Circle the area on this map
D. Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula after its troops helped seize it from Ukraine. Belarus is bordered by Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest and Russia to the northeast and east.
C. Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine were all part of the Soviet Union. But, the Polish People's Republic was formed after World War II and dominated politically and militarily by the USSR until it broke away in 1989. Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine became independent nations after the USSR broke up in 1990.
A. With a population of 1.9 million people, Minsk is also the largest city in Belarus. Riga is the capital of Latvia; Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania; and Warsaw is the capital of Poland.
D. The three small Baltic Sea nations are military allies of the United States in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). And, they are members of the European Union (EU) which also use the Euro as their currency. Baltic nation leaders are wary of Putin who would like to weaken both NATO and the EU.