Belarusian language facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Belarusian
беларуская мова BGN/PCGN: byelaruskaya mova
Native to	Belarus, Poland, in 14 other countries
Ethnicity	Belarusians
Native speakers	10 million (2007)
Language family	Indo-European Balto-Slavic Slavic East Slavic Belarusian
Early forms:	Old East Slavic Belarusian
Writing system	Cyrillic (Belarusian alphabet) Belarusian Braille Belarusian Latin alphabet
Official status
Official language in	Belarus Poland (in Gmina Orla, Gmina Narewka, Gmina Czyże, Gmina Hajnówka and town of Hajnówka)
Recognised minority language in	Ukraine
Regulated by	National Academy of Sciences of Belarus
Linguasphere	`53-AAA-eb < 53-AAA-e (varieties: 53-AAA-eba to 53-AAA-ebg)`
Belarusian-speaking world Legend: Dark blue - territory, where Belarusian is the main language

The Belarusian language (Беларуская мова, transliteration: Biełaruskaja mova) is an Eastern Slavic language and an Indo-European language.

It is spoken in Belarus and eastern Poland (in the area of Białystok). It is also spoken by Belarusians who live in other countries of Europe, Australia, and North America.

Belarusian is written by the either the Cyrillic alphabet or the Latin alphabet.

Images for kids

Ethnographic Map of Slavic and Baltic Languages
The first Lithuanian statute of 1529, in Ruthenian
The cover of the copy of the Dictionary of the Belarusian Local Tongue by Ivan Nasovič preserved at the Francis Skaryna Belarusian Library and Museum