| Vitebsk |
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Vitebsk (, near the border with Russia and Latvia . The capital of the Vitebsk Voblast , in 2004 it had 342,381 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth largest city. HISTORY Vitebsk developed from a river harbour where the Vitba (''Віцьба'', from which it derives its name) flows into the larger Dvina . Its mention in historical records dates from 1021 , but its official founding year is 974 , when Princess Olga of Kiev ordered a city to be founded on the site of an old Krivichi settlement. In the 12th and 13th centuries it was a well-established city on the crossroads of the river routes between the Baltic , Black and Mediterranean seas. In this period, it was governed by Veche . In 1320 the city was incorporated into the Grand Duchy Of Lithuania ; in 1569 it became a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth . In 1597 Vitebsk was granted the Magdeburg Rights . In 1772 it was taken over by Russia in the First Partition Of Poland . |
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