Oblast
Encyclopedia
Oblast is a type of administrative division
in Slavic
countries, including some countries of the former Soviet Union
. The word "oblast" is a loanword
in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area
", "zone", "province
", or "region
". The last translation may lead to confusion, because the subdivision of "oblast" is called "raion
" which is translated as "region" or "district
", depending on the context.
Oblasts are a type of administrative division of Belarus
, Bulgaria
, Kazakhstan
, Kyrgyzstan
, Russia
, Ukraine
, and the now-defunct Soviet Union
. Official terms in successor states of the Soviet Union differ, but some still use a cognate
of the Russian term, e.g. voblast (voblasts, voblasts' , ˈvobɫasʲtsʲ) is used for provinces of Belarus, and oblys (plural: oblystar) for provinces of Kazakhstan
.
has been divided into 28 oblasti, usually translated as provinces. Before, the country was divided into nine bigger units, also called oblast.
, oblasts were considered to be administrative units and were included as parts of Governorates General or krai
s. The majority of then-existing oblasts were located on the periphery of the country (e.g. Kars Oblast
or Transcaspian Oblast
) or covered the areas where Cossacks lived.
In the now-dissolved Soviet Union
, oblasts were one of the types of administrative divisions of the union republics
. As any administrative units of this level, oblasts were composed of districts (raion
s) and cities/towns directly under oblasts' jurisdiction. Some oblasts also included autonomous entities called autonomous okrug
s.
The names of oblasts did not usually correspond to the names of the respective historical regions, as they were created as purely administrative units. With a few exceptions, Soviet oblasts were named after their administrative centers.
Viloyat and welayat are derived from the Arabic language
term wilāya
(ولاية)
, oblasts are considered to be subjects of the Federation
, which is a higher status than that of administrative units they had within the Russian SFSR before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The federal subject status gives the oblasts some degree of autonomy and gives them representation in the Federation Council
.
between 1922 and 1929. During that period, the country was divided into 33 oblasts. In 1929, oblasts were replaced with larger administrative units known as banovina
s.
During the Yugoslav Wars
, several Serbian Autonomous Oblasts were formed in Croatia
and Bosnia and Herzegovina
. These oblasts were later merged into the Republic of Serbian Krajina
and the Republika Srpska
.
Administrative division
An administrative division, subnational entity, or country subdivision is a portion of a country or other political division, established for the purpose of government. Administrative divisions are each granted a certain degree of autonomy, and are required to manage themselves through their own...
in Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
countries, including some countries of the former Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. The word "oblast" is a loanword
Loanword
A loanword is a word borrowed from a donor language and incorporated into a recipient language. By contrast, a calque or loan translation is a related concept where the meaning or idiom is borrowed rather than the lexical item itself. The word loanword is itself a calque of the German Lehnwort,...
in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area
Area (subnational entity)
In addition to its other uses, the word "area" may refer to any of the following types of country subdivisions:*Local Government Area*Insular area*Urban planning areas in Singapore**Central Area*Census Metropolitan Area*National Recreation Area...
", "zone", "province
Province
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...
", or "region
Region
Region is most commonly found as a term used in terrestrial and astrophysics sciences also an area, notably among the different sub-disciplines of geography, studied by regional geographers. Regions consist of subregions that contain clusters of like areas that are distinctive by their uniformity...
". The last translation may lead to confusion, because the subdivision of "oblast" is called "raion
Raion
A raion is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet countries. The term, which is from French rayon 'honeycomb, department,' describes both a type of a subnational entity and a division of a city, and is commonly translated in English as "district"...
" which is translated as "region" or "district
District
Districts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...
", depending on the context.
