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 word ''okrug'' is a loanword in English, alternatively translated as ''area'', ''district'', or ''region''.

Etymologically, ''okrug'' literally means ' circuit'. In meaning, the word is similar to the German term ''Bezirk'' ('district') and the French word ''arrondissement''; all of which refer to something "encircled" or "surrounded".

Bulgaria

In Bulgaria, ''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 oblasts.

Poland

As historical administrative subdivisions of Poland, existed in the later part of the Congress Poland 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.

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 oblasts and selected governorates in Imperial Russia. Until the 1920s, ''okrugs'' were administrative districts in Cossack hosts such as the Don Cossacks.

Soviet Union

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 July 30, 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

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 (), such as the Siberian Federal District
* Autonomous okrugs (), 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 are a lower-level administrative division

In the federal city of Sevastopol, municipal ''okrugs'' are a type of a 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 (), 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, 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.

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
*Krai
*Military district
*Oblast

Notes

References

External links

Okruha
in 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