Oblast

An oblast (/ˈɒblæst/ or /ˈɒblɑːst/)^[a][b] 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 into English as 'region' or 'province'.^[2][3] In some countries, oblasts are also known by cognates of the Russian term.

Etymology

The term oblast is borrowed from Russian область (pronounced [ˈobɫəsʲtʲ]), where it is inherited from Old East Slavic, in turn borrowed from Church Slavonic область oblastĭ 'power, empire', formed from the prefix oб- (cognate with Classical Latin ob 'towards, against' and Ancient Greek ἐπί/ἔπι epi 'in power, in charge') and the stem власть vlastǐ 'power, rule'.^[1] In Old East Slavic, it was used alongside оболость obolostǐ—the equivalent of об- 'against' and волость 'territory, state, power' (cognate with English 'wield'; see volost).^[1][4][2]

History

Russian Empire

Main article: Oblasts of the Russian Empire

In the Russian Empire oblasts were considered to be administrative units and were included as parts of Governorates General or krais. The majority of then-existing oblasts were on the periphery of the country (e.g. Kars Oblast or Transcaspian Oblast) or covered the areas where Cossacks lived.

Soviet Union

Main article: Oblasts of the Soviet Union

In the Soviet Union, oblasts were one of the types of administrative divisions of the union republics. As any administrative units of this level, oblasts were composed of districts (raions) and cities/towns directly under oblasts' jurisdiction. Some oblasts also included autonomous entities called autonomous okrugs. Because of the Soviet Union electrification program under the GOELRO plan, Ivan Alexandrov, as director of the Regionalisation Committee of Gosplan, divided the Soviet Union into thirteen European and eight Asiatic oblasts, using rational economic planning rather than "the vestiges of lost sovereign rights".^[5]

The names of oblasts did not usually correspond to the names of the respective historical regions, as they were created as purely administrative units. With a few exceptions, Soviet oblasts were named after their administrative centers.

Yugoslavia

Main article: Subdivisions of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia

In 1922, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was divided into 33 administrative divisions also called oblasts. In 1929, oblasts were replaced with larger administrative units known as banovinas.

During the Yugoslav Wars, several Serb Autonomous Oblasts were formed in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. These oblasts were later merged into the Republic of Serbian Krajina and the Republika Srpska.

Word "oblast" is also prominent and widely used in Serbian language. It does not have only territorial meaning. It is also regularly used to denote parts of science, literature, or production, and so on (for example "oblast nauke" means "field of science"). So, it means something like "part of whole".

Modern oblasts

Bulgaria

Main article: Provinces of Bulgaria

Since 1999, Bulgaria has been divided into 28 oblasts, usually translated as "provinces". Before, the country was divided into just nine units, also called oblasts.

Post-Soviet states

Territorial entity	Local term	English term	Details	Comment
Armenia	marz	province or region[6]	see: marz (country subdivision)	Oblast in the Russian version of a 1995 law.[7]
Belarus	voblasts (voblasc) / oblast	region[8]	see: regions of Belarus	Belarusian and Russian are both state languages
Kazakhstan	oblys	region	see: regions of Kazakhstan	Kazakh is the sole official language. Russian is officially used alongside it in state organizations and local self-government bodies according to the Constitution[9]
Kyrgyzstan	oblus / oblast	region	see: regions of Kyrgyzstan	Kyrgyz and Russian are both official languages
Russia	oblast	oblast or region[10]	see: oblasts of Russia	According to the Constitution of Russia, oblasts are considered to be subjects of the Federation, which is a higher status than that of administrative units they had within the Russian SFSR before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The federal subject status gives the oblasts some degree of autonomy and gives them representation in the Federation Council
Tajikistan	viloyat	region	see: regions of Tajikistan
Turkmenistan	welaýat	region[11]	see: regions of Turkmenistan
Ukraine	oblast	oblast or region[12][13]	see: oblasts of Ukraine	In Ukraine, an oblast (Ukrainian: область [ˈɔblɐsʲtʲ] ⓘ; in English called a province or region) refers to one of the country's 24 primary administrative units. Since Ukraine is a unitary state, the provinces (or regions) do not have much legal scope of competence other than that which is established in the Ukrainian Constitution and by law. Articles 140–146 of Chapter XI of the constitution deal directly with local authorities and their competency. Oblasts are further subdivided into raions (districts), ranging in number from 3 to 10 per entity
Uzbekistan	viloyat	region[14]	see: regions of Uzbekistan

Viloyat and welaýat are derived from the Turkish language term vilayet, itself derived from the Arabic language term wilāya (ولاية).

See also

• Autonomous oblast
• Guberniya, an administrative unit, comparable to an oblast, of the Russian Empire, early Russian SFSR, and the Soviet Union
• Raion, district or sub-division of an oblast
• Krai
• Okrug
• Political divisions of Russia
• Chránená krajinná oblasť Horná Orava (the Horná Orava Protected Landscape Area) in Slovakia

Notes

1. Plural: oblasts, oblasti (from Russian: области), or (rarely) oblasty from Ukrainian: области, romanized: oblasty.^[1]
2. Russian: область [ˈobɫəsʲtʲ]; Ukrainian: область [ˈɔbɫɐsʲtʲ]; Belarusian: вобласць, romanized: vobłaść [ˈvobɫɐsʲtɕʲ]; Polish: obwód [ˈɔbvut]; Serbian: област / oblast [ôbɫaːst]; Bulgarian and Macedonian: област / oblast [ˈɔbɫɐst]; Kazakh: облыс / oblys [ˈwobɫɤs]; Kyrgyz: облус / oblus [ˈɔbɫʊs]; Bashkir and Tatar: өлкә / ölkä [øʎˈcɛ]; Ossetian: облæст / oblæst [ˈobɫɐstʰ]; Tajik and Uzbek: вилоят / viloyat [ʋɪlɔˈjætʰ]