Obwód (plural ''obwody'') is a term used in Polish to denote administrative districts in various countries, particularly as a translation of the Russian ''

oblast An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdo ...

''. As administrative subdivisions of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

itself, obwody existed as subdivisions of

voivodeship A voivodeship is the area administered by a voivode (Governor) in several countries of central and eastern Europe. Voivodeships have existed since medieval times and the area of extent of voivodeship resembles that of a duchy in western medieval ...

s (later

gubernia A governorate, gubernia, province, or government ( rus, губе́рния, p=ɡʊˈbʲɛrnʲɪjə, also romanized ; uk, губернія, huberniia), was a major and principal administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire. After the empire ...

s) in the early part of the Congress Poland period, from 1816 until 1842, when they were renamed

powiat A ''powiat'' (pronounced ; Polish plural: ''powiaty'') is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture ( LAU-1, formerly NUTS-4) in other countries. The term "''powiat ...

s (the former powiats being renamed

okręg District is a term used in Poland, to denote regions and jurisdictions of various types, including electoral constituencies. As historical administrative subdivisions of Poland, districts existed in the later part of the Congress Poland Con ...

i). See

Administrative division of Congress Poland Congress Poland was subdivided several times from its creation in 1815 until its dissolution in 1918. Congress Poland ("Russian Poland") was divided into departments, a relic from the times of the French-dominated Duchy of Warsaw. In 1816 th ...

. Obwody were also created temporarily in 1945–46, in the areas annexed to Poland from Germany as a result of the Soviet military advance. An obwód was then a subdivision of an

. These obwody were later replaced by powiats, and the okręgi by voivodeships.

References

Subdivisions of Poland Types of administrative division {{law-term-stub