Grodno Region ( pl, Grodzieńszczyzna) or Grodno Oblast or Hrodna Voblasts ( be, Гродзенская вобласць, ''Hrodzienskaja vobłasć'', , ''Haradzienščyna''; russian: Гродненская область, ''Grodnenskaya oblast''; pl, Obwód Grodzieński; lt, Gardino sritis) is one of the

regions of Belarus At the top level of administration, Belarus is divided into six ''oblasts'' (''voblasts'' or provinces). The city of Minsk, has a special status as the capital of Belarus. Minsk is also the capital of Minsk Region.Grodno, is the biggest city in the region. It lies on the Neman River. It borders

Minsk Region Minsk Region or Minsk Oblast or Minsk Voblasts ( be, Мі́нская во́бласць, ''Minskaja voblasć'' ; russian: Минская о́бласть, ''Minskaya oblast'') is one of the regions of Belarus. Its administrative center is Minsk ...

to the east,

Brest Region Brest Region or Brest Oblast or Brest Voblasts ( be, Брэ́сцкая во́бласць ''(Bresckaja vobłasć)''; russian: Бре́стская о́бласть (''Brestskaya Oblast)'') is one of the regions of Belarus. Its administrative cen ...

to the south,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

( Podlaskie Voivodeship) to the west and

Vitebsk Region Vitebsk Region or Vitebsk Oblast or Viciebsk Voblasts ( be, Ві́цебская во́бласць, ''Viciebskaja voblasć'', ; rus, Ви́тебская о́бласть, Vitebskaya oblast, ˈvʲitʲɪpskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a region ( oblas ...

and Lithuania ( Alytus and

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

counties) to the north. Grodno's existence is attested to from 1127. Two castles dating from the 14th - 18th centuries are located here on the steep right bank of the Nemen. One of the city's surviving masterpieces is the 12th century Orthodox Church of St Boris & St Gleb (Kalozhskaya Church), which is the second oldest in Belarus.

History

This region was the westernmost "borderlands" of the

Early East Slavs The early Slavs were a diverse group of tribal societies who lived during the Migration Period and the Early Middle Ages (approximately the 5th to the 10th centuries AD) in Central and Eastern Europe and established the foundations for the Slav ...

(tribal union

Dregovichs The Dregoviches or Dregovichi ( Belarusian: дрыгавічы, ''dryhavičy'', ; russian: дреговичи, dregovichi; ua, дреговичі, drehovychi) were one of the tribal unions of Early East Slavs, and inhabited the territories ...

?) on the lands of the

Balts The Balts or Baltic peoples ( lt, baltai, lv, balti) are an ethno-linguistic group of peoples who speak the Baltic languages of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. One of the features of Baltic languages is the number ...

in the 6th-9th centuries. In the 12th-14th centuries it was part of the area sometimes known as Black Ruthenia, that was fully incorporated into the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Lit ...

(GDL) by the rulers of Lithuania in the 13th century. In 1413, the area around Grodno, part of the

Duchy of Trakai Duchy of Trakai was a subdivision of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania during the 14th and early 15th centuries. The Duke of Trakai was an important position held either by the Grand Duke of Lithuania himself or his second-in-command. History After th ...

, was transformed into newly established Trakai Voivodeship. Grodno became the seat of Grodno County. In 1441,

Magdeburg Law Magdeburg rights (german: Magdeburger Recht; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within ...

charter was granted to the capital by

Casimir IV Jagiellon Casimir IV (in full Casimir IV Andrew Jagiellon; pl, Kazimierz IV Andrzej Jagiellończyk ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447, until his death. He was one of the m ...

Grand Duke of Lithuania and future King of Poland. In 1444, Grodno received its coat of arms from Casimir's hands as well as substantial trade privileges. The strong economic development of the area continued during the reign of Casimir's son - Duke

Alexander Jagiellon Alexander Jagiellon ( pl, Aleksander Jagiellończyk, lt, Aleksandras Jogailaitis; 5 August 1461 – 19 August 1506) of the House of Jagiellon was the Grand Duke of Lithuania and later also King of Poland. He was the fourth son of Casimir IV Jag ...

who founded the first solid bridge over the Neman River as well as Monastery of

Order of Saint Augustine The Order of Saint Augustine, ( la, Ordo Fratrum Sancti Augustini) abbreviated OSA, is a religious mendicant order of the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1244 by bringing together several eremitical groups in the Tuscany region who were fo ...

and Monastery of Polish '' Ordo Fratrum Minorum''. Later, Bona Sforza Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania, placed in Grodno her royal residence. According to medieval surveys, Grodno had 35 streets and 700 houses in 1558. The golden age of Grodno falls on the reign of

Stephen Báthory Stephen Báthory ( hu, Báthory István; pl, Stefan Batory; ; 27 September 1533 – 12 December 1586) was Voivode of Transylvania (1571–1576), Prince of Transylvania (1576–1586), King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1576–1586) ...

King of Poland, which is between 1576 and 1586. During his reign, Grodno became royal headquarters and began to host sessions of

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ru ...

