Regions of Belarus

At the top level of administration, Belarus is divided into six oblasts (regions) and the city of Minsk,[1] which has a special status being the capital of Belarus. Minsk is also the capital of Minsk Region.[2]

Regions and the Special administrative district of Belarus
Рэгіёны і Спецыяльны адміністратыўны раён Беларусі (in Belarusian)
Регионы и Специальный административный район Беларуси (in Russian)
CategoryUnitary State
LocationBelarus
Created1960
Number7 Regions
Populations(Regions only): 1,024,751 (Mogilev) – 1,471,240 (Minsk)
Areas(Regions only): 25,118.1 km2 (9,698.14 sq mi) (Grodno) – 40,361.6 km2 (15,583.72 sq mi) (Gomel)
GovernmentRegion government
SubdivisionsRaion
Belarus
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At the second level, the regions are divided into raions (districts).

The layout and extent of the regions were set in 1960 when Belarus (then Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic) was a part of the Soviet Union.[3]

History

At the start of the 20th century, the boundaries of the Belarusian lands within the Russian Empire were still being defined. Basically in 1900 it contained the entire Minsk Governorate and Mogilev Governorate, the majority of Grodno Governorate, parts of Vitebsk Governorate and the parts of Vilna Governorate (the latter is now in Lithuania).[3] World War I, the independence of Poland, as well as the 1920-1921 Polish–Soviet War affected the boundaries. In 1921, Belarus had what is now all of Minsk Governorate except for the western fringe, the western part of Gomel Region, a western slice of Mahilyow, and a small part of Vitebsk Region. In 1926 the eastern part of Gomel region was added. [3]

In Soviet Belarus, new administrative units, called oblast or voblast (cognate of Russian word oblast with prothetic v-) were introduced in 1938. And again, during World War II, the boundaries fluctuated. In 1939 they were reset with Belarus gaining territory to the west, Baranavichy, Belastok (Bialystok), Brest, Pinsk, and Vileyka oblasts. In 1944 Belastok was eliminated and the new oblasts of Babruysk, Grodno, and Polotsk were created. At that same time, Vileika oblast was renamed Molodechno oblast.[3]

At different times between 1938 and 1960, the following oblasts existed:

Regions
Regions of Belarus
Flag Subdivision Capital Russian Belarusian Population (2019 Census)[4] Area (km²) Density Percentage of Belarus
1
City of Minsk
МинскМінск2,018,281305.506,606.4821.44%
2Brest RegionBrestБрестскаяБрэсцкая1,348,11532,790.6841.1114.32%
3Gomel RegionGomelГомельскаяГомельская1,388,51240,361.6634.4014.75%
4Grodno RegionGrodnoГродненскаяГродзенская1,026,81625,118.0740.8810.91%
5Mogilev RegionMogilevМогилёвскаяМагілёўская1,024,75129,079.0135.2410.89%
6Minsk RegionMinskМинскаяМінская1,471,24039,912.3536.8615.63%
7Vitebsk RegionVitebskВитебскаяВiцебская1,135,73140,049.9928.3612.06%
All BelarusMinsk
Беларусь
9,413,446207,617.2645.34100.00%
Gross regional product in 2018
Rank Region GRP
(in BYN)[5]		 GRP
(in USD)		 GRP per capita

(in BYN)

 GRP per capita

(in USD)[6]

1  Minsk Br 33.0 billion $16.2 billion Br 16,300 $8,000
2  Minsk Region Br 18.1 billion $8.9 billion Br 12,800 $6,300
3  Gomel Region Br 12.3 billion $6.0 billion Br 8,600 $4,200
4  Brest Region Br 11.5 billion $5.6 billion Br 8,300 $4,100
5  Grodno Region Br 10.0 billion $4.9 billion Br 9,600 $4,700
6  Vitebsk Region Br 9.1 billion $4.5 billion Br 8,000 $3,900
7  Mogilev Region Br 8.5 billion $4.2 billion Br 8,100 $4,000

See also

References
  1. Belarus Regions
  2. Minsk summary, at the website of the Belarus embassy in Russia.
  3. "Regions of Belarus". Statoids.
  4. Official 2019 census results
  5. https://www.belstat.gov.by/en/ofitsialnaya-statistika/real-sector-of-the-economy/national-accounts/graphical-data-graphs-diagrams/grps-of-regions-and-minsk-city-and-their-percentage-shares-in-gdp-in-2017
  6. http://www.nbrb.by/engl/statistics/Rates/AvgRate
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