At the top level of administration, Belarus is divided into six oblasts (voblasts or regions) and the city of Minsk,Belarus Regions which has a special status as the capital of Belarus.
Minsk is also the capital of Minsk Region.Minsk summary, at the website of the Belarus embassy in Russia.
At the second level, the regions are divided into raions (districts).
The layout and extent of the regions were set in 1960 when Belarus (then the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic) formed a  constituent republic of the Soviet Union.
History
At the start of the 20th century, the boundaries of the Belarusian lands within the Russian Empire were still being defined.
Basically in 1900 it contained the entire Minsk Governorate and Mogilev Governorate, the majority of Grodno Governorate, parts of Vitebsk Governorate and the parts of Vilna Governorate (the latter is now in Lithuania).
World War I, the independence of Poland, as well as the 1920-1921 Polish–Soviet War affected the boundaries.
In 1921, Belarus had what is now all of Minsk Governorate except for the western fringe, the western part of Gomel Region, a western slice of Mahilyow, and a small part of Vitebsk Region.
In 1926 the eastern part of Gomel region was added.
In Soviet Belarus, new administrative units, called oblast or voblast (cognate of Russian word oblast with prothetic v-) were introduced in 1938.
And again, during World War II, the boundaries fluctuated.
In 1939 they were reset with Belarus gaining territory to the west, Baranavichy, Belastok (Bialystok), Brest, Pinsk, and Vileyka oblasts.
In 1944 Belastok was eliminated and the new oblasts of Babruysk, Grodno, and Polotsk were created.
At that same time, Vileika oblast was renamed Molodechno oblast.
At different times between 1938 and 1960, the following oblasts existed:
Babruysk Oblast, created 1944, eliminated 1954
Baranavichy Oblast, created 1939, eliminated 1954
Belastok Oblast, created 1939, eliminated 1944 (now Bialystok in Poland)
Brest Oblast, created 1939
Gomel Oblast, created 1938
Grodno Oblast, created 1944
Maladzyechna Oblast renamed from Vileyka Oblast 1944, eliminated 1960
Mogilev Oblast, created 1938
Minsk Oblast, created 1938
Navahrudak Oblast, created 1939, renamed Baranavichy Oblast December 1939
Pinsk Oblast, created 1939, eliminated 1954
Polatsk Oblast, created 1944, eliminated 1954
Polesia Oblast, created 1938, eliminated 1954
Vitebsk Oblast, created 1938
Vileyka Oblast, created 1939, renamed to Maladzyechna Oblast 1944
Regions
Regions of Belarus
[[Gross regional product]] in 2019
Historical division
See also
ISO 3166-2:BY, the ISO codes of the oblasts of Belarus.
List of regions of Belarus by Human Development Index
References
External links
Interactive map of Belarus
Regions (oblasts) of Belarus, The official President's website
Geography of Belarus, The official website of Belarus
Belarusian regions, towns and villages
Current Status of United Nations Romanization Systems for Geographical Names of Belarus
Belarus Belarus Regions, Belarus Category:Belarus geography-related lists
