An ''okrug, ; russian: о́круг, ókrug; sr, округ, okrug, ; uk, о́круг, о́kruh; be, акруга, akruha; pl,
okręg; ab, оқрҿс; mhr, йырвел, '' is a type of
administrative division
Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
in some
Slavic states. The word ''okrug'' is a
loanword
A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because th ...
in English, alternatively translated as ''
area
Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape
A shape or figure is a graphics, graphical representation of an obje ...
'', ''
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
'', or ''
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
''.
Etymologically, ''okrug'' literally means '
circuit'. In meaning, the word is similar to the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
term ''
Bezirk'' ('
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
') and the French word ''
arrondissement
An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands.
Europe
France
The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements' ...
''; all of which refer to something "encircled" or "surrounded".
Bulgaria
In
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
, ''s'' 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
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 Kingdom of ...
s.
Poland
As historical 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 populous ...
, existed in the later part of the
Congress Poland
Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...
period, from 1842, when the name was applied to the former
''powiats'' (the name being transferred to the former ''
obwody''). See:
subdivisions 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 the ...
.
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 was then subdivided into . These were later replaced by
voivodeships, and the by s.
Russia
Imperial Russia
''Okrugs'' were one of the several types of administrative division for
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 Kingdom of ...
s and selected
governorates
A governorate is an administrative division of a state. It is headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either State (administrative division), states or province, provinces, the term ''govern ...
in
Imperial Russia
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...
. Until the 1920s, ''okrugs'' were administrative districts in
Cossack hosts such as the
Don Cossacks
Don Cossacks (russian: Донские казаки, Donskie kazaki) or Donians (russian: донцы, dontsy) are Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don. Historically, they lived within the former Don Cossack Host (russian: До ...
.
Soviet Union
Inherited from Imperial Russia, in the 1920s, ''okrugs'' were administrative divisions of several other primary divisions such as
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 Kingdom of ...
s,
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
raion
A raion (also spelt rayon) is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet states. The term is used for both a type of subnational entity and a division of a city. The word is from the French (meaning 'honeycomb, department'), and is co ...
s. On July 30, 1930, most of the ''okrugs'' were abolished. The remaining ''okrugs'' were phased out in the
Russian SFSR
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
during 1930–1946, although they were retained in
Zakarpattia Oblast of the
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
in a status equivalent to that of a raion.
National ''okrugs'' were first created in the
Mountain ASSR
The Mountain Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic or Mountain ASSR ( rus, Го́рская АССР, r=Gorskaya ASSR; ce, Лаьмнийн Автономин Советийн Социалистийн Республика) was a short-lived autono ...
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
In the present-day
Russian Federation
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, 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 (), such as the
Siberian Federal District
*
Autonomous okrugs
In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ow ...
(), such as
Chukotka Autonomous Okrug
Chukotka (russian: Чуко́тка), officially the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug,, ''Čukotkakèn avtonomnykèn okrug'', is the easternmost federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia. It is an autonomous okrug situated in the Russian ...
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
Agin-Buryat Okrug (russian: Аги́нский Буря́тский о́круг; bua, Агын Буряадай тойрог, ''Agyn Buryaaday Toyrog''), or Aga Buryatia, is an administrative division of Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia. (Federal ...
, a territory with special status within
Zabaykalsky Krai
*
Komi-Permyak Okrug
Komi-Permyak Okrug (russian: Ко́ми-Пермя́цкий о́круг, ''Komi-Permyatsky okrug''; koi, Коми-Перем кытш, -, or PermyakiaEncyclopedia Encarta/ref> is a territory with special status within Perm Krai, Russia. Its adm ...
, a territory with special status within
Perm Krai
*
Koryak Okrug, a territory with special status within
Kamchatka Krai
Kamchatka Krai ( rus, Камча́тский край, r=Kamchatsky kray, p=kɐmˈtɕatskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), situated in the Russian Far East, and is administratively part of the Far Eastern Federal District. Its ...
*
Ust-Orda Buryat Okrug, a territory with special status within
Irkutsk Oblast
Irkutsk Oblast (russian: Ирку́тская о́бласть, Irkutskaya oblast; bua, Эрхүү можо, Erkhüü mojo) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in southeastern Siberia in the basins of the Angara, Lena, and Nizh ...
