View source for Brest, Belarus

{{other uses|Brest (disambiguation)}}
{{Redirect2|Brześć|Brest-Litovsk|other uses|Brześć (disambiguation)|the treaty|Treaty of Brest-Litovsk}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2018}}
{{Infobox settlement
| settlement_type    = [[List of cities and largest towns in Belarus|City]]
| name               = Brest
| native_name        = {{native name|be|Брэст}}<br />{{native name|ru|Брест}}
| image_skyline      = Brest BY collage.jpg
| image_flag         = Berastre stiag.svg
| flag_size          = 150px
| image_shield       = Coat of Arms of Brest, Belarus.svg
| shield_size        = 75px
| mapsize            = 230px
| map_caption        = Location of Brest in Belarus
| pushpin_map        = Belarus
| pushpin_relief     = 1
| coordinates        = {{Coord|52|08|05|N|23|39|25|E|region:BY-BR_tpe:city(363,000)|display=it}}
| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = [[Belarus]]
| subdivision_type1  = [[Regions of Belarus|Region]]
| subdivision_name1  = [[Brest Region]]
| leader_title       = Chairman of the Brest City Executive Committee
| leader_name        = Siarhiej Labadzinski
| leader_title1      = Chairman of the Brest City Council of Deputies
| leader_name1       = Mikalaj Krasouski
| established_title  = First mentioned
| established_date   = 1019
| established_title2 = [[Magdeburg rights|Magdeburg city rights]]
| established_date2  = 1390<ref name=jb/>
| area_magnitude     = 
| area_total_km2     = 145
| area_land_km2      = 
| area_water_km2     = 
| population_as_of   = 2025
| population_note    = 
| population_footnotes = <ref name="pop">{{cite web|url=https://www.belstat.gov.by/ofitsialnaya-statistika/solialnaya-sfera/naselenie-i-migratsiya/naselenie/statisticheskie-izdaniya/index_148168/|title=Численность населения на 1 января 2025 г. и среднегодовая численность населения за 2024 год по Республике Беларусь в разрезе областей, районов, городов, поселков городского типа|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250329210112/https://www.belstat.gov.by/ofitsialnaya-statistika/solialnaya-sfera/naselenie-i-migratsiya/naselenie/statisticheskie-izdaniya/index_148168/|archive-date=29 March 2025|website=belsat.gov.by|access-date=30 April 2025}}</ref>
| population_total   = 346,061
| population_metro   = 
| population_density_km2 = auto
| timezone           = [[Moscow Time|MSK]]
| utc_offset         = +3
| elevation_m        = 280.4
| postal_code_type   = Postal code
| postal_code        = 224000
| area_code          = +375 (0)162
| blank_name         = License plate
| blank_info         = 1
| website            = {{website|https://city-brest.gov.by/en/|city-brest.gov.by}}
| footnotes          = 
}}

'''Brest''',{{efn|{{langx|be|Брэст}} {{IPA|be|brɛst|}}; {{langx|ru|Брест}} {{IPA|ru|brʲest|}}; {{langx|uk|Берестя|Berestia}}, {{IPA|uk|beˈrɛsʲtʲɐ||LL-Q8798 (ukr)-Tohaomg-Берестя.wav||}}; {{langx|lt|Brasta}}; {{langx|pl|Brześć}} {{IPA|pl|bʐɛɕt͡ɕ||LL-Q809 (pol)-Olaf-Brześć.wav|}}; {{langx|yi|בריסק|Brisk}}.}} formerly '''Brest-Litovsk'''{{efn|{{langx|ru|links=no|Брест-Литовск|lit=Lithuanian Brest}}; [[Taraškievica]] {{langx|be|links=no|translit=Bieraście Litoŭskaje|Берасьце Літоўскае}}; {{langx|lt|links=no|Lietuvos Brasta}}; {{langx|pl|links=no|Brześć Litewski}}; {{Langx|yi|links=no|בריסק דליטא}}.}} and '''Brest-on-the-Bug''',{{efn|{{langx|pl|links=no|Brześć nad Bugiem}}.}} is a city in south-western [[Belarus]] at the border with [[Poland]] opposite the Polish town of [[Terespol]], where the [[Bug (river)|Bug]] and [[Mukhavets]] rivers meet, making it a [[border town]]. It serves as the administrative center of [[Brest Region]] and [[Brest District]], though it is administratively separated from the district.<ref name="pop"/> {{As of|2025|post=,}} it has a population of 346,061.<ref name="pop"/>

Brest is one of the oldest cities in Belarus and a historical site for many cultures, as it hosted important historical events, such as the [[Union of Brest]] and [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]]. Furthermore, the [[Brest Fortress]] was recognized by the [[Soviet Union]] as a [[Hero Fortress]] in honour of the [[defense of Brest Fortress]] in June 1941.

In the [[High Middle Ages]], the city often passed between Poland, the principalities of [[Kievan Rus']], and the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]]. From the [[Late Middle Ages]], the city was part of Lithuania, which later became a part of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] from 1569. In 1795, it was incorporated into the [[Russian Empire]] with the [[Third Partition of Poland]]. After the [[Polish-Soviet War]], the city became part of the [[Second Polish Republic]]. In 1939, the city was captured by [[Nazi Germany]] during the [[invasion of Poland]] and then transferred to the Soviet Union per the [[German–Soviet Frontier Treaty]]. In 1941, it was retaken by the Germans during [[Operation Barbarossa]]. In 1944, it was retaken by the Soviet [[Red Army]] during the [[Lublin–Brest offensive]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.brest-belarus.com/History_1900_2005.shtml#section10 |title=BREST-LITOVSK, BREST, BRISK, BRESTYE, BERESTIE, BERESTOV, BRZESC, sometimes Russia or Poland and now Belarus - Jewish Genealogy - Searching for our ancestors |website=www.brest-belarus.com |access-date=11 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050509081415/http://www.brest-belarus.com/History_1900_2005.shtml#section10 |archive-date=9 May 2005 |url-status=usurped}}</ref> The city was part of the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Byelorussian SSR]], and since the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|breakup of the Soviet Union]] in 1991, Brest has been part of independent Belarus.

==Etymology==
Several theories attempt to explain the origin of the city's name. The name could originate from Slavic root ''berest'' '[[elm]]'. It could likewise have come from the [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] word ''brasta'' '[[ford (crossing)|ford]]'.<ref>[[Encyclopedia Lituanica]]. [[Boston, Massachusetts]], Vol. I, p. 409. LCC74-114275</ref>

Traditionally, Belarusian speakers called the city {{lang|be|Берасце}} ({{lang|be-Latn|Bieraście}}), similar to the Ukrainian name {{lang|uk|Берестя}} ({{lang|uk|Berestia}}).

Once a center of Jewish scholarship, the city has the [[Yiddish language|Yiddish]] name {{lang|yi|{{Script/Hebrew|בריסק}}}} ({{lang|yi-Latn|Brisk}}), hence the term [[Brisk tradition and Soloveitchik dynasty|"Brisker"]] used to describe followers of the influential [[Soloveitchik]] family of [[rabbi]]s.

Brest became a part of the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] in 1319.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Auzias |first1= Dominique |last2= Labourdette |first2= Jean-Paul |chapter= Brest et sa région |title= Biélorussie |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=GTMVnlCyezAC |series= Country Guides |publisher= Petit Futé |date= 2010 |page= 121 |isbn= 9782746937796 |quote= {{lang|fr|D'abord russe, ensuite polonaise, en 1319, Brest est conquis par le prince Gedimin et rattaché au grand-duché de Lituanie.}} [At first Russian, then Polish, Brest in 1319 was conquered by Prince [[Gediminas]] and absorbed into the grand Duchy of Lithuania.]}}</ref> In the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] formed in 1569, the town became known in [[Polish language|Polish]] as {{lang|pl| Brześć}}, historically {{lang|pl|Brześć Litewski}} (literally: "Lithuanian Brest", in contradistinction to [[Brześć Kujawski]]). {{lang|pl|Brześć|italics= no}} became part of the [[Russian Empire]] under the name {{lang|ru-Latn|Brest-Litovsk}} or {{lang|ru-Latn|Brest-Litovskii}} ({{langx|ru|Брест-Литовск}}, {{lang|ru|Брест-Литовский}}, literally "Lithuanian Brest") in the course of the [[Third Partition of Poland|Third Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]] in 1795. After World War I, and the rebirth of Poland in 1918, the government of the [[Second Polish Republic]] renamed the city as {{lang|ru-Latn|Brześć nad Bugiem}} ("Brest on the Bug") on 20 March 1923.<ref>Kancelaria Sejmu RP (2013), [http://isap.sejm.gov.pl/DetailsServlet?id=WDU19230390269 Dz.U. 1923 nr 39 poz. 269 ] ISAP Archive. Link to PDF document.</ref> After World War II, the city became part of the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic]] with the name simplified as Brest.

Brest's coat of arms, adopted on 26 January 1991, features an arrow pointed upwards and a bow (both silver) on a sky-blue shield. An alternative coat of arms has a red shield. [[Sigismund II Augustus]], King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, first granted Brest a coat of arms in 1554.

==History==
[[File:Brest Lm.jpg|thumb|upright|left|In 1019, Brest was first mentioned in chronicles as "''Berestye''"]]
As a town, Brest – ''Berestij'' in [[Kievan Rus]] – was first mentioned in the ''[[Primary Chronicle]]'' in 1019 when the [[Kievan Rus']] took the stronghold from the Poles. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.minskguide.travel/about_belarus/brest_the_third_oldest_city_of_belarus.html|title=Brest as a tourist destination – private Minsk tours|date=20 June 2011|access-date=13 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318223102/http://www.minskguide.travel/about_belarus/brest_the_third_oldest_city_of_belarus.html|archive-date=18 March 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> It was hotly contested between the Polish rulers (kings, principal dukes and dukes of [[Masovia]]) and Kievan Rus princes. It was recaptured by Poland in 1020, and [[Yaroslav the Wise's attack on Brest|unsuccessfully besieged]] by Prince [[Yaroslav the Wise]] of Kiev in 1022. It was captured by Yaroslav the Wise, according to various sources, either in 1042{{sfn|Mondalski|1929|p=43}} or 1044,<ref name=sgk399/> then by 1076 recaptured by King [[Bolesław II the Bold]] of Poland,<ref name=sgk399/> but then lost again by his successor [[Władysław I Herman]]. Afterwards, it often passed between the principalities of [[Principality of Turov|Turov]] and [[Principality of Volhynia|Volhynia]].{{sfn|Mondalski|1929|p=43}} In 1164, it was briefly captured by Lithuanians.{{sfn|Mondalski|1929|p=43}} In 1178, it was captured by [[Casimir II the Just]] of Poland, and made the seat of his fraternal nephew [[Leszek, Duke of Masovia]], who, however, soon lost it to the [[Principality of Minsk]]. In 1182, Casimir II the Just captured the city once again, and built a castle there,{{sfn|Mondalski|1929|p=43}}<ref name=sgk399/> and then granted it as a [[fief]] to his sororal nephew [[Roman the Great]] the following year. From 1199 it was ruled by the [[Principality of Galicia–Volhynia]],<ref>{{cite book|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Вялікае Княства Літоўскае. Энцыклапедыя|volume=1|year=2007|language=be|location=Minsk|page=313|isbn=978-985-11-0393-1}}</ref> remaining under Polish suzerainty until 1205, when Roman the Great rebelled against Poland, but was [[killed in action]] in the [[Battle of Zawichost]].{{sfn|Mondalski|1929|p=43}} Passing under Polish suzerainty again, in 1207, it was granted by [[Leszek the White]] as a fief to Princess [[Anna-Euphrosyne]] and her children.<ref name=pocz>{{cite web|url=https://www.poczet.com/bialy.htm|title=Leszek I Biały|website=Poczet.com|language=pl|access-date=19 October 2024}}</ref> From 1210, it was directly part of Poland, until it passed to Galicia–Volhynia either in 1215<ref>{{cite book|last=Droba|first=Ludwik|title=Stosunki Leszka Białego z Rusią i Węgrami|year=1881|language=pl|publisher=[[Uniwersytet Jagielloński]]|location=Kraków|page=37}}</ref> or 1217.<ref name=pocz/> In 1220, it passed to the [[Principality of Turov|Principality of Pinsk]] as a fief of Galicia–Volhynia.{{sfn|Mondalski|1929|p=45}} It was laid waste by the [[Mongol Empire|Mongols]] in 1241, and was not rebuilt until 1275. Possibly since the 1270s, the city was contested by the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] and the [[Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Halecki|first=Oskar|year=2013|title=Dzieje Unii Jagiellońskiej. Tom I. W wiekach średnich|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=Instytut Historyczny [[University of Warsaw|Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego]], Wydawnictwo Neriton|page=46|isbn=978-83-7543-277-0}}</ref>

===Grand Duchy of Lithuania===
In 1319, the city became part of the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]], and Grand Duke [[Gediminas]] stayed in the city in the winter of 1319–1320, preparing to capture [[Kyiv]].<ref name=sgk399/>{{sfn|Mondalski|1929|p=47}} In 1349, it was captured by King [[Casimir III of Poland]], however, it was restored to Lithuania in 1352.<ref>Halecki, p. 71</ref> Its suburbs were burned by the [[Teutonic Order]] in 1379. In 1385, it became part of the [[Polish–Lithuanian union]]. During the [[Lithuanian Civil War (1389–1392)]], in 1390, the city was captured by Polish forces of [[Władysław II Jagiełło]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Halecki|first=Oskar|year=2013|title=Dzieje Unii Jagiellońskiej. Tom I. W wiekach średnich|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=Instytut Historyczny [[University of Warsaw|Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego]], Wydawnictwo Neriton|pages=133–134|isbn=978-83-7543-277-0}}</ref>

In 1390, Brześć became the second city in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (after the capital [[Vilnius]]), and the first in the lands that now are Belarus, to receive [[Magdeburg rights]].<ref name=jb>{{cite magazine|last=Bardach|first=Juliusz|title=Miasta na prawie magdeburskim w Wielkim Księstwie Litewskim od schyłku XIV do połowy XVII stulecia|magazine=Kwartalnik Historyczny|volume=87|issue=1|year=1980|language=pl|page=25}}</ref> Given its proximity to Poland, it was a significant centre for trade with Poland.<ref name=jb/>

In 1409 it was a meeting place of King [[Władysław II Jagiełło]], Grand Duke [[Vytautas|Vytautas the Great]] and Khan [[Jalal al-Din Khan ibn Tokhtamysh]] under the Polish [[Chancellor (Poland)|Deputy Chancellor]] [[Mikołaj Trąba]]'s initiative, to prepare for [[Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War|war with the Teutonic Knights]], which resulted in the Tatars aiding Poland and Lithuania in the [[Battle of Grunwald]] the following year.<ref name=sgk399/><ref>Halecki, p. 190</ref>{{sfn|Mondalski|1929|p=53}} In 1410 the city mustered a cavalry banner that participated in the [[Military of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Polish-Lithuanian military]] victory at Grunwald.