Oblasts are a type of administrative division of Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, and the now-defunct Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. Official terms in successor states of the Soviet Union differ, but some still use a cognate
Cognate
In linguistics, cognates are words that have a common etymological origin. This learned term derives from the Latin cognatus . Cognates within the same language are called doublets. Strictly speaking, loanwords from another language are usually not meant by the term, e.g...
of the Russian term, e.g. voblast (voblasts, voblasts' , ˈvobɫasʲtsʲ) is used for provinces of Belarus, and oblys (plural: oblystar) for provinces of Kazakhstan
Provinces of Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan is divided into 14 provinces . The provinces are further subdivided into districts .Notes:* Almaty and Astana cities have the status of State importance and do not relate to any province....
.
Oblasts of Bulgaria
Since 1997, BulgariaBulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
has been divided into 28 oblasti, usually translated as provinces. Before, the country was divided into nine bigger units, also called oblast.
Oblasts of the Russian Empire
In the Russian EmpireRussian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, oblasts were considered to be administrative units and were included as parts of Governorates General or krai
Krai
Krai or kray was a type of an administrative division in the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR, and is one of the types of the federal subjects of modern Russia ....
s. The majority of then-existing oblasts were located on the periphery of the country (e.g. Kars Oblast
Kars Oblast
Kars Oblast was one of Transcaucasian governorates of Russian Empire between 1878 and 1917. Its capital was in the city of Kars, presently in the Republic of Turkey. The governorate bordered with the Ottoman Empire, Batum Oblast, Tiflis Governorate, Erivan Governorate, and from 1883 to 1903 with...
or Transcaspian Oblast
Transcaspian Region
Transcaspian Region , or Transcaspia, was the name used from the second half of the 19th century until 1924 for the section of Russian Empire to the east of the Caspian Sea, bounded to the south by Iran's Khorasan Province and Afghanistan, to the north by the former Russian province of Uralsk, and...
) or covered the areas where Cossacks lived.
Oblasts of the Soviet Union
In the now-dissolved Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, oblasts were one of the types of administrative divisions of the union republics
Republics of the Soviet Union
The Republics of the Soviet Union or the Union Republics of the Soviet Union were ethnically-based administrative units that were subordinated directly to the Government of the Soviet Union...
. As any administrative units of this level, oblasts were composed of districts (raion
Raion
A raion is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet countries. The term, which is from French rayon 'honeycomb, department,' describes both a type of a subnational entity and a division of a city, and is commonly translated in English as "district"...
s) and cities/towns directly under oblasts' jurisdiction. Some oblasts also included autonomous entities called autonomous okrug
Autonomous okrug
Autonomous okrug is a term for an administrative country subdivision in Russia. The term was also used in the Soviet Union.- See also :* Okrug* Autonomous okrugs of Russia* Autonomous okrugs of the Soviet Union...
s.
The names of oblasts did not usually correspond to the names of the respective historical regions, as they were created as purely administrative units. With a few exceptions, Soviet oblasts were named after their administrative centers.
Terms used to describe oblasts in post-Soviet countries
The oblasts in other post-Soviet countries are officially called:- ArmeniaArmeniaArmenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
: marz (see provinces of Armenia) - BulgariaBulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
: oblast (област) (see provinces of BulgariaProvinces of BulgariaSince 1999, Bulgaria has been divided into 28 provinces which correspond approximately to the 28 districts that existed before 1987. In 1987, during the Communist regime of Todor Zhivkov, the districts were consolidated into nine larger provinces , which survived until 1999.Each province is named...
) - BelarusBelarusBelarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
: voblast (vobłaść) (see provinces of Belarus) - GeorgiaGeorgia (country)Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
: mkhare (see administrative divisions of GeorgiaAdministrative divisions of Georgia||Georgia is divided into two autonomous republics and nine regions . The nine regions are Guria, Imereti, Kakheti, Kvemo Kartli, Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti, Samtskhe-Javakheti, and Shida Kartli.The autonomous republics were established during the...
) - KazakhstanKazakhstanKazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
: oblys (see provinces of KazakhstanProvinces of KazakhstanKazakhstan is divided into 14 provinces . The provinces are further subdivided into districts .Notes:* Almaty and Astana cities have the status of State importance and do not relate to any province....
) - KyrgyzstanKyrgyzstanKyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
: oblast (see provinces of Kyrgyzstan) - TajikistanTajikistanTajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....
: viloyat (see provinces of TajikistanProvinces of Tajikistan||Tajikistan is divided into one autonomous province , 2 provinces and the Districts of Republican Subordination...
) - TurkmenistanTurkmenistanTurkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states...
: welayat (see provinces of TurkmenistanProvinces of TurkmenistanTurkmenistan is divided into five provinces or welayatlar and one capital city district .The heads of the provinces are appointed by the President of Turkmenistan .-References:...
) - UzbekistanUzbekistanUzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
: viloyat (see provinces of UzbekistanProvinces of Uzbekistan|Uzbekistan is divided into 12 provinces , 1 autonomous republic , and 1 independent city |Uzbekistan is divided into 12 provinces (viloyatlar, singular viloyat, viloyati in compound, e.g. Toshkent viloyati, Samarqand viloyati), 1 autonomous republic (respublika, respublikasi in compound, e.g....
)
Viloyat and welayat are derived from the Arabic language
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
term wilāya
Wilayah
A wilāyah or vilâyet , or vilayat in Urdu and Turkish, is an administrative division, usually translated as "province", rarely as "governorate". The word comes from the Arabic "w-l-y", "to govern": a wāli — "governor" — governs a wilayah, "that which is governed"...
(ولاية)
Oblasts of Russia
According to the Constitution of RussiaConstitution of Russia
The current Constitution of the Russian Federation was adopted by national referendum on 12 December 1993. Russia's constitution came into force on 25 December 1993, at the moment of its official publication...
, oblasts are considered to be subjects of the Federation
Federal subjects of Russia
Russia is a federation which, since March 1, 2008, consists of 83 federal subjects . In 1993, when the Constitution was adopted, there were 89 federal subjects listed...
, which is a higher status than that of administrative units they had within the Russian SFSR before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The federal subject status gives the oblasts some degree of autonomy and gives them representation in the Federation Council
Federation Council of Russia
Federation Council of Russia ) is the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia , according to the 1993 Constitution of the Russian Federation...
.
Oblasts of Former Yugoslavia
Oblasts were administrative units of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and SlovenesKingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
between 1922 and 1929. During that period, the country was divided into 33 oblasts. In 1929, oblasts were replaced with larger administrative units known as banovina
Banovina
Banovina may refer to:* One of the subdivisions of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia from 1929 to 1941* Any territory ruled by a ban * Banovina in central Croatia, also known as Banija...
s.
During the Yugoslav Wars
Yugoslav wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of wars, fought throughout the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 1995. The wars were complex: characterized by bitter ethnic conflicts among the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, mostly between Serbs on the one side and Croats and Bosniaks on the other; but also...
, several Serbian Autonomous Oblasts were formed in Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
and Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
. These oblasts were later merged into the Republic of Serbian Krajina
Republic of Serbian Krajina
The Republic of Serbian Krajina was a self-proclaimed Serb entity within Croatia. Established in 1991, it was not recognized internationally. It formally existed from 1991 to 1995, having been initiated a year earlier via smaller separatist regions. The name Krajina means "frontier"...
and the Republika Srpska
Republika Srpska
Republika Srpska is one of two main political entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina...
.
See also
- Autonomous oblastAutonomous oblastAn autonomous oblast is an autonomous entity within the state which is on the oblast level of the overall administrative subdivision. It may refer to:*Autonomous oblasts of the Soviet Union*Autonomous oblasts of Russia...
- GuberniyaGuberniyaA guberniya was a major administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire usually translated as government, governorate, or province. Such administrative division was preserved for sometime upon the collapse of the empire in 1917. A guberniya was ruled by a governor , a word borrowed from Latin ,...
, an administrative unit of the Russian EmpireRussian EmpireThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, early Russian SFSR, and the Soviet Union, comparable to oblast.