A raion (also spelt rayon) is a type of administrative unit of several

post-Soviet states The post-Soviet states, also known as the former Soviet Union (FSU), the former Soviet Republics and in Russia as the near abroad (russian: links=no, ближнее зарубежье, blizhneye zarubezhye), are the 15 sovereign states that wer ...

. The term is used for both a type of

subnational entity 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 ...

and a division of a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

. The word is from the French (meaning 'honeycomb, department'), and is commonly translated as "

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 ...

" in English. A raion is a standardized administrative entity across most of the former

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and is usually a subdivision two steps below the national level, such as a subdivision of an

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 ...

. However, in smaller USSR republics, it could be the primary level of administrative division. After the fall of the Soviet Union, some of the republics kept the ''raion'' (e.g.

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Russia 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 ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...

) while others dropped it (e.g. Georgia,

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

). In Bulgaria, it refers to an internal administrative subdivision of a city not related to the administrative division of the country as a whole, or, in the case of Sofia municipality a subdivision of that municipality.

Etymology

The word "raion" (or "rayon") is often used in translated form: az, rayon; be, раён, rajon; bg, район; ka, რაიონი, ''raioni''; lv, rajons; lt, rajonas; pl, rejon; ro, raion; russian: райо́н and uk, райо́н, translit=rayon.

List of countries with raion subdivisions

Fourteen countries have or had entities that were named "raion" or the local version of it. } , inherited from the

Byelorussian SSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор� ...

, Districts of Belarus , - ,

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 ...

, , (existing) , район, pl. райони (rayoni) , raions are subdivisions of three biggest cities:

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

Plovdiv Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...

and

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria **Varna Province **Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna **Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis *Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy *Varniai, a city in Lithuania * Varna (Šaba ...

. Sofia is subdivided to 24 raions (

Sofia districts Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. Politically, administratively and economically, Bulgaria is a highly centralised state. Sofia Municipality is the only municipality in Sofia City Province, which is distinct from Sofia Province, wh ...

), Plovdiv - 6, Varna - 5 raions , , - ,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, , (existing) , 行政分区 , restricted to the

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

as influenced by the USSR. The districts of Ürümqi City and Karamay City are called ''رايون'' ( SASM/GNC/SRC and ULY: ''rayon'') in Uyghur. , , - ,

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

(Republic of Crimea - short lived Republic recognized by only a few UN member states) , 2014-03-16 , 2014-03-16 , , inherited from Ukraine. The Republic is now split into the

federal subjects of Russia The federal subjects of Russia, also referred to as the subjects of the Russian Federation (russian: субъекты Российской Федерации, subyekty Rossiyskoy Federatsii) or simply as the subjects of the federation (russian ...

named Republic of Crimea and

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 ...

, , - ,

, , 1990 , et, rajoon, pl. ''rajoonid'' , inherited from the

Estonian SSR The Estonian SSR,, russian: Эстонская ССР officially the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,, russian: Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика was an ethnically based adminis ...

. In 1990 transformed into counties ( et, maakond) ,

Counties of Estonia Counties ( et, maakond, plural ') are the first-level administrative subdivisions of Estonia. Estonian territory is composed of 15 counties, including 13 on the mainland and 2 on islands. The government (') of each county is led by a ' (gover ...

, - , Georgia , , 2006 , ka, რაიონი ''raioni'' , inherited from the Georgian SSR; 2006 as first-level entities reorganized into municipalities. A ''raioni'' remains a territorial subdivision of Georgia's capital,

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

. ,

List of municipalities in Georgia (country) A municipality ( ka, მუნიციპალიტეტი, tr) is a subdivision of Georgia (country), Georgia, consisting of a settlement or a group of settlements (Community (administrative division), community, თემი, ''temi''), wh ...

, - ,

, , (existing) , russian: райо́н , inherited from the Kazakh SSR ,

Districts of Kazakhstan The regions of Kazakhstan are divided into 170 districts ( pl. kz, аудандар, ''audandar''). The districts are listed below, by region: Abai * Abay District *Ayagoz District * Beskaragay District * Borodulikha District * Kokpekti Distric ...

, - ,

, , 2009-07-01 , rajons; pl. rajoni , inherited from the

Latvian SSR The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Latvian SSR), also known as Soviet Latvia or simply Latvia, was a federated republic within the Soviet Union, and formally one of its 16 (later 15) constituent republics. The Latvian Soviet Socialist Rep ...

, Districts of Latvia , - ,

, , 1994 , lt, rajonas , inherited from the Lithuanian SSR. In 1994 transformed into district municipalities ( lt, rajono savivaldybė) ,

Municipalities of Lithuania __NOTOC__ Lithuania is divided into three layers of administrative divisions. The first-level division consists of 10 counties ( Lithuanian: singular – ''apskritis'', plural – ''apskritys''). These are sub-divided into 60 municipalities ( ...

, - ,

, , (existing) ,

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

: raion , introduced in administrative reform in 2003 , Districts of Moldova , - ,

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, , 1968-02-16 , ro, raion , one of the

Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of Romania A new territorial division of the Romanian People's Republic was introduced in 1950. Following the Soviet model, a structure of regions and ''raions'' (districts) was created, replacing the former system of '' județe'' (counties) and their subdiv ...

Districts of the People's Republic of Romania 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 ...

, - ,

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 ...

, , (existing) , russian: райо́н , inherited from the

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

Districts of Russia A district (raion) is an administrative and municipal division of a federal subject of Russia. As of 2014, excluding Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Sevastopol, there are 1,873 administrative districts (including the 14 in the Republic of C ...

