Eastern Europe
Video Chat with People from Belarus
Belarus is a land of forests and lakes, from the Braslav Lakes in the north to the ancient Belovezhskaya Pushcha forest, home to European bison, in the southwest. You might meet someone from Minsk, with its wide avenues and cafés, or from Brest, Grodno, Gomel or Vitebsk, where Marc Chagall grew up. Belarusian and Russian are both official; Russian is what you'll hear most in everyday conversation, and English is more common among younger people in Minsk.
Belarus stays on UTC+3 all year with no daylight saving. Its evenings fall in the late afternoon in Western Europe in winter, around midday on the US East Coast and in the morning on the West Coast. Good topics: draniki (crispy potato pancakes), Kupalle midsummer celebrations, ice hockey and football, the Slavianski Bazaar arts festival in Vitebsk, forest walks and berry picking, and lake holidays. A few Russian phrases are a good start if you want to say more than hello.
Belarus at a glance
| Flag | 🇧🇾 |
|---|---|
| Official name | Republic of Belarus |
| Capital | Minsk |
| Region | Europe · Eastern Europe |
| Official languages | Belarusian and Russian |
| Currency | Belarusian ruble (Br, BYN) |
| Calling code | +375 |
| Time zone | Moscow Standard Time (Europe/Minsk) |
How to say hello
A few words of Belarusian make a great first impression, even if you switch to English right after.
| Language | Phrase | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belarusian | Прывітанне! | pry-vee-TAHN-nyeh | Hello! |
| Belarusian | Добры вечар! | DOH-bry VEH-char | Good evening! |
| Russian | Привет! Как дела? | pree-VYET, kahk dee-LAH | Hi! How are you? |
Tips for chatting with people from Belarus
- A Belarusian "Прывітанне" (pry-vee-TAHN-nyeh) is a warm touch even if the rest of the chat is in Russian or English.
- Belarusian and Russian both use Cyrillic, but Belarusian has its own letters, such as ў; ask them to type a word so you can see the difference.
- Keep early conversation on everyday life, like food, hobbies, music and travel; it's the easiest common ground with anyone new.
- Ask about their favorite spot in Minsk or a lake they love to visit in summer.
Only meet people from Belarus
Omlet matches you Worldwide by default. To meet only people from Belarus, use the country filter, the only filter Omlet has:
- Open Omlet and press Country on the control panel.
- Search for Belarus and select it.
- Press Start. Press Next to meet someone else from Belarus, or switch back to Worldwide any time.
Your first day is free: you add a card through Stripe to start it, and nothing is charged that day. When the 24 hours end, the country filter costs $3 one time, charged to that card, unless you cancel before then in Settings (if you cancel, you can still pick a country until the day ends). It's not a subscription, and it stays unlocked on that device and browser. It doesn't carry over to other devices or browsers, and clearing your browser data removes it. There's one free day per device, home network and card. Payment goes through Stripe, so Omlet never sees your card number.
The filter works both ways, and matching can be slower when fewer people from Belarus are online. Chatting itself is free, and Worldwide matching never costs anything.
Your own country is detected automatically and shown to the people you meet as a flag.
Neighboring countries
Belarus borders 5 countries. Curious about the people next door? Meet them too: