Belarusian language

The Belarusian language (беларуская мова, biełaruskaja mova) is an Eastern Slavic language and an Indo-European language.

Belarusian
беларуская мова / biełaruskaja 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
Language codes
ISO 639-1	be
ISO 639-2	bel
ISO 639-3	bel
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

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.

Belarusian is an Endangered language, as it has a low rate of speakers in its native countries.

Belarusian Language Media

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  Map of languages and dialects of Central and Eastern Europe

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  The first Lithuanian statute of 1529, in Ruthenian

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  The Bible by Francysk Skaryna in Ruthenian, 16th century

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  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

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  Geographic distribution of Belarusian language in the Russian Empire according to the 1897 census.