Belarus is the European country whose name is associated with “white” in its native form. The name comes from the Belarusian Белая Русь, or Belaya Rus’, meaning “White Rus’” or “White Ruthenia.”
The “white” element is белая (belaya), the feminine form of the Belarusian adjective for white. Rus’ refers to the historical East Slavic lands and is not simply another modern name for Russia. That distinction is why “White Ruthenia” is sometimes a more historically precise translation than “White Russia.”
The exact reason the region became known as White Rus’ is disputed. Explanations connect the color with Christianity, geography, clothing, freedom from Tatar control, or medieval color-based regional naming. No single theory is universally accepted, but the country name’s link to “white” is well established.
Belarus became the country’s official English name after independence in 1991; “Byelorussia” and “Belorussia” are older forms. The answer is not Ukraine or Slovakia: their names have different linguistic origins, while Belarus uniquely contains the “white” element in this European-country naming fact.