Belarusian Identity and Fundamental Values

The history of Belarus has always been determined by great powers and the country hardly comes to rest until today. Under these circumstances, Belarus has not been able to develop a real sense of belonging or a unifie d set of values. Since the independence of Belarus was not really expected at that time and a large part of the population did not fight for independence accordingly, a strong national consciousness could not spread in Belarus until today. The uncertaintie s that arose with independence caused some to feel a great nostalgia for the Soviet times. Lukashenko's clear words and the presentation of simple solutions to difficult problems were well received by a population that has already experienced many crises a nd allowed the then forty year old to quickly gain power in a very young democracy. Despite the repeated protests, a large part of the Belarusian population supports Lukashenko's rule to this day, but opinions within the population are becoming more and mo re divided. For example there is also no consensus among the population as to whether Belarus should lean more toward the West or toward Russia.

Within the framework of the "Belarus Initiative" Chatam House in cooperation with the Center for New Ideas investigates in meanwhile 16 surveys the opinion of Belarusians on different topics . Thus, data regarding advocated geopolitical orientation were also collected over an extended period of time. According to Chatham House, in the course of the Ukraine war, more and more people lost faith in the possibility of a simultaneous union with the EU a nd Russia.

Population and Annual Growth Rate

The population of Belarus has steadily decreased in recent years and began declining again from 2019 to 2020. According to projections by the World Population Review , the population will fall to 7.45 million people by 2099.

<a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/446100/total-population-of-belarus/" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://www.statista.com/graphic/1/446100/total-population-of-belarus.jpg" alt="Statistic: Belarus: Total population from 2018 to 2028 (in million inhabitants) | Statista" style="width: 100%; height: auto !important; max-width:1000px;-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic;"/></a><br />Find more statistics at <a href="https://www.statista.com" rel="nofollow">Statista</a>

Poverty

Belarus has been able to greatly reduce the percentage of the population living below the poverty
line in recent years. In 2020, only 4.8% of the population in Belarus lived below the national pove rty
line, a decrease of about 40% since 1999.

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