Novopolotsk will be the cultural capital of Belarus in 2018
The founding date of Novopolotsk is considered to be June 7, 1958. The history of the city began with the decision of the USSR government to organize an all-union Komsomol shock construction project for the erection of the largest petrochemical plant in Europe. The city received its name on December 14, 1963, when the initially workers' settlement of Polotsk was renamed Novopolotsk and granted the status of a city of regional subordination.
Today, Novopolotsk is one of the largest petrochemical industry centers in Belarus and the CIS countries, as well as one of the largest industrial, scientific, and educational centers in Belarus. Novopolotsk has a population of 108.2 thousand people, of whom more than 27 thousand are young people. The higher education system is represented by Polotsk State University, which enrolls over 14 thousand students.
In the republican competition "City of Culture in the Year of Culture" based on the results of 2016, Novopolotsk became the winner in the nomination "Best City of Regional Subordination". The republican campaign "Cultural Capital of Belarus" is being held for the ninth time.
The status of Cultural Capital was awarded to Polotsk (2010), Gomel (2011), Nesvizh (2012), Mogilev (2013), Grodno (2014), Brest (2015), Molodechno (2016), Bobruisk (2017). Two cities - Gomel and Mogilev - simultaneously held the status of "Cultural Capital of the CIS".