In 1419 it became a seat of the [[starost]] in the newly created [[Trakai Voivodeship]]. Under Władysław II and Vytautas the city was significantly developed and granted privileges similar to those of the Polish city of [[Lublin]].<ref name=sgk399>{{cite book|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom I|year=1880|language=pl|location=Warszawa|page=399}}</ref>{{sfn|Mondalski|1929|pp=51, 53}} In 1425, the city hosted a congress attended by Władysław II, Vytautas, dukes of [[Masovia]] and Polish and Lithuanian nobles.<ref>Halecki, p. 229</ref> In 1440, a [[Sejm of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] was held in the city, at which [[Casimir IV Jagiellon]] was chosen Grand Duke of Lithuania.<ref name=sgk399/>{{sfn|Mondalski|1929|p=53}} In 1446, a meeting of Casimir IV, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and Polish senators regarding the political affiliation of [[Volhynia]] took place in the city, and in 1454 Casimir IV met with Lithuanian nobility to convince them to participate in the [[Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466)|Polish–Teutonic War]] on the side of Poland.<ref name=sgk399/>{{sfn|Mondalski|1929|pp=53, 55}}

===Polish—Lithuanian Commonwealth===
[[File:Brest Bible - title page (67678265).jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Brest Bible]] from 1563, the second complete [[Bible translation into Polish]]]]
In 1500, it was burned again by [[Crimean Tatars]]. From 1513, the city was administratively located in the [[Podlaskie Voivodeship (1513–1795)|Podlaskie Voivodeship]]. In 1563, the [[Brest Bible]], the second complete [[Bible translation into Polish]] and the first such Protestant translation, was published in the city. In 1566, following the decree of [[Sigismund II Augustus]], a new [[Voivodeships of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth|voivodeship]] was created – [[Brest Litovsk Voivodeship]].

During the union of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] and the [[Swedish Empire]] under king [[Sigismund III Vasa]] ([[Polish–Swedish union]]), diets were held there. In 1594 and 1596, it was the meeting-place of two remarkable councils of regional bishops of the [[Roman-Catholic Church]] and [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]. The 1596 council [[Union of Brest|established]] the [[Uniate Church]] (also known as the [[Belarusian Greek Catholic Church]] in Belarus and [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church]] in [[Ukraine]]). A [[Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] was held in the city in 1653.<ref>{{cite book|last=Konopczyński|first=Władysław|year=1948|title=Chronologia sejmów polskich 1493–1793|language=pl|location=Kraków|publisher=[[Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences|Polska Akademia Umiejętności]]|page=153}}</ref> A royal mint was founded in the city by King [[John II Casimir Vasa]] in 1665.

[[File:Bieraście Litoŭskaje. Берасьце Літоўскае (E. Dahlbergh, 1657) (2).jpg|thumb|Siege of Brześć by [[Erik Dahlbergh|E. Dahlbergh]], 1657]]

In 1657, and again in 1706, the town and castle were captured by the [[Swedish Army]] during its [[Polish–Swedish wars|invasions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]]. Then, in an attack from the other direction, on 13 January 1660, the invading [[Streltsy]] of the [[Tsardom of Russia]] under [[Ivan Andreyevich Khovansky (Tararui)|Ivan Andreyevich Khovansky]] took the [[Brest Castle (Belarus)|Brest Castle]] in an early morning surprise attack, the town having been captured earlier, and massacred the 1,700 defenders and their families (according to an Austrian observer, Captain Rosestein).

====Partitions====
On 23 July 1792, the defending [[Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army]], under the leadership of [[Szymon Zabiełło]], and the invading [[Imperial Russian Army]] fought a battle near Brześć. On 19 September 1794, the area between Brest and [[Terespol]] was the site of another [[Battle of Brest (1794)|battle]] won by the Russian invaders led by [[Alexander Suvorov]] over a Polish-Lithuanian division under General Karol Sierakowski. Thereafter, Brest was annexed by Russia when [[Third Partition of Poland|the Poland-Lithuania Commonwealth was partitioned for the third time]] in 1795.

===19th century to World War I===
[[File:Bieraście, Buh, Terespalski most. Берасьце, Буг, Тэрэспальскі мост (M. Zaleski, 1846).jpg|thumb|left|[[Brest Fortress]] on a painting by [[Marcin Zaleski]] from 1846]]
During Russian rule in the 19th century, [[Brest Fortress]] was built in and around the city. The Russians demolished the [[Brest Castle (Belarus)|Polish Royal Castle]] and most of the Old Town "to make room" for the fortress.{{Citation needed|date=October 2012}} The main Jewish synagogue in the city, the [[Choral Synagogue (Brest)|Choral Synagogue]], was completed c. 1862. In 1895, a massive fire rendered 15,000 people homeless, and dozens were killed.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1895-05-19 |title=Brest-Litovsk's Disastrous Fire. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1895/05/19/archives/brestlitovsks-disastrous-fire.html |access-date=2024-08-28 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

During [[World War I]], the town was captured by the [[Imperial German Army]] under [[August von Mackensen]] on 25 August 1915, during the [[Great Retreat (Russian)|Great Retreat of 1915]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robson |first=Stuart |url=http://archive.org/details/firstworldwar0000robs_r5x1 |title=The First World War |publisher=Pearson Longman |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-4058-2471-2 |edition=1 |location=Harrow, England |pages=30 |language=en |ref=None |via=Archive Foundation}}</ref> Shortly after Brest fell into German hands, [[war poet]] [[August Stramm]], who has been called "the first of the [[Expressionist]]s" and one of "the most innovative poets of the First World War,"<ref>Tim Cross (1988) ''The Lost Voices of World War I'', page 124.</ref> was shot in the head during an attack on nearby Russian positions on 1 September 1915.

[[File:bfc Brest train station.jpg|thumb|Brest railway station during [[World War I]], c. 1915]]
In March 1918, in the [[Brest Fortress]] at the confluence of the [[Bug (river)|Bug]] and [[Mukhavets]] rivers on the city' western outskirts, the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (Russia–Central Powers)|Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]] was signed, ending the war between [[Soviet Russia]] and the [[Central Powers]] and transferring the city and its surrounding region to the [[Ober Ost|sphere of influence]] of the [[German Empire]]. This treaty was subsequently annulled by the [[Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920)|Paris Peace Conference]] treaties which ended the war and even more so by events and developments in [[Central and Eastern Europe]]. During 1918, the city became a part of the [[Volhynia Governorate]] of the [[Ukrainian People's Republic]] as a result of negotiations and own treaty between the delegation of the [[Ukrainian Central Rada]] and Central Powers.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Ivan Katchanovski|last2= Zenon E.|first2= Kohut|last3= Bohdan Y. |first3= Nebesio|last4= Myroslav|first4= Yurkevich|date= 2013|title= Historical Dictionary of Ukraine|publisher= Scarecrow Press|pages= 60–61|isbn= 9780810878471}}</ref>

===Interwar Poland===
On 9 February 1919, Polish troops entered the city, and it returned to [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]], which regained independence three months earlier.{{sfn|Mondalski|1929|p=96}}{{sfn|Pszczółkowski|2014|p=6}} During the [[Polish–Soviet War]] it was occupied by the Soviet Russians on 1 August 1920,{{sfn|Pszczółkowski|2014|pp=6–7}} and recaptured by the Poles on 20 August,{{sfn|Mondalski|1929|p=96}} with borders formally recognized by the [[Treaty of Riga]] of 1921. In 1921, it became the temporary capital of the [[Polesie Voivodeship]] instead of [[Pińsk]].{{sfn|Pszczółkowski|2014|p=7}}{{sfn|Mondalski|1929|p=97}} It was renamed Brześć nad Bugiem (''Brest on the Bug'') on 20 March 1923.

