Minsk swam by, Ye Chao drifted away and went to another city.

A few hundred years ago, if someone asked whether there were more rural areas or more cities, they would have replied with great certainty that there were more rural areas.

If, in a few hundred years, someone still asks whether there are more rural areas or more cities, I am afraid that the answer is likely to be the opposite.

This is a socio-historical phenomenon called the degree of urbanization.

The so-called urbanization process refers to the process in which the rural population is constantly moving to cities and towns, and the secondary and tertiary industries are constantly gathering in cities and towns, and it is also a historical process in which the number of cities and towns increases and the scale of cities and towns expands.

As a social and historical phenomenon, urbanization is not only the embodiment of the progress of material civilization, but also the driving force for the progress of spiritual civilization. As a historical process, urbanization is not only a process of expanding the number and scale of cities and towns, but also a process of transforming the structure and function of towns.

The core of urbanization is the transformation process of population employment structure, economic and industrial structure, and the transformation process of urban and rural spatial community structure.

The essential characteristics of urbanization are mainly reflected in three aspects: first, the spatial transformation of the rural population; second, the concentration of non-agricultural industries in urban areas; and third, the transfer of agricultural labor to non-agricultural labor force.

The characteristics of urbanization can be analyzed from different perspectives, which is beneficial to further understanding its essential characteristics.

The meaning of urbanization is divided into narrow and broad senses.

1. Narrow sense: Urbanization refers to the process of continuous transformation of the agricultural population into a non-agricultural population.

2. Broad: Urbanization is the process of social and economic change, including the non-agricultural population of agriculture, the continuous expansion of urban population, the continuous expansion of urban land to the suburbs, the increasing number of cities, and the process of urban social, economic and technological changes into the countryside.

Whether urbanization is good or bad, Ye Chao doesn't want to comment......

Anyway, there are gains and losses......

Ye Chao arrived in Grodno......

The city is the western tip of Belarus and the capital of the Grodno region, on the banks of the Neman River, near the Polish border.

At the beginning of the twelfth century, it was the capital of the Duchy of Grodno. From 1920 to 1939 it belonged to Poland. In 1939, it was included in the Soviet Union and Belarus. River port. Rail hubs.

The industry is dominated by machinery manufacturing, metal processing, synthetic fibre and nitrogen fertilizer production, followed by textile, footwear, cigarette and household appliance manufacturing. There are medical, agricultural and teacher training colleges, as well as architectural monuments from the 12th to 18th centuries.

Grodno is one of the oldest cities in Belarus and still has many ancient castles and religious buildings.

Grodno's chemical industry occupies a major position in the economy, with large chemical industry companies in fertilizers, chemical fibers and dyes. At the beginning of 2011, there were about 700 companies in Grodno, 48 of which mainly export industrial products.

Grodno products are exported to 60 countries. The main trading object is Russia, and its main export products are chemicals, machine tools and metalworking equipment, foodstuffs, etc. In 2002, Belarus decided to establish the Grodno Free Economic Zone, strengthen ties with the European Union and attract foreign investment to develop the economy of the Grodno region.

Grodno is one of the road and rail transport hubs of Belarus, and its geographical location makes it an important place in cross-border traffic between Belarus and Poland and Lithuania. Grodno Railway Station has 30 trains a day, including 7 international, 4 domestic and 19 intrastate trains.

Grodno and other important cities such as Minsk, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Grodno airports are located 18 km from the city, but air traffic is not well developed.

Grodno has a well-developed public transport system and is connected by buses and trolleybuses to Minsk, Brest, Vitebsk and other cities of the Grodno region, with a daily passenger flow of almost 4,000 people.

Similarly, the city has quite a few scenic spots......

The city of Grodno is famous for its ancient buildings that have preserved a variety of architectural and decorative styles.

The oldest surviving buildings in Grodno are the churches of St. Boris and Gribe. This is the only remnant of the ancient Black Russian architectural style.

Built before 1183, the south wall of the church collapsed in 1853, and after 1991, the government found a detailed description of the church before 1853, especially the collapsed south wall, in the process of organizing the reconstruction, and historians are currently trying to restore the church according to its original appearance before 1853.

Now it has been included in the candidate list of World Heritage Sites in Belarus.

Another famous church is the Church of St. Francis Xavier.

It is a tall baroque building, more than 50 meters high. Construction began in 1678 and was not completed until 1705 due to frequent wars. The painted paintings on its walls were completed in 1752 and are typical of the late Baroque.

Old Grodno Castle is one of the most famous buildings in the city.

Since the 11th century, the princes of Black Russia have built castles here. Since the 13th century, the castle has been a fortress against foreign enemies. In 1391-1398 Grand Duke Vytautas built five Gothic bell towers, which he lived in, and built other buildings around the castle, expanding the size of the city of Grodno.

Casimir IV was also fond of the castle and preferred to live here rather than in the capital, where he died in 1492. When Stefan Bathory ruled the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, he planned to completely rebuild the castle in the Renaissance style.

However, his sudden death in 1586 interrupted this project. In 1655, during the Russo-Polish War (1654-1667), the Russian army destroyed the castle.

More than ten years later, Grodno Castle was rebuilt thanks to the fundraising and organization of the Minister of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Krzysztof Zygmunt Pac. Mihał Krebt Wichneoviecki made this the place where the parliament was held.

During the Great Northern War, the castle was destroyed again, and the royal family had to ask architects to build a new castle in New Grodno in 1734-1751, with an interior design in the Rococo style and an arch bridge between the two castles.

In 1793 the last parliament of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Grodno Parliament, was held at Novogrodno Castle. Now the Old Grodno Castle is home to the State Museum of History and Archaeology.

About the origins of the city......

The history of the city of Grodno dates back to the 10th century, when the princes of the Rurik dynasty established small fortresses and garrisoned trade stations on the borders of their tribal alliance with the Jotvienge (a branch of the Baltic people), which is considered to be the origin of the city of Grodno. The name "Grodno" derives from the Old East Slavic verb "gorodit", which means "to surround, to guard".

The first mention of Grodno in the literature was in the Kiev Chronicle and the Radziwi Chronicle. In the 1127-1128 account, Grodno is referred to as "Goroden" and is described as the residence of the Maharaja of Grodno, the meeting point of many trade routes.