Unlike many other ethnic minorities in Belarus, such as
Roma and
Jews, Ukrainians do not face significant discrimination, and multiple members of the government, including
President Alexander Lukashenko, are ethnic Ukrainians. The Ukrainian population has multiple organisations dedicated to assistance of the ethnic Ukrainian community (including and ), most of which are primarily based in Brest Region (known in
Ukrainian as
Beresteishchyna).
Population Historically, Ukrainians made up a large population of the Belarusian population; in the 1897 census, there were 362,800 Ukrainians in
Grodno Governorate, making up 22.9% of the total population of the time. In
Kobrinsky and
Brestsky Uyezds, Ukrainians made up the majority of the population, at 79.6% and 64.4% of the population, respectively. In 2009, Ukrainians made up 1.7% of the total population of Belarus, with 158,723 people. The population is primarily located in southern Belarus, and concentrated particularly in Brest Region, but substantial populations exist in all regions of the country. The region with the lowest Ukrainian population is
Vitebsk Region, where Ukrainians make up 1.18% of the population.
Language Per the 2009 census, many Ukrainians in Belarus have continued to use the
Ukrainian language, unlike many other groups such as
Lipka Tatars - 29.2% of the total Ukrainian Belarusian population uses it. However, at the same time, a trend of
russification has developed among the Ukrainian population; 61.2% of all Ukrainians use the
Russian language. By comparison, very few have been inclined to speak the
Belarusian language, with only 7.9% of the total Ukrainian population speaking it. == Notable people ==