Minsk The capital of the Republic of Belarus, the administrative centre of the Minsk Oblast. The population is 1,729,000 people. Telephone code: 017. For the first time, Minsk was mentioned in 1067 under the name of Mensk as a fortress of the Polotsk Principality. Since 1104 — as a part of the Minsk Principality, since the 14th century — a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1499 Minsk was granted the Magdeburg Rights. Situated on the cross-roads of the important trade routes, Minsk had wide commercial relations with the West and the East. During the war of 1654–1667 between Russia and Rzech Pospolita, the North War of 1700–1721 the city was repeatedly destroyed. After the second partition of Rzech Pospolita in 1793, Minsk was incorporated into the Russian Empire. The first Congress of the Russian Social–Democratic Labour Party took place in Minsk on March 1–3, 1898. It declared the foundation of the party which assumed all the power in Russia in 1917, and was called later the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Belarusian People's Republic was proclaimed in Minsk on March 25, 1918. During World War II, June 1941 — July 1944, the city was occupied by Nazis and almost entirely destroyed. On July 27, 1990 a Declaration of the State Sovereignty of the Republic of Belarus was adopted in Minsk. On December 8, 1991 the leaders of Belarus, Russia and the Ukraine signed an agreement on creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) with Minsk being the administrative centre. General Information on Belarus Minsk City History and Culture Travelogue