Oblast
Anoblast(/ˈɒblæst/,UKalso/ˈɒblɑːst/;pluraloblasts,oblasti,or rarelyoblasty;[1]RussianandUkrainian:область,romanized:oblast';Belarusian:вобласць,romanized:voblasc';Bulgarian:област,romanized:oblast;Kazakh:облыс,romanized:oblys;Kyrgyz:облус,romanized:oblus) is a type ofadministrative divisioninBulgariaand severalpost-Soviet states,includingBelarus,RussiaandUkraine.Historically, it was used in theRussian Empireand theSoviet Union.The termoblastis often translated into English asregionorprovince.[2][3]In some countries, oblasts are also known bycognatesof the Russian term.
Etymology
[edit]The English termoblastisborrowedfromRussian:область,romanized:oblast',where it is inherited fromOld East Slavic,in turn borrowed fromChurch Slavonic:область,romanized:oblastĭ,lit. 'power, empire', formed from the prefixoб-,оb-(cognate with ClassicalLatin:obandAncient Greek:ἐπί, ἔπι,romanized:epi) andChurch Slavonic:власть,romanized:vlastĭ,lit. 'power, rule'.[1]In Old East Slavic it was used alongsideоболость,obolost',equivalent ofоб-,ob-,'against' andволость,volost','territory, state, power', cognate with Englishwield;seevolost.[1][4][2]
History
[edit]Russian Empire
[edit]In theRussian Empire,oblasts were considered to be administrative units and were included as parts ofGovernorates Generalorkrais.The majority of then-existing oblasts were on the periphery of the country (e.g.Kars OblastorTranscaspian Oblast) or covered the areas whereCossackslived.
Soviet Union
[edit]In theSoviet Union,oblasts were one of the types of administrative divisions of theunion republics.As any administrative units of this level, oblasts were composed of districts (raions) and cities/towns directly under oblasts' jurisdiction. Some oblasts also includedautonomous entitiescalledautonomous okrugs.Because of the Soviet Union electrification program under theGOELRO plan,Ivan Alexandrov,as director of the Regionalisation Committee ofGosplan,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
[edit]In 1922, theKingdom of Serbs, Croats and Sloveneswas divided into33 administrative divisionsalso called oblasts.In 1929, oblasts were replaced withlarger administrative units known as banovinas.
During theYugoslav Wars,severalSerb Autonomous Oblastswere formed inBosnia and HerzegovinaandCroatia.These oblasts were later merged into theRepublic of Serbian Krajinaand theRepublika Srpska.
Modern oblasts
[edit]Bulgaria
[edit]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
[edit]| Territorial entity | Local term | English term | Details | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armenia | marz | province or region[6] | see:marz (country subdivision) | Oblastin 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 | |
| Kyrgyzstan | oblus/oblast | region | see:regions of Kyrgyzstan | Kyrgyz and Russian are both official languages |
| Russia | oblast | oblast or region[9] | see:oblasts of Russia | According to theConstitution of Russia,oblasts are considered to besubjects of the Federation,which is a higher status than that of administrative units they had within theRussian SFSRbefore the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The federal subject status gives the oblasts some degree of autonomy and gives them representation in theFederation Council. |
| Tajikistan | viloyat | region | see:regions of Tajikistan | |
| Turkmenistan | welaýat | region[10] | see:regions of Turkmenistan | |
| Ukraine | oblast | oblast or region[11][12] | see:oblasts of Ukraine | InUkraine,an oblast (Ukrainian:область[ˈɔblɐsʲtʲ];inEnglishcalled a province or region) refers to one of the country's 24 primaryadministrative units.Since Ukraine is aunitary state,the provinces (or regions) do not have much legal scope of competence other than that which is established in theUkrainian Constitutionand by law. Articles 140–146 ofChapter XIof the constitution deal directly with local authorities and their competency.
Oblasts are further subdivided intoraions(districts), ranging in number from 3 to 10 per entity. |
| Uzbekistan | viloyat | region[13] | see:regions of Uzbekistan |
Viloyatandwelaýatare derived from theTurkish languagetermvilayet,itself derived from theArabic languagetermwilāya(ولاية).
See also
[edit]
- 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
References
[edit]- ^abc"oblast, n.",Oxford English Dictionary,July 2023,doi:10.1093/OED/6423855087,retrieved2023-12-01
- ^ab"Oblast definition and meaning",Collins English Dictionary,retrieved25 December2022
- ^"What Is An Oblast?",World Atlas,2017,retrieved25 December2022
- ^Фасмера, Макса (2006)."область".Этимологический онлайн-словарь русского(in Russian) (4th ed.).RetrievedMay 1,2023.
- ^Ekonomicheskoe raionirovanie Rossii,Gosplan, Moscow 1921
- ^"Government - Regions - The Government of Armenia".gov.am.
- ^"Legislation: National Assembly of RA".parliament.am.
- ^"Geography, Belarus - Belarus.by".belarus.by.
- ^"Chapter 3. The Federal Structure - The Constitution of the Russian Federation".constitution.ru.Archived fromthe originalon 2018-12-25.Retrieved2014-10-16.
- ^"Microsoft Word - Newsletter II-2 2010-06-30.doc"(PDF).Retrieved2019-03-07.
- ^"Regions of Ukraine - MFA of Ukraine".mfa.gov.ua.Archived fromthe originalon 2014-10-08.Retrieved2014-10-16.
- ^"Ukraine's Snap Parliamentary Elections".Ria Novosti.Archived fromthe originalon 2014-10-31.Retrieved2014-10-31.
- ^"The Governmental portal of the Republic of Uzbekistan - Local authority".Archived fromthe originalon 2014-10-19.Retrieved2014-10-16.
External links
[edit]
Media related toOblastsat Wikimedia Commons
