Okrug
Okrug (Bulgarian: окръг; Serbian and Russian: о́круг; Ukrainian: округа, translit. okruha; Polish okręg) is a term used in some Eastern European Slavic states to denote an administrative division. Etymologically, the word is similar to the German word Bezirk ("district"); both okrug and Bezirk refer to something "encircled" (compare circle (country subdivision)).
Bulgaria
In Bulgaria, okrugs, translated as "districts" or "counties", were a subdivision of the larger oblasts (provinces) that existed between 1987 and 1999.
Imperial Russia
Okrugs were a type of administrative division in Imperial Russia. Until 1920, okrugs were administrative districts in Cossack hosts.
Soviet Union
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 (federalny okrug), such as the Siberian Federal District;
- Autonomous okrugs (avtonomny okrug), such as Chukotka Autonomous Okrug;
- Komi-Permyak Okrug, a territory with special status within Perm Krai.
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.
Furthermore, the designation okrug denotes several selsovet-level administrative divisions:
- okrugs, such as okrugs of Samara Oblast.
- rural okrugs (selsky okrug), such as the rural okrugs of Belgorod Oblast.
- rural territorial okrugs (selsky territorialny okrug), such as the rural territorial okrugs of Murmansk Oblast.
- stanitsa okrugs (stanichny okrug), such as the stanitsa okrugs of Krasnodar Krai.
Okrug is also used to describe a type of a municipal unit, the "municipal urban okrug". This is 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 "district city" of Belgrade. The term okrug in Serbia is often translated as either "district" or "county".
See also
External links
- Okruha in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine