Okrug

Administrative division in some Slavic states

For the municipality in Croatia, see Okrug, Croatia.

An okrug[a] is a type of administrative division in some Slavic-speaking states. The word okrug is a loanword in English,[1] alternatively translated as area, district, county, or region.

Etymologically, okrug literally means 'circuit', derived from Proto-Slavic *okrǫgъ, in turn from *ob- "around" + *krǫgъ "circle". In meaning, the word is similar to the German term Bezirk or Kreis ('district') and the French word arrondissement; all of which refer to something "encircled" or "surrounded".

## Bulgaria

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Main article: Provinces of Bulgaria

In Bulgaria, okrags are the abolished primary unit of the administrative division and implied "districts" or "counties". They existed in the postwar Bulgaria between 1946 and 1987 and corresponded approximately to today's oblasts.

## Kazakhstan

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In Kazakhstan, an okrug (округ) refers to an administrative-territorial unit that operates below the district (raion) level. The term is most commonly used in the form of rural district (ауылдық округ), which encompasses one or several rural settlements (aul) administered collectively under a single local government.

Each rural okrug has an elected or appointed akim (executive head) who manages administrative affairs on behalf of the district authorities. The okrug serves as an intermediary administrative level between the district and individual auls, often responsible for local public services, infrastructure maintenance, and basic civil registration.

The use of the term "okrug" differs from other former Soviet countries where it may refer to larger administrative units; in Kazakhstan, it specifically denotes these small local government areas.

## Poland

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Main article: District (Poland)

As historical administrative subdivisions of Poland, okręgi existed in the later part of the Congress Poland period, from 1842, when the name was applied to the former powiats (the name powiat being transferred to the former obwody).[2] See: subdivisions of Congress Poland.

Okręgi were also created temporarily from 1945 to 1946, in the areas annexed to Poland from Germany as a result of the Soviet military advance. An okręg was then subdivided into obwody. These okręgi were later replaced by voivodeships, and the obwody by powiats.[3]

## Russia

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### Imperial Russia

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Okrugs were one of the several types of administrative division for oblasts and selected governorates in Imperial Russia. Until the 1920s, okrugs were administrative districts in Cossack hosts such as the Don Cossacks.

### Soviet Union

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Further information: Okruhas of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic

Inherited from Imperial Russia, in the 1920s, okrugs were administrative divisions of several other primary divisions such as oblasts, krais, and others. For some time in the 1920s they also served as the primary unit upon the abolishment of guberniyas and were divided into raions. On 30 July 1930 most of the okrugs were abolished. The remaining okrugs were phased out in the Russian SFSR during 1930–1946, although they were retained in Zakarpattia Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR in a status equivalent to that of a raion.

National okrugs were first created in the Mountain ASSR of the Russian SFSR in 1921 as units of the Soviet autonomy and additional national okrugs were created in the Russian SFSR for the peoples of the north and Caucasus region. In 1977, all national okrugs were renamed autonomous okrugs.

### Russian Federation

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Main article: Political divisions of Russia

In the present-day Russian Federation, the term okrug is either translated as district or rendered directly as okrug, and is used to describe the following types of divisions:

* Federal Districts (federalny okrug), such as the Siberian Federal District
* Autonomous okrugs (avtonomny okrug), such as Chukotka Autonomous Okrug

After the series of mergers in 2005–2008, several autonomous okrugs of Russia lost their federal subject status and are now considered to be administrative territories within the federal subjects they had been merged into:

* Agin-Buryat Okrug, a territory with special status within Zabaykalsky Krai
* Komi-Permyak Okrug, a territory with special status within Perm Krai
* Koryak Okrug, a territory with special status within Kamchatka Krai
* Ust-Orda Buryat Okrug, a territory with special status within Irkutsk Oblast

Okrug is also used to describe the administrative divisions of the two "federal cities" in Russia:

* the administrative okrugs of Moscow are an upper-level administrative division
* the municipal okrugs of St.  Petersburg is a lower-level administrative division

In the federal city of Sevastopol, municipal okrugs are a type of municipal formation.

In Tver Oblast, the term okrug also denotes a type of an administrative division which is equal in status to that of the districts.

Furthermore, the designation okrug denotes several selsoviet-level administrative divisions:

* okrugs, such as okrugs of Samara Oblast
* rural okrugs (selsky okrug), such as the rural okrugs of Belgorod Oblast
* rural territorial okrugs (selsky territorialny okrug), such as the rural territorial okrugs of Murmansk Oblast
* stanitsa okrugs (stanichny okrug), such as the stanitsa okrugs of Krasnodar Krai

In some cities, the term okrug is used to refer to the administrative divisions of those cities. Administrative okrugs are such divisions in the cities of Murmansk, Omsk, and Tyumen; city okrugs are used in Krasnodar; municipal okrugs are the divisions of Nazran; okrugs exist in Belgorod, Kaluga, Kursk, and Novorossiysk; and territorial okrugs are the divisions of Arkhangelsk and Lipetsk.

The term okrug is also used to describe a type of a municipal formation, the municipal urban okrug—a municipal urban settlement not incorporated into a municipal district.[4]

## Serbia

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Main article: Districts of Serbia

See also: Administrative divisions of Serbia

The Republic of Serbia is divided into twenty-nine okrugs as well as the City of Belgrade. The term okrug in Serbia is often translated as either district or county.

## See also

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* Administrative division
* Krai
* Military district
* Oblast

## Notes

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1. ^ Bulgarian: окръг, romanized: okrag, pronounced [ˈɔkrɐk]; Macedonian: округ; Russian: округ; Serbian: округ, pronounced [ôkruːɡ]; Ukrainian: округ, romanized: okruh; Belarusian: акруга, romanized: akruha; Polish: okręg; Abkhaz: оқрҿс, romanized: oqrḉs; Meadow Mari: йырвел, romanized: jyrvel

## References

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1. ^ Oxford English Dictionary on CD-ROM, Second Edition. Entry on okrug. Oxford University Press, 2002
2. ^ Administrative division of the Congress Poland (in Polish)
3. ^ "Article in Polish re 1945-46". Archived from the original on 2007-10-23. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
4. ^ Государственная Дума Российской Федерации. Федеральный Закон №131-ФЗ от 6 октября 2003 г. «Об общих принципах организации местного самоуправления в Российской Федерации», в ред. Федерального Закона №290-ФЗ от 4 октября 2014 г. (State Duma of the Russian Federation. Federal Law #131-FZ of October 6, 2003 On the General Principles of Organization of the Local Self-Government in the Russian Federation, as amended by the Federal Law #290-FZ of September 28, 2010. ).

## External links

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* Okruha in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine

* 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
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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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