[[File:Bieraście, Bulvarny, Bank. Берасьце, Бульварны, Банк (1930) (3).jpg|thumb|left|Bank of Poland between the wars]]
The city was developed significantly and a number of representative public buildings were erected in [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] and [[Modern architecture|Modernist]] styles, especially at ''Ulica Unii Lubelskiej'' ([[Union of Lublin]] Street, now Lenin Street), including the Bank of Poland, Tax Chamber, Regional Chamber of the State Control, Healthcare Fund and Voivodeship Office.{{sfn|Pszczółkowski|2014|pp=13, 15, 17, 29-30}} Other notable projects include the officials' housing estate, stylistically inspired by historic [[manor houses of Polish nobility]] and the [[garden city movement]], and the Warburg Residential Colony, dedicated to poor Jews who had lost their homes in World War I, founded by Felix M. Warburg, chairman of the Joint Distribution Committee of American Funds for Jewish War Sufferers.{{sfn|Pszczółkowski|2014|pp=18-21, 30-32}} In 1929, city limits were greatly expanded.<ref>{{Cite Polish law|title=Rozporządzenie Rady Ministrów z dnia 31 maja 1929 r. o rozszerzeniu granic miasta Brześcia n/Bugiem w powiecie brzeskim, województwie poleskiem.|year=1929|volume=43|number=354}}</ref>{{sfn|Pszczółkowski|2014|p=9}}

In the twenty years of Poland's sovereignty, of the total of 36 brand new schools established in the city, there were ten public, and five private [[Jewish day school|Jewish schools]] inaugurated, with [[Yiddish]] and [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] as the language of instruction. The first-ever Jewish school in Brześć history opened in 1920, almost immediately after Poland's return to independence. In 1936 Jews constituted 41.3% of the Brześć population or 21,518 citizens. Some 80.3% of private enterprises were run by Jews.<ref name="Davies">[[Norman Davies]], ''[[God's Playground]]'' (Polish edition), Second volume, p.512-513</ref><ref name="Jerzy Tomaszewski">{{cite book|title=Economic Change and the National Question in Twentieth-century Europe|author=Alice Teichova|author-link=Alice Teichova|author2=Herbert Matis|author3=Jaroslav Pátek|year=2000|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8UVxY-8Xk-sC&q=nowogrodek++++minorities&pg=PA345 | isbn=978-0-521-63037-5 | pages=342–344}}
</ref><ref name="Stosunki">{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20100529211839/http://old.bialorus.pl/index.php?secId=49&docId=57&&Rozdzial=historia Stosunki polsko-białoruskie pod okupacją sowiecką]}}, (''Polish-Byelorussian relations under the Soviet occupation''). ''Bialorus.pl'' {{in lang|pl}}</ref> The [[Polish Army]] troops of the 9th Military District along with its headquarters were stationed in Brześć Fortress.

The city had an overwhelmingly Jewish population during Russian rule: 30,000 out of 45,000 total population according to Russian 1897 census, which fell to 21,000 out of 50,000 according to the [[Polish census of 1931]].<ref>Joshua D. Zimmerman, ''Poles, Jews, and the politics of nationality'', [[University of Wisconsin Press]], 2004, {{ISBN|0-299-19464-7}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=6sbr9cZyw_4C&dq=population+Brest+Poles+Jews&pg=PA16 Google Print, p.16]</ref><ref name=Browning>Christopher R. Browning, ''Nazi policy, Jewish workers, German killers', [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ewncj-TwLycC&dq=population+Brest+Poles+Jews&pg=PA124 Google Print, p.124]</ref>

===World War II===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-121-0011A-23, Polen, Siegesparade, Guderian, Kriwoschein.jpg|thumb|260px|[[German–Soviet military parade in Brest-Litovsk]] at the conclusion of the [[Invasion of Poland]]. In the centre are Major General [[Heinz Guderian]] from the [[Wehrmacht]] and Brigadier [[Semyon Krivoshein]] from the [[Red Army]].]]

In early September 1939, the Polish government evacuated a portion of the Polish [[gold reserve]] from [[Warsaw]] to Brześć, and then further southeast to [[Śniatyn]] at the Poland-[[Romania]] border, from where it was transported via Romania and [[Turkey]] to territory controlled by [[Franco-Polish alliance (1921)|Polish-allied]] [[France]].<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Wróbel|first=Janusz|year=2002|title=Wojenne losy polskiego złota|magazine=Biuletyn Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej|language=pl|publisher=[[Institute of National Remembrance|IPN]]|issue=8-9 (19-20)|pages=55–58|issn=1641-9561}}</ref>

During the German [[Invasion of Poland]] in 1939, the city was defended by a small garrison of four infantry battalions under General [[Konstanty Plisowski]] against General [[Heinz Guderian]]'s [[XIX Army Corps|XIX Panzer Corps]]. After [[Battle of Brześć Litewski|four days of heavy fighting]], the Polish forces withdrew southwards on 17 September. The [[Soviet invasion of Poland]] began on the same day. As a result, the Soviet [[Red Army]] entered the city at the end of September 1939 following the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]]'s Secret Protocol, and a joint [[German–Soviet military parade in Brest-Litovsk|Nazi-Soviet military parade]] took place on 22 September 1939. While Belarusians consider it a reunification of the Belarusian nation under one constituency (the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic]] at that time), Poles consider it the date when the city was lost.

During the [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|Soviet occupation]] (1939–41), the Polish population was subject to arrests, executions and mass deportations to [[Siberia]] and the [[Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic]]. The largest Soviet prison in the Byelorussian SSR was located in the city, and its prisoners were mostly Poles, including politicians, landowners, officers, educators, priests, both locals, including pre-war Polish mayor Franciszek Kolbusz, and people arrested in other places, including former Prime Minister of Poland [[Leopold Skulski]], and Jews fleeing the Germans from western and central Poland.<ref name=sk>{{cite web|url=https://przystanekhistoria.pl/pa2/teksty/74339,Sowieckie-wiezienie-w-Brzesciu-nad-Bugiem-w-latach-1939-1941.html|title=Sowieckie więzienie w Brześciu nad Bugiem w latach 1939-1941|website=Przystanek Historia|author=Sławomir Kalbarczyk|language=pl|date=14 September 2024|access-date=1 January 2025}}</ref> The prison had poor conditions, causing the spread of [[lice]] and [[bed bug]]s, and brutal interrogations, even resulting in two confirmed cases of suicide.<ref name=sk/> In February 1940, there was a mass prison escape in which first 28 people managed to escape, and then Soviet soldiers opened fire on further escapees.<ref name=sk/> Many prisoners were eventually moved to a prison in [[Minsk]].<ref name=ez>{{cite magazine|last=Ziółkowska|first=Ewa|year=2009|title=Kuropaty|magazine=Biuletyn Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej|language=pl|publisher=[[Institute of National Remembrance|IPN]]|issue=1–2 (96–97)|page=51|issn=1641-9561}}</ref> It is suspected that they were murdered by the Soviets in the [[Katyn massacre]] in 1940.<ref name=ez/>

{{further|Brześć Ghetto|The Holocaust in the Brest District}}
[[File:Kuibyshev street (ul Dluga) - Holocaust memorial 1b.jpg|thumb|Holocaust memorial]]
On 22 June 1941, [[Brest Fortress]] and the city were attacked by [[Nazi Germany]] on the first day of [[Operation Barbarossa]], [[Nazi Germany]]'s invasion of the [[Soviet Union]]. The fortress [[Defense of Brest Fortress|held out for six days]]. Nearly all its Soviet army defenders perished. The Germans placed Brest under the administration of the ''[[Reichskommissariat Ukraine]]''. The remaining municipal Jewish population (about 20,000) was sequestered in the [[Brześć Ghetto]] established by the German authorities in December 1941 and later murdered in October 1942. Only seven Jews survived the Nazi executions.<ref name=Browning/>

The Germans also operated a Nazi prison, a [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced labour]] "education" camp for men and women, a forced labour camp for Jews, the AGSSt 3 prisoner-of-war assembly center, the Dulag 314 transit [[German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II|POW camp]] for [[Italian Military Internees|Italians]], the Stalag 397 POW camp for Soviet POWs and a subcamp of the Stalag 360 POW camp in the city.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=545|title=Gefängnis Brest-Litowsk|website=Bundesarchiv.de|access-date=30 September 2023|language=de}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=543|title=Arbeitserziehungslager Brest|website=Bundesarchiv.de|access-date=30 September 2023|language=de}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=544|title=Zwangsarbeitslager für Juden Brest|website=Bundesarchiv.de|access-date=30 September 2023|language=de}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Megargee|first1=Geoffrey P.|last2=Overmans|first2=Rüdiger|last3=Vogt|first3=Wolfgang|year=2022|title=The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV|publisher=Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|pages=39, 117, 363, 385–386|isbn=978-0-253-06089-1}}</ref>

The [[Polish resistance movement in World War II|Polish resistance movement]], including the Polesie District of the [[Home Army]], was active in the city.

The city was re-occupied by the [[Red Army]] on 28 July 1944, and eventually annexed from Poland the following year.

===Post-war period===
In 1945, the ''Związek Obrońców Wolności'' ("Freedom Defenders Association") Polish resistance organization was founded in the city, with its activities including secret Polish schooling, rescuing historical Polish monuments from devastation and organising aid for repressed people and those in a difficult material situation.<ref name=kktl>{{cite magazine|last1=Krajewski|first1=Kazimierz|last2=Łabuszewski|first2=Tomasz|year=2009|title=Ostatni obrońcy Kresow Połnocno-Wschodnich|magazine=Biuletyn Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej|language=pl|publisher=IPN|issue=1–2 (96–97)|pages=105–106|issn=1641-9561}}</ref> The organization was crushed by the [[NKVD]] in 1948, and its members were deported to [[Gulag]] [[Forced labor in the Soviet Union|forced labour]] camps for 25 years.<ref name=kktl/>

In early 2019, a mass grave containing the remains of 1,214 people were found in the Brest Ghetto area during a construction project. Most are believed to have been Jews murdered by Nazis.<ref>{{cite news |last=Liphshiz |first=Cnaan |date=22 February 2019 |title=Remains of Hundreds of Bodies Unearthed at Former Jewish Ghetto in Belarus |url=https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Antisemitism/Remains-of-hundreds-of-bodies-unearthed-at-former-Jewish-ghetto-in-Belarus-581444 |newspaper=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |access-date=28 February 2019 |agency=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-date=28 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228094349/https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Antisemitism/Remains-of-hundreds-of-bodies-unearthed-at-former-Jewish-ghetto-in-Belarus-581444 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/27/world/europe/belarus-holocaust-mass-grave.html
|first=Andrew
|last=Higgins
|website=[[New York Times]]
|access-date=11 June 2021
|url-status=bot: unknown
|date=27 April 2019
|title=Belarus Building Site Yields the Bones of 1,214 Holocaust Victims
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512120257/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/27/world/europe/belarus-holocaust-mass-grave.html
|archive-date=12 May 2021
}}</ref>

==Geography==
Brest lies astride the [[Mukhavets]] River which flows west through the city, dividing it into north and south, and meets the [[Bug (river)|Bug River]] in the Brest Fortress. The river flows slowly and gently. Today the river looks quite broad in Brest. The terrain is fairly flat around Brest. The river has an extremely broad [[floodplain]], that is about {{convert|2|to|3|km|0|abbr=off}} across. Brest was subject to flooding in the past. One of the worst floods in recorded history occurred in 1974.{{Citation needed|date=October 2012}}

Part of the [[floodplain]] was reclaimed with [[hydraulic mining]]. In the 1980s, big cutter-suction [[dredgers]] mined sand and clay from the riverbed to build up the banks.{{Citation needed|date=November 2012}}

In the 2000s, two new residential areas were developed in the southwest of Brest.

To the east of Brest, the [[Dnieper–Bug Canal]] was built in the mid-nineteenth century to join the river to [[Pina (river)|Pina]], a tributary of the [[Pripyat (river)|Pripyat River]] which in turn drains into the [[Dnieper]]. Thus Brest has a shipping route all the way to the [[Black Sea]]. If not for a dam and neglected [[weir]]s west of Brest, north-western European shipping would be connected with the Black Sea also.

==Climate==
Brest has a [[humid continental climate]] but slightly leans towards oceanic due to the irregular winter temperatures that mostly hover around the freezing point. However, summers are warm and influenced by its inland position compared to areas nearer the [[Baltic Sea]].