Senate and Parliament. In 1580, on king's order the castle of Grodno was rebuilt in

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

style of architecture, by Scoto di Parma. At the beginning of the 17th century, Grodno was one of the most developed and important cities in

, traditionally recognized as the third capital of the commonwealth. Deterioration of province status began with

Livonian War The Livonian War (1558–1583) was the Russian invasion of Old Livonia, and the prolonged series of military conflicts that followed, in which Tsar Ivan the Terrible of Russia (Muscovy) unsuccessfully fought for control of the region (pr ...

which put Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in long-lasting and exhausting military conflict with

Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Rus' also externally referenced as the Tsardom of Muscovy, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of Tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter I ...

and

Swedish Empire The Swedish Empire was a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic region during the 17th and early 18th centuries ( sv, Stormaktstiden, "the Era of Great Power"). The beginning of the empire is usually ta ...

. Between 1765 and 1780, the province regained some of its previous status when Antoni Tyzenhaus the Treasurer of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Administrator of Polish Royal Estates, was governing the capital and the province. Around 50 new economical endeavours were undertaken by Tyzenhaus in the region, new manufactures, mills and workshops have been built. As part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth forming the Grand Duchy's Trakai Voivodship, and due to subsequent Partitions of Poland, the whole of the Grodno region was finally annexed by

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

by the end of 1795. The city of Grodno then became a seat for

Grodno Governorate The Grodno Governorate, (russian: Гро́дненская губе́рнiя, translit=Grodnenskaya guberniya, pl, Gubernia grodzieńska, be, Гродзенская губерня, translit=Hrodzenskaya gubernya, lt, Gardino gubernija, u ...

. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the governorate was occupied by Germany. German troops entered Grodno city on 3 September 1915, plundering the ''Library of Dominicans Order''. During the German occupation, Polish citizens of Grodno region were persecuted and had restricted civil rights. At the end of the war, the

Belarusian People's Republic The Belarusian People's Republic (BNR; be, Беларуская Народная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Narodnaja Respublika, ), or Belarusian Democratic Republic, was a state proclaimed by the Council of the Belarusian Democratic R ...

declared its independence from Soviet Russia in March 1918 in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

. Grodno was the site of the last stand of the BNR's Council (''

Rada The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Se ...

''). Soon, the Council was forced to flee as Soviet troops invaded the region and the city in 1919. The same year

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (Polish–Bolshevik War, Polish–Soviet War, Polish–Russian War 1919–1921) * russian: Советско-польская война (''Sovetsko-polskaya voyna'', Soviet-Polish War), Польский фронт (' ...

broke out and lasted until 1921. Under the terms of Peace Treaty of Riga the region and the city returned to Second Polish Republic which claimed rights to this territory as a successor to Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and as a victorious side of the

. By 1939, the Grodno city had 60,000 inhabitants, with Poles and

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

accounting for 60% and 37% of the population, respectively. During Polish rule Grodno was centre of Grodno County in Białystok Voivodeship, but some parts of present Grodno Region was in the voivodeships of

Nowogródek Novogrudok ( be, Навагрудак, Navahrudak; lt, Naugardukas; pl, Nowogródek; russian: Новогрудок, Novogrudok; yi, נאַוואַראַדאָק, Novhardok, Navaradok) is a town in the Grodno Region, Belarus. In the Middle A ...

and

Wilno Vilnius ( , ; see also #Etymology and other names, other names) is the capital and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the munic ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

started, on 17 September 1939, the Grodno area was invaded by Soviet Union and incorporated by force to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

as part of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. Grodno was located in the newly established

Belastok Region Belastok Voblast or Belostok Oblast ( be, Беластоцкая вобласць, Biełastockaja vobłasć, russian: Белостокская Область, pl, Obwód białostocki) was a short-lived territorial unit in the Belarusian Soviet ...

. Thousands were imprisoned or deported to

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. In the early summer of 1941 the region fell under

Nazi German Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

occupation. In November 1941, German occupants established the Grodno Ghetto for Jewish citizens of Grodno and rest of the region population. In 1942, after a year of severe persecution and planned starvation of ghetto inhabitants, 10,000 Jews from Grodno were deported to the German concentration camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau and murdered there. Next year, in 1943, survivors of remaining 17,000 of ghetto inhabitants were again deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau as well as to

Treblinka extermination camp Treblinka () was an extermination camp, built and operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II. It was in a forest north-east of Warsaw, south of the village of Treblinka in what is now the Masovian Voivodeship. The camp ...

and

Białystok Ghetto The Białystok Ghetto ( pl, getto w Białymstoku) was a Nazi ghetto set up by the German SS between July 26 and early August 1941 in the newly formed District of Bialystok within occupied Poland. About 50,000 Jews from the vicinity of Białyst ...

