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 ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Historically, it was used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The term ''oblast'' is often translated i ...

''. As administrative subdivisions of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

itself, obwody existed as subdivisions of

voivodeship A voivodeship ( ) or voivodate 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 ...

s (later gubernias) in the early part of the

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of 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 was established w ...

period, from 1816 until 1842, when they were renamed

powiat A ''powiat'' (; ) is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture (Local administrative unit, LAU-1 ormerly Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, NUTS-4 ...

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 period, ...

i). See Administrative division of Congress Poland. 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

Administrative divisions of Poland Types of administrative division {{law-term-stub