, - ,

South Ossetia-Alania South Ossetia, ka, სამხრეთი ოსეთი, ( , ), officially the Republic of South Ossetia – the State of Alania, is a partially recognised landlocked state in the South Caucasus. It has an officially stated populat ...

(partially recognised state) , , (existing) , , inherited from the South Ossetian AO , ,

Districts of South Ossetia South Ossetia is subdivided into four ''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 Frenc ...

, - ,

, , 1991-12-26 (end of entity) , , At various levels below the constituent republics. , , - ,

Transnistria Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...

(breakaway territory; de jure part of Moldova) , , (existing) , , inherited from the

Moldavian SSR The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic ( ro, Republica Sovietică Socialistă Moldovenească, Moldovan Cyrillic: ) was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union which existed from 1940 to 1991. The republic was formed on 2 August 1940 ...

, Raions of Transnistria , - ,

, , (existing) , uk, райо́н , 490 raions were inherited from the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

, which were replaced by 136 new raions in 2020. Major Ukrainian cities are also subdivided into raions, constituting a total of 118 nationwide. ,

Raions of Ukraine Raions of Ukraine (often translated as "districts"; Ukrainian: ра́йон, tr. ''raion''; plural: райо́ни, tr. ''raiony'') are the second level of administrative division in Ukraine, below the oblast. Raions were created in a 1922 ad ...

History

Raions in the Soviet Union

In the

, raions were administrative divisions created in the 1920s to reduce the number of territorial divisions inherited from the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the 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 the Great Northern War. ...

and to simplify their bureaucracies.James R. Millar. ''Encyclopedia of Russian History''. Macmillan Reference USA. New York, 2004. The process of conversion to the system of raions was called ''raionirovanie'' ("regionalization"). It was started in 1923 in the

Urals The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through European ...

North Caucasus The North Caucasus, ( ady, Темыр Къафкъас, Temır Qafqas; kbd, Ишхъэрэ Къаукъаз, İṩxhərə Qauqaz; ce, Къилбаседа Кавказ, Q̇ilbaseda Kavkaz; , os, Цӕгат Кавказ, Cægat Kavkaz, inh, ...

, and

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

as a part of the Soviet administrative reform and continued through 1929, by which time the majority of the country's territory was divided into raions instead of the old

volost Volost ( rus, во́лость, p=ˈvoləsʲtʲ; ) was a traditional administrative subdivision in Eastern Europe. In earlier East Slavic history, ''volost'' was a name for the territory ruled by the knyaz, a principality; either as an absolute ...

s and uyezds. The concept of ''raionirovanie'' was met with resistance in some republics, especially in

, where local leaders objected to the concept of raions as being too centralized in nature and ignoring the local customs. This point of view was backed by the Soviet Russian People's Commissariat of Nationalities. Nevertheless, eventually all of the territory of the Soviet Union was regionalized. Soviet raions had self-governance in the form of an elected district council (''raysovet'') and were headed by the local head of administration, who was either elected or appointed.

Raions outside the Soviet Union

Following the model of the Soviet Union raions have been introduced in Bulgaria, Romania. In China the term is used in Uyghur in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. In Romania they have been later replaced.

Raions after the dissolution of the Soviet Union

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, raions as administrative units continue to be used in

, Georgia,

, and

. They are also used in breakaway regions: Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Transnistria. In Georgia they exist as districts in Tbilisi.

Modern raions

Abkhazia

Abkhazia is divided into seven districts.

Azerbaijan

Belarus

, raions ( be, раён, rajonAccording to th
Instruction on Latin Transliteration of Geographical Names of the Republic of Belarus, Decree of the State Committee on Land Resources, Surveying and Cartography of the Republic of Belarus dated 23.11.2000 No. 15
recommended for use by the Working Group on Romanization Systems of the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN) — . See also:

Instruction on transliteration of Belarusian geographical names with letters of Latin script Instruction on transliteration of Belarusian geographical names with letters of Latin script is an official standard of Romanization of Belarusian geographical names. Status The instruction was adopted by a decree of the Belarusian State Comm ...

;

Romanization of Belarusian Romanization or Latinization of Belarusian is any system for transliterating written Belarusian language, Belarusian from Cyrillic script, Cyrillic to the Latin alphabet. Standard systems for romanizing Belarusian Standard systems for romanizing ...

.) are administrative units subordinated to

s. See also: :Districts of Belarus.

Bulgaria

, raions are subdivisions of three biggest cities:

and

. Sofia is subdivided to 24 raions (

), Plovdiv - 6, Varna - 5 raions.

Moldova

* Administrative divisions of Moldova

South Ossetia

Transnistria

Russia

Ukraine

, there are a total of 136 raions which are the administrative divisions of oblasts (provinces) and the

Autonomous Republic of Crimea The Autonomous Republic of Crimea, commonly known as Crimea, is a de jure autonomous republic of Ukraine encompassing most of Crimea that was annexed by Russia in 2014. The Autonomous Republic of Crimea occupies most of the peninsula,

Major cities The United Nations uses three definitions for what constitutes a city, as not all cities in all jurisdictions are classified using the same criteria. Cities may be defined as the cities proper, the extent of their urban area, or their metropo ...

of regional significance as well as the two national

cities with special status City with special status ( uk, місто зі спеціальним статусом, misto zi spetsial'nym statusom), formerly "city of republican subordinance", is a type of first-level administrative division of Ukraine. Kyiv and Sevastopol ...

(

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

and

) are also subdivided into raions (constituting a total of 118 nationwide).

Notes

References

* {{Authority control Political divisions of Russia +Raion Subdivisions of Belarus Types of administrative division Former subdivisions of the Socialist Republic of Romania Russian-language designations of territorial entities Subdivisions of Georgia (country) Administrative divisions of Ukraine