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An uezd (also spelled uyezd; rus, уе́зд, p=ʊˈjest), or povit in a Ukrainian context ( uk, повіт), or Kreis in Baltic-German context, was a type of administrative subdivision of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, 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 the early
Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
, which was in use from the 13th century. For most of Russian history, uezds were a second-level administrative division. By sense, but not by etymology, ''uezd'' approximately corresponds to the English "
county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
".


General description

Originally describing groups of several
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, they formed around the most important cities. Uezds were ruled by the appointees ('' namestniki'') of a knyaz and, starting from the 17th century, by voyevodas. In 1708, an administrative reform was carried out by Peter the Great, dividing Russia into
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 states or provinces, the term ''governorate'' is often used in translation from ...
. The subdivision into uyezds was abolished at that time but was reinstated in 1727, as a result of
Catherine I Catherine I ( rus, Екатери́на I Алексе́евна Миха́йлова, Yekaterína I Alekséyevna Mikháylova; born , ; – ) was the second wife and empress consort of Peter the Great, and Empress Regnant of Russia from 1725 un ...
's administrative reform. By the
Soviet 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 nation ...
administrative reform of 1923–1929, most of the uezds were transformed 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 (districts). In Ukraine, uezds were reformed into forty okruhas which were the primary-level of administrative division from 1925 to 1930.


Baltic governorates

In the
Baltic governorates The Baltic governorates (russian: Прибалтийские губернии), originally the Ostsee governorates (german: Ostseegouvernements, russian: Остзейские губернии), was a collective name for the administrative units ...
the type of division was known as Kreis.


Bessarabia

The uezds of
Bessarabia Governorate The Bessarabia Governorate (, ) was a part of the Russian Empire from 1812 to 1917. Initially known as Bessarabia Oblast (Бессарабская область, ''Bessarabskaya oblast'') as well as, following 1871, a governorate, it included ...
were called
Ținut A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
or Județ in
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, tradition ...
, which would translate as "county".


Ukraine

The Ukrainian word for ''uezd'' is ''
povit The povit, or county (), was a historical territorial-administrative and judicial unit in Ukraine, administered by a starosta. Following annexation of Ukraine (historically known as Cossack Hetmanate) by the Russian Empire in 17th-18th centuries ...
'' ( uk, повіт, plural uk, повіти, translit=povity, label=none), also called ''
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 ...
'' under Polish administration.


See also

*
List of uezds of the Russian Empire This is a list of uezds of 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 Trea ...
*
History of the administrative division of Russia The modern administrative-territorial structure of Russia is a system of territorial organization which is a product of a centuries-long evolution and reforms. Early history The Kievan Rus' as it formed in the 10th century remained a more or ...
*
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 ...


External links


"Administrative territorial division of Russia in the 18th-20th centuries" («Административно-территориальное деление России XVIII—XX веков»)
"Otechestvennye Zapiski", No.6, 2002. * Тархов, Сергей, "Изменение административно-территориального деления России в XIII-XX в."
pdf
, ''Логос''

{{Slavic terms for country subdivisions Subdivisions of the Russian Empire Local government in the Russian Empire Types of administrative division Russian-language designations of territorial entities