Belarusians, also spelt Belarusans, Belarussians, Byelorussians and Belorussians are a distinct ethnic group of East Slavs who are the major population of Belarus, also being minorities in the neighboring Poland (especially Bialystok province), Russia, Lithuania and Ukraine. Noticeable numbers are in emigration in the Canada.
The prefix "Bela" can be translated into 'White' so these people were sometimes called White Russians though not to be confused with the political group of white Russians that opposed Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War. This name was in use in the west for some time in history, together with White Ruthenes, White Ruthenians and similar forms. See Ruthenia#Belarusians. Using the form "White Russians" is considered offensive and misleading by many Belarusians.
The Belarusian people trace their distinct culture to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Rus' and Samogitia and earlier. For quite a long time they were mostly known under the name of Litvins (Lithuanians), which refers to the state of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Litva, Vialikaja Litva) of which the White Ruthenian lands were part of since the 12th century.
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The BelarusianPeople's Republic (Belarusian: Белару́ская Наро́дная Рэспу́бліка, eng.
The BelarusianPeople's Republic was pronounced on March 25, 1918 during World War I, when Belarus was occupied by the Germans according to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
The areas were claimed because of a Belarusian majority according to demographic research, although there were also numbers of Lithuanians, Poles and people speaking pidgins of Belarusian, Lithuanian and Polish, as well as many Jews, mostly in towns and cities (in some towns they made up a majority).
Analyses of groups of people who were unemployed in 1996 show that 26.3% people left their jobs of their own free will, 22.8% were dismissed due to staff cutbacks, 11.4% had just left school or higher education, and 39.5% for other reasons.
People in particular need of social security can receive retraining as a priority, for instance people who have been jobless for a long period, young people, people with physical and mental disabilities, single parents, parents with numerous children, and women bringing up children who are not yet going to school.
One third of the people surveyed were stopped from doing this due to a lack of contacts in the trade sector, one third lacked any contacts at all, one fifth were worried by instability in the republic, and another fifth were afraid of registration formalities or unfamiliar with privatisation mechanisms.
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