Belarus is a landlocked country in eastern Europe, formerly part of the Soviet Union.  It is bordered by the Ukraine to the south; Poland and Lithuania to the west; Latvia and Russia to the north and east.  As part of the Soviet Union, Belarus was known by the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, which translates to “White Russia”.  Of all the countries which were previously part of or dominated by the Soviet Union, Belarus is considered to be the closest to Russia.  What is now Belarus has once been conquered by Kiev (now the name of the capital of Ukraine), Lithuania, Poland and the Soviet Union.