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Belarus literally means "white Russia," a color associated in Slavic culture with freedom, and a reference to the fact that the country was never conquered by the Mongol Golden Horde. Devastated in World War II, and with few resources other than agriculture, Belarus only reluctantly became independent of Moscow in 1991; efforts to reunite the two countries have lost impetus in recent years. The Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine in 1986 has had lasting effects on the environment and on the health of Belarussians.