''Okrug'' is also used to describe the administrative divisions of the two "
federal cities" in Russia:
*the
administrative ''okrugs'' of
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
are an upper-level administrative division
*the
municipal ''okrugs'' of
St. Petersburg are a lower-level administrative division
In the federal city of
Sevastopol
Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...
, municipal ''okrugs'' are a type of a municipal formation.
In
Tver Oblast
Tver Oblast (russian: Тверска́я о́бласть, ''Tverskaya oblast'', ), from 1935 to 1990 known as Kalinin Oblast (), is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Tver. It was named after Mikhai ...
, the term ''okrug'' also denotes a type of an
administrative division
Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
which is equal in status to that of the districts.
Furthermore, the designation ''okrug'' denotes several ''
selsoviet
Selsoviet ( be, сельсавет, r=sieĺsaviet, tr. ''sieĺsaviet''; rus, сельсовет, p=ˈsʲelʲsɐˈvʲɛt, r=selsovet; uk, сільрада, silrada) is a shortened name for a rural council and for the area governed by such a cou ...
''-level administrative divisions:
*
okrugs
An ''okrug, ; russian: о́круг, ókrug; sr, округ, okrug, ; uk, о́круг, о́kruh; be, акруга, akruha; pl, okręg; ab, оқрҿс; mhr, йырвел, '' is a type of administrative division in some Slavic states. The ...
, such as
okrugs of Samara Oblast
*
rural okrugs (), such as the
rural okrugs of Belgorod Oblast
*
rural territorial okrugs (), such as the
rural territorial okrugs of Murmansk Oblast
*
stanitsa okrugs (), 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
Murmansk (Russian: ''Мурманск'' lit. "Norwegian coast"; Finnish: ''Murmansk'', sometimes ''Muurmanski'', previously ''Muurmanni''; Norwegian: ''Norskekysten;'' Northern Sámi: ''Murmánska;'' Kildin Sámi: ''Мурман ланнҍ'') i ...
,
Omsk
Omsk (; rus, Омск, p=omsk) is the administrative center and largest city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia, and has a population of over 1.1 million. Omsk is the third largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk ...
, and
Tyumen
Tyumen ( ; rus, Тюмень, p=tʲʉˈmʲenʲ, a=Ru-Tyumen.ogg) is the administrative center and largest city of Tyumen Oblast, Russia. It is situated just east of the Ural Mountains, along the Tura River. Fueled by the Russian oil and gas indu ...
; city ''okrugs'' are used in
Krasnodar
Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern ...
; municipal ''okrugs'' are the divisions of
Nazran
, ''Näsare'') is the largest city in the Republic of Ingushetia, Russia. It served as the republic's capital in 1991–2000, until it was replaced with Magas, which was specially built for this purpose. It is the most populous city in the republic: ...
; ''okrugs'' exist in
Belgorod,
Kaluga
Kaluga ( rus, Калу́га, p=kɐˈɫuɡə), a city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast in Russia, stands on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Population:
Kaluga's most famous resident, the space travel pioneer Konstantin Tsiol ...
,
Kursk
Kursk ( rus, Курск, p=ˈkursk) is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym rivers. The area around Kursk was the site of a turning point in the Soviet–German stru ...
, and
Novorossiysk
Novorossiysk ( rus, Новоросси́йск, p=nəvərɐˈsʲijsk; ady, ЦIэмэз, translit=Chəməz, p=t͡sʼɜmɜz) is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is one of the largest ports on the Black Sea. It is one of the few cities hono ...
; and territorial ''okrugs'' are the divisions of
Arkhangelsk and
Lipetsk
Lipetsk ( rus, links=no, Липецк, p=ˈlʲipʲɪtsk), also romanized as Lipeck, is a city and the administrative center of Lipetsk Oblast, Russia, located on the banks of the Voronezh River in the Don basin, southeast of Moscow. Populatio ...
.
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.
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
*
Administrative division
Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
*
Krai
*
Military district
*
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 Kingdom of ...
Notes
References
External links
Okruhain th
Encyclopedia of Ukraine
{{Types of administrative country subdivision
Types of administrative division
Administrative divisions of Russia
Russian-language designations of territorial entities
Former types of subdivisions of Serbia
Former types of subdivisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina