2. Belarusians among the nations of the world Speaking of the world map, Belarusians confidently place themselves and other Slavs, including Russians, within the sphere of European culture and Christian heritage. It is Spanish-speaking nations, rather than Belarusians, that are more likely to be seen as a“borderland between East and West”. Yet at the regional level, this in-between position still emerges: some Belarusians gravitate toward a Russian-imperial community, while others lean toward a European one. Most(78%) transcend this divide through a shared Slavic identity. This is the main supranational community for Belarusians, the one that, thanks to its political neutrality,“bridges” different segments. On the global map, Belarusians see themselves as part of an East Slavic cluster within European culture — and do not identify as a“borderland” between East and West Belarusians’ perceptions of national similarities are structured around two main axes(Figure 1). In Belarusians’ perception, nations are grouped into six clusters plus the Chinese that form a separate category. Belarusians themselves fall into the East Slavic cluster alongside Russians and Ukrainians: these nations are close both historically and in terms of present-day ties. This closeness is also confirmed by direct measurement: 78% of respondents consider Belarusians to be Slavs. The first axis is the opposition between European and non­The entire East Slavic cluster— including Belarusians European nations. Belarusians place themselves among nations themselves— is located in the European part of the map. In with a European culture and predominantly Christian heritage, other words, at the global level, Belarusians do not see a group that also includes Russians and Americans. This sense of belonging is confirmed by self-identification: 57% consider Belarusians a“Christian people” Perceptions of closeness of nations are shaped by their degree of Europeanness and the extent of shared experience with Belarusians Figure 1 (Figure 2). The second axis is the shared historical experience. Along this dimension, Belarusians are seen as most similar to neighboring nations(Poles and Lithuanians), former members of the Soviet bloc(Georgians and Kazakhs), as well as nations with which Belarus maintains ties today— political(China) or touristic (Turkey, visited by 21% of urban residents over the past ten years). The combination of positions along these axes reveals how Belarusians perceive different nations around the world. The English and Americans feel culturally familiar to Belarusians yet are less often seen as“ our own” due to limited shared experience. Chinese and Turks, by contrast, may seem culturally distant, but contact and political ties make them feel closer. The nations seen as most“exotic” by Belarusians, such as Indians and Nigerians, occupy the far corner of the map: they are both culturally unfamiliar and distant in terms of shared experience. In your opinion, how much[…] and[…] are similar or not similar as nations? Scale from 1(completely not similar) to 7(almost the same). Each respondent assessed 24 random pairs of nations. On average n ≈ 100 per pair. The map is built using multidimensional scaling(PROXSCAL), nation clusters are identified by hierarchical cluster analysis(Ward’s method, squared Euclidean distance). How to read the map: the closer nations are to each other, the more similar they are in the eyes of Belarusians. Belarusians among the nations of the world 8