Hrodna Province

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Hrodna Province (Grodna Province) is a province (voblast) of the Republic of Belarus located in its north-western part bordering on Poland and Lithuania.

The capital - Hrodna (Russian: Гродно, Polish: Grodno, Lithuanian: Gardinas) is the biggest city of the province. It lies on the Neman River. Hrodna is known from 1128, here on the right steepen river bank two castles of the 14th - 18th centuries are located. Many consider this city one of the most beautiful in Belarus: one of its masterpieces survived through the centuries, Orthodox St Barys & St Hleb (Kalozhskaya) Church dating back to the 12th century, is the second oldest in Belarus.

This region in the 13th - 14th centuries was a centre of force of historical area known as Black Ruthenia, that with neighbouring original Lithuania became a basis for Baltic-Slavic state - Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL). Being a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, amounting to the GDL's Trakai Voivodship and since 1793 already as Grodno Voivodship, it was annexed by Russian Empire in 1795, the city then became a seat for Grodnenskaya guberniya. During the World War I the area was occupied by Germany. When in the conditions of German occupation the Belarusian National Republic declared its independence from the Soviet Russia in March of 1918 in Minsk, Hrodna was the last stand for the BNR's Council (Rada) forced to emmigrate before the Soviet troops captured the region in 1919. Since 1921 under the Peace Treaty of Riga the territory belonged to Poland, but after the Soviets re-invaded here in autumn of 1939, it became a part of the USSR and since its default in 1991 - one of 6 provinces of independent Belarus.

The Mir Castle Complex, a 16th century historical landmark as well as part of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha nature reserve, both UNESCO World Heritage sites are located in this region.

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Demographics (2002)

The province covers an area of 25,000 km² and has a population of 1,146,100 (2004 estimate), giving a population density of 46/km². About 63.5% live in cities and towns, while 36.5% live in rural areas. There are 53% thousand women and 47% thousand men in the region. About 310 thousand of these are children under 19, while about 240 thousand are over 60.

The region is home to a significant minority population; in addition to 62.3% of Belarusians, there are 24.8% Poles, 10% Russians, 1.8% Ukrainians, 0.4% Jews, 0.2% Tatars, 0.2% Lithuanians, 0.4% other nationalities (the numbers are rounded).

There are 449 religious communities and 18 denominations, 2 Russian Orthodox eparchial districts, 1 Orthodox nun sorority, 2 Catholic monk brotherhoods, 1 Catholic nun sorority, 2 Orthodox and 4 Catholic monasteries, 165 Orthodox and 169 Catholic churches.

There are a number on national minority associations: 6 Polish, 6 Lithuanian, 4 Jewish, 1 Ukrainian, 1 Russian, 1 Tatar, 1 Georgian, 1 Chuvash.

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