{{Weather box
|location = Brest (1991–2020, extremes 1888–present)
|single line = Yes
|metric first = Yes
|Jan record high C = 15.9
|Feb record high C = 17.2
|Mar record high C = 24.7
|Apr record high C = 30.7
|May record high C = 32.1
|Jun record high C = 34.3
|Jul record high C = 36.6
|Aug record high C = 36.7
|Sep record high C = 34.4
|Oct record high C = 26.4
|Nov record high C = 19.0
|Dec record high C = 14.5
|year record high C = 36.7
|Jan high C = 0.0
|Feb high C = 1.7
|Mar high C = 7.0
|Apr high C = 14.4
|May high C = 20.2
|Jun high C = 23.5
|Jul high C = 25.6
|Aug high C = 25.0
|Sep high C = 19.2
|Oct high C = 12.6
|Nov high C = 6.0
|Dec high C = 1.4
|year high C = 13.1
|Jan mean C = -2.3
|Feb mean C = -1.2
|Mar mean C = 2.7
|Apr mean C = 9.2
|May mean C = 14.5
|Jun mean C = 18.0
|Jul mean C = 19.9
|Aug mean C = 19.2
|Sep mean C = 13.9
|Oct mean C = 8.4
|Nov mean C = 3.4
|Dec mean C = -0.8
|year mean C = 8.7
|Jan low C = -4.5
|Feb low C = -3.8
|Mar low C = -0.8
|Apr low C = 4.3
|May low C = 9.1
|Jun low C = 12.6
|Jul low C = 14.7
|Aug low C = 13.9
|Sep low C = 9.4
|Oct low C = 5.0
|Nov low C = 1.2
|Dec low C = -2.9
|year low C = 4.9
|Jan record low C = -35.5
|Feb record low C = -28.1
|Mar record low C = -22.6
|Apr record low C = -6.2
|May record low C = -4.2
|Jun record low C = 2.1
|Jul record low C = 5.8
|Aug record low C = 1.3
|Sep record low C = -2.8
|Oct record low C = -9.9
|Nov record low C = -19.2
|Dec record low C = -25.1
|year record low C = -35.5
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 36
|Feb precipitation mm = 35
|Mar precipitation mm = 33
|Apr precipitation mm = 39
|May precipitation mm = 67
|Jun precipitation mm = 68
|Jul precipitation mm = 83
|Aug precipitation mm = 62
|Sep precipitation mm = 56
|Oct precipitation mm = 42
|Nov precipitation mm = 39
|Dec precipitation mm = 40
|year precipitation mm = 600
|Jan snow depth cm = 6
|Feb snow depth cm = 7
|Mar snow depth cm = 3
|Apr snow depth cm = 0
|May snow depth cm = 0
|Jun snow depth cm = 0
|Jul snow depth cm = 0
|Aug snow depth cm = 0
|Sep snow depth cm = 0
|Oct snow depth cm = 0
|Nov snow depth cm = 1
|Dec snow depth cm = 4
|year snow depth cm = 7
|Jan humidity = 85
|Feb humidity = 82
|Mar humidity = 75
|Apr humidity = 66
|May humidity = 66
|Jun humidity = 69
|Jul humidity = 70
|Aug humidity = 71
|Sep humidity = 78
|Oct humidity = 81
|Nov humidity = 86
|Dec humidity = 87
|year humidity = 76
|Jan rain days = 11
|Feb rain days = 9
|Mar rain days = 12
|Apr rain days = 12
|May rain days = 16
|Jun rain days = 16
|Jul rain days = 16
|Aug rain days = 12
|Sep rain days = 15
|Oct rain days = 14
|Nov rain days = 14
|Dec rain days = 13
|year rain days = 160
|Jan snow days = 16
|Feb snow days = 16
|Mar snow days = 10
|Apr snow days = 3
|May snow days = 0.1
|Jun snow days = 0
|Jul snow days = 0
|Aug snow days = 0
|Sep snow days = 0
|Oct snow days = 1
|Nov snow days = 7
|Dec snow days = 14
|year snow days = 67
|Jan sun = 43.3
|Feb sun = 64.6
|Mar sun = 139.4
|Apr sun = 198.6
|May sun = 267.9
|Jun sun = 282.1
|Jul sun = 284.7
|Aug sun = 268.0
|Sep sun = 182.4
|Oct sun = 119.6
|Nov sun = 49.1
|Dec sun = 35.8
|year sun = 
|Jan percentsun = 19
|Feb percentsun = 25
|Mar percentsun = 36
|Apr percentsun = 42
|May percentsun = 51
|Jun percentsun = 52
|Jul percentsun = 52
|Aug percentsun = 54
|Sep percentsun = 45
|Oct percentsun = 36
|Nov percentsun = 18
|Dec percentsun = 14
|year percentsun = 41
|source 1 = Pogoda.ru.net<ref name=pogoda>{{cite web | url = http://www.pogodaiklimat.ru/climate/33008.htm | title = Weather and Climate- The Climate of Brest | publisher = Weather and Climate (Погода и климат) | language = ru | access-date = 8 November 2021}}</ref>
|source 2 =[[NOAA]],<ref name=NOAA>
{{cite web |url=https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/2.2/data/0-data/Region-2-WMO-Normals-9120/Belarus/XLS/BREST_33008.csv|title=Brest Climate Normals 1991–2020 |publisher=[[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] |access-date=1 November 2023 }}</ref>  Belarus Department of Hydrometeorology (percent sun from 1949–1951 and 1953–2000)<ref>{{cite web
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170426031859/http://www.pogoda.by/climat-directory/?page=289
|archive-date = 26 April 2017
|url = http://www.pogoda.by/climat-directory/?page=289
|title = Солнечное сияние. Обобщения III часть: Таблица 2.1. Характеристики продолжительности и суточный ход (доли часа) солнечного сияния. Продолжение.
|publisher = Department of Hydrometeorology
|language = ru
|access-date = 25 April 2017}}</ref>
|date=October 2012}}

==Demographics==
{{historical populations|1897|46568|7=1939|8=41400|9=1959|10=73614|11=1970|12=121629|13=1979|14=177249|15=1989|16=258016|17=1999|18=286400|19=2009|20=309764|21=2019|22=338979|23=2024|24=344470|align=left|cols=2|source=pop-stat.mashke.org<ref>{{cite web|title=Cities & Towns of Belarus|url=http://pop-stat.mashke.org/belarus-cities.htm|date=2024-04-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.belstat.gov.by/ofitsialnaya-statistika/solialnaya-sfera/naselenie-i-migratsiya/naselenie/statisticheskie-izdaniya/index_89355/|title=Численность населения на 1 января 2024 г. и среднегодовая численность населения за 2023 год по Республике Беларусь в разрезе областей, районов, городов, поселков городского типа|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240402055418/https://www.belstat.gov.by/ofitsialnaya-statistika/solialnaya-sfera/naselenie-i-migratsiya/naselenie/statisticheskie-izdaniya/index_89355/|archive-date=2 April 2024|website=belsat.gov.by|access-date=12 April 2024}}</ref>}}
{{clear|left}}

==Points of interest==
{{multiple image
| align             = right
| caption_align     = center
| perrow            = 2
| total_width       = 375
| image1            = Brest Fortress Chełm Gate 2023-02-18 2774.jpg
| image2            = Костел Крестовоздвиженский. вид 2.jpg
| image3            = Брестская областная филармония.jpg
| image4            = Восень - panoramio.jpg
| image5            = Brest Railway Museum ФД20-1237 Steam Locomotive 2023-03-05 3151.jpg
| image6            = Brest Academic Drama Theatre 2023-03-05 3129.jpg
| caption1          = Brest Fortress
| caption2          = Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
| caption3          = Brest Regional Philharmonic
| caption4          = [[Brest City Park]]
| caption5          = [[Brest Railway Museum]]
| caption6          = Academic Drama Theatre
}}

A majestic Soviet-era war memorial was constructed on the site of the 1941 battle to commemorate the known and unknown defenders of the Brest Fortress. This war memorial is the largest tourist attraction in the city. The [[Berestye Archeological Museum]] of the old city is located on the southern island of the [[Hero-Fortress]]. It has objects and huts dating from the 11th – 13th century that were unearthed during the 1970s.

The Museum of Rescued Art Treasures has a collection of paintings and icons. [[Brest City Park]] is over 100 years old and underwent renovations from 2004 to 2006 as part of a ceremony marking the park's centennial. In July 2009, the [[Millennium Monument of Brest]] was unveiled. Sovetskaya Street is a popular tourist destination in Brest; it was dramatically reconstructed in 2007–2009. Other important landmarks include the [[Brest Railway Museum]].

