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White Russia, alternatively known as White Rus == Name == In English, as well as in most other languages, ''White Russia'' loses an important distinction between historical Rus' (Ruthenia), and modern Russia. It seems to suggest that this term describes territory in the present-day Russian Federation, whereas it is a demonym deriving from the more ancient toponym Rus or Ruthenia (see also Etymology of Rus and derivatives, Etymology of the name ''Belarus''). Because of that, usage of "White Russia" is a sensitive issue in Belarus, and could be seen as inappropriate. Unlike it, the term ''White Ruthenia'' does not suffer from such ambiguity. Ruthenia is the latinized version of Rus’, a region in Eastern Europe inhabited by Slavs and the cradle of Kievan Rus’, a 9th to 12th-century state that existed in the territories of modern-day Belarus, Ukraine, Russia and Eastern Poland. In English, the use of the term "White Russia" to refer to all of Belarus is obsolete. Many other languages, however, continue to use a literal translation of "White Russia" to refer to Belarus. Belarus translates to ''White Russia'' in many modern languages (particularly, most Germanic languages). But in the modern Polish, Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian languages there is a distinction between the modern country of Russia and the suffix "-rus" (it is a part of heritage of The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth): * (ベラルーシ語:Белая Русь) (White Rus), Беларусь (Belarus), but Расія/''Rasija'' (Russia); * (ポーランド語:Białoruś) (White Rus), but ''Rosja'' (Russia); * (ロシア語:Белая Русь) (White Rus), Беларусь or Белоруссия (Belarus) but Россия/''Rossiya'' (Russia); * (ウクライナ語:Білорусь) Bilorus (White Rus), but ''Росія'' Rosia (Russia); * (エストニア語:Valgevene) (White Rus)); In the German language, the usual name for the state of Belarus even today is ''Weißrussland'' (White Russia). In official use (e.g. by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), the name ''Belarus'' is often preferred. However, even the German Chancellor Angela Merkel used the term ''Weißrussland'' in her speech to the European Council Summit in March 2007. Likewise, Belarus is normally translated as "White Russia" into a number of other languages, including Dutch, Greek, Chinese, Turkish, and the Scandinavian, Baltic, and Uralic language families. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「White Russia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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