Belarus vs Russia

Why people mix them up

Belarus and Russia are neighbours that were both part of the Soviet Union and remain closely linked today, including through a "Union State" agreement. Russian is an official language in both, both currencies are called the rouble, and the name Belarus contains "Rus", the same historical root as Russia. Some people therefore assume Belarus is part of Russia, or simply mix up the two names. It is a separate, much smaller country.

How to tell them apart

• Russia is the largest country in the world; Belarus is about 208,000 km², roughly the size of Great Britain.
• Belarus is landlocked; Russia has coasts on several seas and oceans, from the Baltic to the Pacific.
• Belarus's flag is red over green with a red-and-white folk ornament at the hoist; Russia's is white, blue and red horizontal stripes.
• The capitals are Minsk (Belarus) and Moscow (Russia).
• Belarus has two official languages, Belarusian and Russian; Russia's official language is Russian.
• Belarus borders Poland and Lithuania directly; Russia reaches those two countries only through its Kaliningrad exclave on the Baltic.

Memory hook

Belarus means "White Rus'", but its flag is red and green, like a field with a patterned border. Russia's flag is the one with white, blue and red.

On the map

Find Poland and look directly east. The roughly square, landlocked country between Poland and Russia, north of Ukraine and south of Latvia and Lithuania, is Belarus. Russia is the vast country to its east that runs across Europe and Asia. If the country you are tapping has no coastline and is surrounded by five neighbours, it is Belarus.