==Education==
Brest is home to two universities: [[A.S. Pushkin Brest State University]] and [[Brest State Technical University]]. There is also a branch of [[Belarusian National Technical University]].

Among the secondary specialized educational institutions of the city:

* Brest State Railway College
* Brest State Medical College
* Brest State Musical College named after G. Shirmy
* Brest State Regional College of the Olympic Reserve
* Brest State Polytechnic College - a branch of the Brest State Technical University
* Brest State Professional-Technical College of Instrument Engineering
* Brest State College of Transport and Service
* Brest State College of Light Industry
* Brest State College of Builders
* Brest State Trade and Technology College
* Brest State College of Communications
* Brest State College of Service Industry
* Brest branch of the capital's private educational institution "College of Business and Law."

==Transport==
[[File:Nádraží Brest Centralnyj (Брэст-Цэнтральны).jpg|thumb|Main railway station]]
Being situated on the main railway line connecting Berlin and Moscow, and a [[International E-road network|transcontinental highway]] (the [[M1 highway (Belarus)|M1 highway]] is part of the [[European route E30]] running from [[Cork (city)|Cork]] to [[Omsk]], where it links with [[AH6 (highway)|Asian Highway 6]] leading to [[Busan]]), Brest became a principal border crossing out of the Soviet Union in the postwar era. Today it links the [[European Union]] and the [[Commonwealth of Independent States]].

The city of Brest is served by [[Brest-Tsentralny railway station]]. Because of the [[break-of-gauge]] at Brest, where the Russian [[broad gauge]] meets the European [[standard gauge]], all passenger trains, coming from [[Poland]], must have their [[bogie]]s [[Bogie exchange|replaced]] here, to travel on across [[Belarus]]. The freight must be [[Transloading|transloaded]] from cars of one gauge to cars of another. Some of the land in the Brest rail yards remains contaminated due to the transhipment of [[radioactive]] materials here since Soviet days. However, cleanup operations have been taking place.{{Citation needed|date=October 2012}}

The local airport, [[Brest Airport]] (code BQT), operates flights on a seasonal schedule to [[Khrabrovo Airport|Kaliningrad]]<ref>{{cite news|title=Авиасообщение между Брестом и Калининградом откроется 8 июня|url=http://www.interfax.by/news/belarus/1185220|access-date=4 June 2015|agency=Interfax|publisher=Interfax.by|date=4 June 2015|archive-date=16 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170716112342/https://www.interfax.by/news/belarus/1185220|url-status=dead}}</ref> in the Russian Federation and seasonal charter flights to [[Burgas Airport|Burgas]] and [[Antalya Airport|Antalya]].<ref name=BrestFlights>{{cite news|title=Что нас манит ввысь?|url=http://vb.by/article.php?topic=3&article=20691|access-date=21 June 2013|newspaper=[[Vecherniy Brest]]|date=4 June 2013|archive-date=30 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230234433/http://vb.by/article.php?topic=3&article=20691|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Sport==
[[File:ДАСК "Брэсцкі" - panoramio.jpg|thumb|[[Regional Sport Complex Brestsky]], Brest's largest stadium]]
[[HC Meshkov Brest]] is{{when |date=January 2023}} the most successful team of the [[Belarusian Men's Handball Championship]], as well as the 2018–19 champions. Also, there is a women's handball club in Brest – [[HC Victoria-Berestie]].

[[HK Brest]] of the [[Belarusian Extraleague]] are the local pro hockey team.

Another popular sport in Brest is football. [[FC Dynamo Brest]] is a local club playing in [[Belarusian Premier League]]. 

The sports venues are located on the northern riverside on the [[hydraulic fill]], consisting of an indoor track-and-field centre, the Brest Ice Rink,<ref>{{cite web |last=Geering |title=BREST ICE SPORT PALACE |url=http://www.hockeyarenas.net/index.php?page=3000&ctID=by&size=0&arOrder=arOrt&strSearch=Brest&arID=1174 |access-date=2024-01-03 |website=www.hockeyarenas.net}}</ref> and Belarus' first outdoor baseball stadium. On the opposite riverside is a large rowing course opened in 2007, home of the National Center for Olympic Training in Rowing. It meets international requirements and can host international competitions. Moreover, it has accommodation and training facilities, favourable location, {{convert|3|km|0|abbr=off}} away from the border crossing along Warsaw Highway (the [[European route E30]]).

==Media==
There are some newspapers in Brest: [[Brestskaya Gazeta]], [[Brestskiy Kurier]], [[Vecherniy Brest]].

==International relations==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Belarus}}

===Sister cities===
[[Sister city|Sister cities]] of Brest include:<ref name=twins>{{cite web|title=Города-побратимы (партнеры) Бреста|url=https://city-brest.gov.by/%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B0-%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BC%D1%8B-%D0%BF%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%82%D0%BD%D0%B5%D1%80%D1%8B-%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0/|website=city-brest.gov.by|publisher=Brest|language=be|access-date=12 January 2020|archive-date=27 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181127022449/https://city-brest.gov.by/%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B0-%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BC%D1%8B-%D0%BF%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%82%D0%BD%D0%B5%D1%80%D1%8B-%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
*{{flagicon|RUS}} [[Astrakhan]], Russia
*{{flagicon|RUS}} [[Dorogomilovo District|Dorogomilovo District (Moscow)]], Russia
*{{flagicon|RUS}} [[Izhevsk]], Russia
*{{flagicon|RUS}} [[Kaliningrad]], Russia
*{{flagicon|RUS}} [[Kovrov]], Russia
*{{flagicon|RUS}} [[Malgobek]], Russia
*{{flagicon|RUS}} [[Nevsky District|Nevsky District (Saint Petersburg)]], Russia
*{{flagicon|RUS}} [[Nizhny Tagil]], Russia
*{{flagicon|RUS}} [[Novorossiysk]], Russia
*{{flagicon|RUS}} [[Oryol]], Russia
*{{flagicon|RUS}} [[Petrozavodsk]], Russia
*{{flagicon|RUS}} [[Ryazan]], Russia
*{{flagicon|RUS}} [[Tyumen]], Russia
*{{flagicon|UKR}} [[Ivano-Frankivsk]], Ukraine
*{{flagicon|UKR}} [[Lutsk]], Ukraine
*{{flagicon|UKR}} [[Odesa]], Ukraine
*{{flagicon|POL}} [[Siedlce County]], Poland
*{{flagicon|POL}} [[Gmina Terespol|Terespol]], Poland
*{{flagicon|GER}} [[Baienfurt]], Germany
*{{flagicon|GER}} [[Baindt]], Germany
*{{flagicon|GER}} [[Berg, Baden-Württemberg|Berg]], Germany
*{{flagicon|GER}} [[Ravensburg]], Germany
*{{flagicon|GER}} [[Weingarten, Württemberg|Weingarten]], Germany
*{{flagicon|CHN}} [[Baiyin]], China
*{{flagicon|CHN}} [[Xiaogan]], China
*{{flagicon|GEO}} [[Batumi]], Georgia
*{{flagicon|AZE}} [[Nakhchivan (city)|Nakhchivan]], Azerbaijan
*{{flagicon|NED}} [[Coevorden]], Netherlands
*{{flagicon|FRA}} [[Port-sur-Saône]], France
*{{flagicon|SRB}} [[Subotica]], Serbia
{{div col end}}

