian speech" also appeared at that time.{{Sfn|Shved|Grzybowski|2020|p=57}}<ref name=":32">{{Cite book |last1=Fishman |first1=Joshua |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oUydX_3rG0AC |title=Handbook of Language and Ethnic Identity: The Success-Failure Continuum in Language and Ethnic Identity Efforts (Volume 2) |last2=Garcia |first2=Ofelia |date=2011-04-21 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-983799-1 |pages=385 |language=en}}</ref> As stated by historian [[Andrej Kotljarchuk]], the first person who called himself "Belarusian" was Calvinist writer [[Salomon Rysinski]] (Solomo Pantherus Leucorussus). According to his words, he was born "in richly endowed with forests and animals Ruthenia near the border to frigid Muscovy" and doctorated at the [[University of Altdorf]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Orthodoxy in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Protestants of Belarus |url=https://belreform.org/eng/katlarchuk_prat_i_pravasl_eng.php |access-date=2024-08-19 |website=www.belreform.org |language=en |archive-date= |archive-url= |url-status= }}</ref>
[[File:Lićviny. Ліцьвіны (1907).jpg|thumb|Belarusians in the 19th century]]
From the 1630s, Old Belarusian (Ruthenian) started to be replaced by the [[Polish language]], as a result of the [[Polish people|Polish]] high culture acquiring increasing prestige in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1697, Ruthenian was removed as one of the Grand Duchy's official languages.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Kamusella |first=Tomasz |title=The Politics of Language and Nationalism in Modern Central Europe |year=2009 |pages=153, 156, 180}}</ref> By the 17th century, Muscovites began encouraging the use of the word Belarusian and viewed the Belarusians as Russians and their language as a [[Russian dialects|Russian dialect]].<ref name=":32" /> This was done to legitimize Russian attempts of conquering the eastern lands of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth under the pretense of unifying all Russian lands.<ref name=":32" /> During three [[Partitions of Poland|partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] (1772, 1793 and 1795) most of the territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were annexed by the [[Russian Empire]].
[[File:Historical borders of Belarusians.png|thumb|
Ethnic territory of Belarusians<br />
{{Legend|#000000|Modern state boundaries}}
{{Legend|#F0C500|According to the linguistic map by [[Yefim Karsky]] (1903)}}
{{Legend|#F00000|According to [[Mitrofan Dovnar-Zapolsky]] (1919)}}
The major discrepancy between Karsky and Dovnar-Zapolsky is due to Karsky's identification of transitional Ukrainian-Belarusian dialects
]]
=== In the Russian Empire ===
Following the destruction of Poland–Lithuania with the [[Third Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth|Third Partition]] in 1795, [[Empress Catherine of Russia]] created the [[Belarusian Governorate]] from the {{Ill|Polotsk Governorate|lt=Polotsk|ru|Полоцкая губерния}} and [[Mogilev Governorate]]s.<ref name=":2" /> However, Tsar [[Nicholas I of Russia]] banned the use of the word Belarus in 1839, replacing it with the designation [[Northwestern Krai]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Everett-Heath |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iVRuDwAAQBAJ |title=The Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names |date=2018-09-13 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-256243-2 |language=en |access-date=2023-03-21 |archive-date=2023-08-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811144922/https://books.google.com/books?id=iVRuDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> Due to the ban, various different names were used for naming the inhabitants of those territories.<ref name=":32" /> It was part of the [[Pale of Settlement]], which was the region where Jews were allowed permanent residency.

=== 20th century ===
During World War I and the fall of [[Russian Empire]], a short-lived [[Belarusian Democratic Republic]] was declared in March 1918. Thereafter, modern Belarus' territory was split between the [[Second Polish Republic]] and [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Soviet Russia]] during the [[Peace of Riga]] in 1921. The latter created the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic]], which was reunited with [[Western Belarus]] during [[World War 2]] and lasted until the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]], which was ended by the [[Belovezh Accords]] in 1991. The modern [[Republic of Belarus]] exists since then.

More than two million people were [[World War II casualties of the Soviet Union|killed in Belarus]] during the three years of [[German occupation of Belarus during World War II|German occupation]] in 1941–44, around a quarter of the region's population,<ref>{{cite web|year=2005|title=The tragedy of Khatyn - Genocide policy|url=https://www.khatyn.by/en/genocide/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150310201916/https://www.khatyn.by/en/genocide/|archive-date=2015-03-10|url-status=live|publisher=SMC Khatyn}}</ref> or even as high as three million killed or thirty percent of the population.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Donovan |first=Jeffrey |date=2005-05-04 |title=World War II -- 60 Years After: Legacy Still Casts Shadow Across Belarus |url=https://www.rferl.org/amp/1058728.html |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=www.rferl.org}}</ref>