Oblast

First-level administrative division in several countries

An oblast (/ˈɒblæst/ or /ˈɒblɑːst/ ⓘ)[a][b] is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Historically, it was used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The term oblast is often translated into English as 'region' or 'province'.[2][3] In some countries, oblasts are also known by cognates of the Russian term.

## Etymology

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The term oblast is borrowed from Russian область (pronounced [ˈobləsʲtʲ]), where it is inherited from Old East Slavic, in turn borrowed from Church Slavonic область oblastĭ 'power, empire', formed from the prefix oб- (cognate with Classical Latin ob 'towards, against' and Ancient Greek ἐπί/ἔπι epi 'in power, in charge') and the stem власть vlastǐ 'power, rule'.[1] In Old East Slavic, it was used alongside оболость obolostǐ—the equivalent of об- 'against' and волость 'territory, state, power' (cognate with English 'wield'; see volost).[1][4][2]

## History

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### Russian Empire

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Main article: Oblasts of the Russian Empire

In the Russian Empire oblasts were considered to be administrative units and were included as parts of Governorates General or krais. The majority of then-existing oblasts were on the periphery of the country (e.g. Kars Oblast or Transcaspian Oblast) or covered the areas where Cossacks lived.

### Soviet Union

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Main article: Oblasts of the Soviet Union

In the 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 (raions) and cities/towns directly under oblasts' jurisdiction. Some oblasts also included autonomous entities called autonomous okrugs. Because of the Soviet Union electrification program under the GOELRO plan, Ivan Alexandrov, as director of the Regionalisation Committee of Gosplan, divided the Soviet Union into thirteen European and eight Asiatic oblasts, using rational economic planning rather than "the vestiges of lost sovereign rights".[5]

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.

### Yugoslavia

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Main article: Subdivisions of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia

In 1922, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was divided into 33 administrative divisions also called oblasts. In 1929, oblasts were replaced with larger administrative units known as banovinas.

During the Yugoslav Wars, several Serb Autonomous Oblasts were formed in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. These oblasts were later merged into the Republic of Serbian Krajina and the Republika Srpska.

Word "oblast" is also prominent and widely used in Serbian language. It does not have only territorial meaning. It is also regularly used to denote parts of science, literature, or production, and so on (for example "oblast nauke" means "field of science"). So, it means something like "part of whole".

## Modern oblasts

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### Bulgaria

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Main article: Provinces of Bulgaria

Since 1999, Bulgaria has been divided into 28 oblasts, usually translated as "provinces". Before, the country was divided into just nine units, also called oblasts.

### Post-Soviet states

[edit]

Territorial entity  | Local term  | English term  | Details  | Comment

|
|
|
|

Armenia | marz | province or region[6] | see: marz (country subdivision) | Oblast in the Russian version of a 1995 law.[7]
Belarus | voblasts (voblasc) / oblast | region[8] | see: regions of Belarus | Belarusian and Russian are both state languages
Kazakhstan | oblys | region | see: regions of Kazakhstan | Kazakh is the sole official language. Russian is officially used alongside it in state organizations and local self-government bodies according to the Constitution[9]
Kyrgyzstan | oblus / oblast | region | see: regions of Kyrgyzstan | Kyrgyz and Russian are both official languages
Russia | oblast | oblast or region[10] | see: oblasts of Russia | According to the Constitution of Russia, 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
Tajikistan | viloyat | region | see: regions of Tajikistan |
Turkmenistan | welaýat | region[11] | see: regions of Turkmenistan |
Ukraine | oblast | oblast or region[12][13] | see: oblasts of Ukraine | In Ukraine, an oblast (Ukrainian: область [ˈɔblɐsʲtʲ] ⓘ; in English called a province or region) refers to one of the country's 24 primary administrative units. Since Ukraine is a unitary state, the provinces (or regions) do not have much legal scope of competence other than that which is established in the Ukrainian Constitution and by law. Articles 140–146 of Chapter XI of the constitution deal directly with local authorities and their competency.

Oblasts are further subdivided into raions (districts), ranging in number from 3 to 10 per entity

Uzbekistan | viloyat | region[14] | see: regions of Uzbekistan |

Viloyat and welaýat are derived from the Turkish language term vilayet, itself derived from the Arabic language term wilāya (ولاية).

## See also

[edit]

Look up Oblast in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

* Autonomous oblast
* Guberniya, an administrative unit, comparable to an oblast, of the Russian Empire, early Russian SFSR, and the Soviet Union
* Raion, district or sub-division of an oblast
* Krai
* Okrug
* Political divisions of Russia
* Chránená krajinná oblasť Horná Orava (the Horná Orava Protected Landscape Area) in Slovakia

## Notes

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1. ^ Plural: oblasts or oblasti[1] (Russian: области; Ukrainian: області).
2. ^ Russian: область [ˈobləsʲtʲ] ⓘ; Ukrainian: область [ˈɔblɐsʲtʲ] ⓘ; Belarusian: вобласць, romanized: vobłaść [ˈvɔblasʲt͡sʲ]; Polish: obwód [ˈɔbvut] ⓘ; Serbian: област, romanized: oblast [ôblaːst]; Bulgarian: област, romanized: oblast [ˈɔbɫɐst]; Macedonian: област, romanized: oblast [ˈɔbɫast]; Kazakh: облыс, romanized: oblys [ˈwobləs]; Kyrgyz: облус, romanized: oblus [ˈoblus]; Bashkir and Tatar: өлкә, romanized: ölkä [øʎˈcɛ]; Ossetian: облæст, romanized: oblæst [ˈobɫɐstʰ]; Tajik and Uzbek: вилоят, romanized: viloyat [wilɒˈjæt].

## References

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1. ^ a b c "oblast, n.", Oxford English Dictionary, July 2023, doi:10.1093/OED/6423855087, retrieved 2023-12-01
2. ^ a b "Oblast definition and meaning", Collins English Dictionary, retrieved 25 December 2022
3. ^ "What Is An Oblast?", World Atlas, 2017, retrieved 25 December 2022
4. ^ Фасмера, Макса (2006). "область". Этимологический онлайн-словарь русского (in Russian) (4th ed.). Retrieved May 1, 2023.
5. ^ Ekonomicheskoe raionirovanie Rossii, Gosplan, Moscow 1921
6. ^ "Government - Regions - The Government of Armenia". gov.am.
7. ^ "Legislation: National Assembly of RA". parliament.am.
8. ^ "Geography, Belarus - Belarus.by". belarus.by.
9. ^ "Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan".
10. ^ "Chapter 3. The Federal Structure - The Constitution of the Russian Federation". constitution.ru. Archived from the original on 2018-12-25. Retrieved 2014-10-16.
11. ^ "Microsoft Word - Newsletter II-2 2010-06-30.doc" (PDF). Retrieved 2019-03-07.
12. ^ "Regions of Ukraine - MFA of Ukraine". mfa.gov.ua. Archived from the original on 2014-10-08. Retrieved 2014-10-16.
13. ^ "Ukraine's Snap Parliamentary Elections". Ria Novosti. Archived from the original on 2014-10-31. Retrieved 2014-10-31.
14. ^ "The Governmental portal of the Republic of Uzbekistan - Local authority". Archived from the original on 2014-10-19. Retrieved 2014-10-16.

## External links

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Look up oblast in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

* Media related to Oblasts at Wikimedia Commons

Links to related articles

* v
* t
* e

Slavic-language terms for administrative divisions

Current|

* dzielnica
* gmina
* hromada
* krai
* kraj
* krajina / pokrajina
* městys
* mjesna zajednica
* obec
* oblast / oblast' / oblasti / oblys / obwód / voblasts'
* okręg
* okres
* okrug
* okruha
* opština / općina / občina / obshtina
* osiedle
* powiat
* raion
* selsoviet / silrada
* sołectwo
* starosta okruh
* voivodeship / vojvodina
* županija

Historical|

* darugha
* gromada
* guberniya / gubernia
* jurydyka
* khutor
* obshchina
* okolia
* opole
* pogost
* povit
* prowincja
* sorok
* srez
* starostwo / starostva
* uezd
* volost
* ziemia / zemlja
* župa
* uchastok

* v
* t
* e

Designations for types of administrative division

English terms

Common English terms

| Area|

* Insular area
* Local government area
* Special area
* Unincorporated area
* Unorganized area

|

Borough|

* County borough
* Metropolitan borough

Canton|

Half-canton

Capital|

* Federal capital
* Imperial capital

City|

* Autonomous city
* Charter city
* Independent city
* Incorporated city
* Imperial city
* Free imperial city
* Royal free city

Community|

* Autonomous community
* Residential community

County|

* Administrative county
* Autonomous county
* Consolidated city-county
* County seat
* County town
* Metropolitan county
* Non-metropolitan county
* Regional county municipality
* Viscounty

Country|

* Overseas country

Department|

* Overseas department

District|

* Capital district
* City district
* Congressional district
* Electoral district
* Federal district
* Indian government district
* Land district
* Local government district
* Metropolitan district
* Non-metropolitan district
* Military district
* Municipal district
* Police district
* Regional district
* Rural district
* Sanitary district
* Service district
* Educational service district
* Local service district
* School district
* Intermediate school district
* Special district
* in the US
* Urban district

Division|

* Census division
* Police division
* Subdivision of India

Indian reserve/reservation|

* Indian reservation (United States)
* Indian reserve (Canada)

Municipality|

* City municipality
* County municipality
* Direct-controlled municipality
* District municipality
* Neutral municipality
* Regional municipality
* Resort municipality
* Mountain resort municipality
* Rural municipality
* Specialized municipality

Prefecture|

* Autonomous prefecture
* Subprefecture
* Super-prefecture
* Praetorian prefecture

Province|

* Autonomous province
* Overseas province
* Roman province

Region|

* Administrative region
* Special administrative region
* Autonomous region
* Capital region
* National capital region
* Development region
* Mesoregion
* Microregion
* Overseas region
* Subregion

State|

* Proto-state
* City-state
* Federal state
* Free state
* Sovereign state

Territory|

* Capital territory
* Federal capital territory
* National capital territory
* Dependent territory
* Federal territory
* Incorporated territory
* Organized incorporated territory
* Overseas territory
* Union territory

Town|

* Census town
* Market town

Township|

* Charter township
* Civil township
* Paper township
* Survey township
* Urban township

Unit|

* Regional unit

Zone|

* Economic zone
* Exclusive economic zone
* Free economic zone
* Special economic zone
* Exclusion zone
* Military exclusion zone
* Free speech zone
* Neutral zone
* Self-administered zone
* Trade zone
* Free-trade zone

Other English terms

| Current|

* Alpine resort
* Bailiwick
* Banner
* Autonomous
* Block
* Cadastre
* Circle
* Circuit
* Colony
* Commune
* Condominium
* Constituency
* Duchy
* District
* Eldership
* Emirate
* Enclave and exclave
* Federal dependency
* Governorate
* Hamlet
* Manor
* Royal
* Muftiate
* Neighbourhood
* Parish
* Precinct
* Principality
* Protectorate
* Quarter
* Regency
* Autonomous republic
* Riding
* Sector
* Autonomous
* Shire
* Sultanate
* Suzerainty
* Townland
* Village
* Summer
* Ward

|

Historical|

* Agency
* Barony
* Burgh
* Exarchate
* Hide
* Hundred
* Imperial Circle
* March
* Monthon
* Presidency
* Residency
* Roman diocese
* Seat
* Tenth
* Tithing
* Viceroyalty

Non-English terms or loanwords

| Current|

* Amt
* Apskritis
* Bakhsh
* Barangay
* Bashki
* Bezirk
* Regierungsbezirk
* Comarca
* Comune
* Frazione
* Freguesia
* Fu
* Gemeinde
* Austria
* Germany
* South Tyrol
* Switzerland
* Gemeente
* Gmina
* Hromada
* Județ
* Kampong
* Kommun/Kunta
* Finland
* Sweden
* Län (Sweden)
* Landskap
* Finland
* Località
* Maakunta
* Megye
* Muban
* Mukim
* Njësi administrative
* Obec
* Oblast
* Autonomous
* Okrug
* Ostān
* Poblacion
* Purok
* Qark
* Raion
* Savivaldybė
* Selsoviet
* Sitio
* Seniūnija
* Shahrestān
* Sum
* China
* Sýsla
* Tehsil
* Townlet
* Vingtaine

|

Historical|

* Commote
* Gau
* Heerlijkheid
* Komunë
* Köping
* Korale
* Län/Lääni
* Landskap
* Sweden
* Landskommun
* Maalaiskunta
* Nome
* Egypt
* Greece
* Pagus
* Pargana
* Plasă
* Rreth
* Satrapy
* Socken
* Subah
* Syssel
* Zhou

Used by ten or more countries or having derived terms. Historical derivations in italics.

See also
Autonomous administration
Census division
Electoral district
List of administrative divisions by country
Greek administrative divisions
Slavic administrative divisions
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