Former twin towns:
*{{flagicon|POL}} [[Biała Podlaska]], Poland

In March 2022, the Polish city of Biała Podlaska suspended its partnership with Brest as a reaction to the Belarusian involvement in the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]].<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.wnp.pl/parlamentarny/wydarzenia/biala-podlaska-miasto-zawiesza-wspolprace-z-dwoma-bialoruskimi-miastami,551544.html |language=pl |title=Biała Podlaska: Miasto zawiesza współpracę z dwoma białoruskimi miastami | access-date =13 March 2022}}</ref>

===Other forms of cooperation===
Brest maintains partnership with:<ref name=twins/> <!--they don't list Brest as its twin town-->
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
*{{flagicon|ISR}} [[Ashdod]], Israel
*{{flagicon|ROU}} [[Botoșani]], Romania
*{{flagicon|FRA}} [[Brest, France|Brest]], France
*{{flagicon|LVA}} [[Ludza Municipality|Ludza]], Latvia
*{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Maldon District|Maldon]], England, United Kingdom
*{{flagicon|BUL}} [[Pleven]], Bulgaria
{{div col end}}

==Honours==
A [[minor planet]], [[3232 Brest]], discovered by the Soviet astronomer [[Lyudmila Ivanovna Chernykh]] in 1974, is named after the city.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?q=3232+Brest+1974+SU|title=3232 Brest 1974 SU – Google Search|website=books.google.com}}</ref>

==Notable people==
: {{See also|Category:People from Brest, Belarus}}
[[File:Menachem Begin 1978.jpg|thumb|[[Menachem Begin]]]]

* Rabbi [[Yehoshua Leib Diskin]], Rabbi of Brisk
* [[Menachem Begin]] (1913–1992), Prime Minister of [[Israel]]
* [[Liubov Charkashyna]], Belarusian bronze medallist in the individual all-around rhythmic gymnastics competition at the [[2012 Summer Olympics]]
* [[Alyaksandr Tsvikievich|Aliaksandar Cvikievič]] (1888 – 1937), Belarusian politician, historian, jurist, philosopher and a victim of [[Great Purge|Stalin's purges]]<ref>[http://www.marakou.by/by/davedniki/represavanyya-litaratary/tom-ii?id=19865 ЦВІКЕВІЧ Аляксандр Іванавіч (Tsvikievich Alyaksandr Ivanavich)](in Belarusian)</ref> 
* [[Jarosław Dąbrowski]], Polish revolutionary and general
* [[David Dubinsky]], head of the [[International Ladies Garment Workers' Union]]
* [[Andrej Dyńko]] (b. 1974), journalist and editor<ref>[https://baj.by/en/content/andrej-dynko-nasa-niva-released-pledge-report-when-ordered Andrej Dyńko of Naša Niva released on pledge to report when ordered]</ref>
* [[Louis Gruenberg]], composer
* [[Nikolay Karpol]], Russian women's volleyball coach
* [[Jerzy Kolendo]], Polish classical archaeologist and historian
* [[Harry Kopp]] (1880–1943), American lawyer and politician
* [[Pyotr Masherov]], secretary of Belarusian committee of the Communist Party of Soviet Union
* [[Yulia Nesterenko]], Olympian women's 100 m champion
* Dzmitryj Rubašeŭski (nom de guerre (“Hans”))(1992-2022), Belarusian volunteer [[Belarusian involvement in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine|killed in action]] defending Ukraine during [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine|the 2022 Russian invasion]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Страціў вока на вайне. Як загінуў ва Ўкраіне беларускі добраахвотнік Зьміцер "Ганс" Рубашэўскі (Lost an eye on the war. How the Belarusian volunteer Dzmitryj "Hans" Rubašeŭski died in Ukraine) Радыё Свабода (Radio Liberty) (in Belarusian) |url=https://www.svaboda.org/a/31801069.html |access-date=14 May 2022}}</ref>
* [[Nathan Sharon]] (1925–2011), Israeli biochemist, expert on lectins
* [[Gennady Shutov|Hienadz Shutau]] (1975 – 2020), a protestor killed during the protests against the [[2020 Belarusian presidential election]]<ref>[https://charter97.org/en/news/2020/8/20/390273/ "They Don't Give Us Dad's Body Without Permission of the Investigative Committee"]</ref>
* The [[Soloveitchik]] rabbinical family associated with the [[Brisk yeshivas]], and descendant Rabbi [[Yosef Dov Soloveitchik (Beis Halevi)|Yoseph Soloveitchik]]
* [[David B. Steinman]], American structural engineer; the designer of the [[Mackinac Bridge]] called "Big Mac"
* [[Nadzeja Sznarkiewicz]] (1897–1974), feminist writer and teacher 
* Rabbi [[Aaron ben Meir of Brest]], eighteenth-century rabbi
* Rabbi [[Aharon Leib Shteinman]], haredi rabbi in Israel
* [[Sara Szweber]], Bundist
* [[Ganna Walska]], Polish opera singer

==See also==
* [[Names of European cities in different languages: B]]

== Notes ==
=== Explanatory notes ===
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite magazine|last=Pszczółkowski|first=Michał|translator-last=Pszczółkowska|translator-first=Karolina|year=2014|title=Architektura Brześcia nad Bugiem w latach II Rzeczypospolitej|magazine=Kwartalnik Architektury i Urbanistyki|language=pl,en|publisher=Komitet Architektury i Urbanistyki [[Polish Academy of Sciences|Polskiej Akademii Nauk]]|volume=59|issue=3|issn=0023-5865}}
* {{cite book|last=Mondalski|first=Wiktor|year=1929|title=Brześć Podlaski (Brześć Litewski, Brześć nad Bugiem). Zarys geograficzno-historyczny|language=pl|location=[[Turek, Poland|Turek]]}}

==Further reading==
* Kristian Gantser [Christian Ganzer], Irina Yelenskaya, Yelena Pashkovich [et al.] (ed.): Brest. Leto 1941 g. Dokumenty, materiyaly, fotografii. Smolensk: Inbelkul’t, 2016. {{ISBN|978-5-00076-030-7}} [https://www.academia.edu/20656900/Брест._Лето_1941_г._Документы._Материалы._Фотографии]

==External links==
{{Commons category|Brest (Belarus)}}
{{wikivoyage|Brest_(Belarus)}}
{{Wikisource1911Enc|Brest-Litovsk}}
* [https://breststories.com/?language=en ''Brest Stories Guide'' – Audiotheatre on the history of anti-semitism and the Shoah in Brest from 1937 to 1944 by the independent Brest theatre "Krylja Cholopa"] (English/Russian)
* {{JewishGen-LocalityPage|1941830|Brest, Belarus}}

{{Brest Voblast}}
{{Belarus Seats}}
{{Hero Cities}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Brest, Belarus| ]]<!--DO NOT WRITE BREST OR ANYTHING ON THE EMPTY SPACE per [[WP:EPONYMOUS]]. -->
[[Category:1019 establishments in Europe]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Belarus]]
[[Category:Belarus–Poland border crossings]]
[[Category:Populated places in Belarus]]
[[Category:Holocaust locations in Belarus]]
[[Category:Populated places established in the 11th century]]
[[Category:Populated places in Brest region]]
[[Category:Rus' towns]]