. Although on 13 March 1943, German troops reported the end of extermination and described Grodno city as ''judenrein'', around 50 Jews survived the extermination, also hidden by non-Jewish families. Polish and Soviet underground acted in the region. Villages like Dziarečyn, which originally had large Jewish populations, were greatly reduced. As a result of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

's policy of expansion to the west, it was decided during the

Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference (codenamed Argonaut), also known as the Crimea Conference, held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the post ...

that the Polish eastern border shall be set along the so-called "original" Curzon Line. Based on this decision, the left-bank part of Grodno town would be kept within the borders of Poland. It is actually not clear till today, how the original Curzon Line near Grodno has been moved by around 20 km to the west. When the so-called "mistake" (today regarded rather as deliberate sabotage within British ministry structures) became obvious to negotiators, Stalin refused to correct the mistaken line. Despite multiple and desperate appeals from Polish citizens of Grodno, the whole Grodno region, (including ethically Polish till today) Sapotskin Triangle, was incorporated to the

Soviet Belarus The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор� ...

and many Poles emigrated or were expelled. In 1944

was dissolved and Grodno Region established. Since 1991 the Grodno Region constitutes one of 6 regions of independent

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

Heritage and tourism

Main tourist attractions in the region are numerous old architectural constructions such as castles in

Mir ''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...

Lida Lida ( be, Лі́да ; russian: Ли́да ; lt, Lyda; lv, Ļida; pl, Lida ; yi, לידע, Lyde) is a city 168 km (104 mi) west of Minsk in western Belarus in Grodno Region. Etymology The name ''Lida'' arises from its Lithuan ...

, Novogrudok. A part of

Białowieża Forest Białowieża Forest; lt, Baltvyžių giria; pl, Puszcza Białowieska ; russian: Беловежская пуща, Belovezhskaya Pushcha is a forest on the border between Belarus and Poland. It is one of the last and largest remaining pa ...

is situated here, but the tourist excursions start from the

part of the National Park. Zhyrovichy Monastery is also a destination for religious travellers. The

Mir Castle Complex The Mir Castle Complex ( be, Мірскі замак, romanized: ''Mirski zamak'', russian: Мирский замок) is historic fortified castle and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Belarus. It is located in the town of Mir, in the Kareličy D ...

and

Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park (Russian:"Białowieża ...

are

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

s. There are such objects of Belarusian Cultural heritage list, as the Church of Saint Anthony of Padua in Kamienka, St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, St Andrew's Church in Slonim, Church of the Holy Trinity in Gierviaty, etc. There are about 45 travel agencies in Grodno Region, half of them provide agent activity, the other half are tour operators.

Demographics (2002)

The province covers an area of 25,100 km² and has a population of 1,065,100, giving a population density of 42/km². About 63.5% live in cities and towns, while 36.5% live in rural areas. Females account for 53% of the region's population and men 47%. There are about 310,000 children under 19, and about 240,000 people aged over 60. Nowadays, Belarusians account for 62.3% of the population. The region is a home to significant minority populations: * Poles (24.8%), * Russians (10%), * Ukrainians (1.8%), * Jews (0.4%), * Tatars (0.2%), * Lithuanians (0.2%), * other nationalities (0.4%). Whereas Belarus as a whole is primarily

Russian Orthodox Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most ...

, Grodno Region has two major religions,

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

and Russian Orthodox. There are 449 religious communities and 18 denominations, 2 Russian Orthodox eparchial districts, 1 Orthodox

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

sorority, 2 Catholic

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

brotherhoods, 1 Catholic

sorority, 2 Orthodox and 4 Catholic

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

, 165 Orthodox and 169 Catholic churches. The Catholic minority is made up mostly of Poles, although the identifier "Pole" has also been historically applied to Catholic Belarusians. There are a number on national minority associations: 6 Polish, 6 Lithuanian, 4

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, 1 Ukrainian, 1

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

, 1

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

, 1 Georgian, 1 Chuvash. Belarusians in Hrodzienskaja voblasć, Belarus (2009 census).png, Belarusians in the region Poles in Hrodzienskaja voblasć, Belarus (2009 census).png, Poles in the region Russians in Hrodzienskaja voblasć, Belarus (2009 census).png, Russians in the region

Administrative subdivisions

The Grodno Region is subdivided into 17 districts ( rajons), 194 selsoviets, 12 cities, 6 city municipalities, and 21

urban-type settlement Urban-type settlementrussian: посёлок городско́го ти́па, translit=posyolok gorodskogo tipa, abbreviated: russian: п.г.т., translit=p.g.t.; ua, селище міського типу, translit=selyshche mis'koho typu, ab ...

Districts of Grodno Region

* Ashmyany District * Astravyets District *

Byerastavitsa District Byerastavitsa District is an local government, administrative subdivision, a raion of Grodno Region, in Belarus. The Byerastavitsa District was founded from Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union on January 15, 1940, as the Krynki Raion; in 194 ...

* Dzyatlava District * Grodno (Hrodna) District * Iwye District * Karelichy District * Lida District * Masty District * Navahrudak District *

Shchuchyn District Shchuchyn District ( be, Шчучынскі раён) is a district (rajon) in Grodno Region, Belarus. The administrative center is Shchuchyn. Notable residents * Vaclaŭ Ivanoŭski (also known as Vatslaw Ivanowski or Wacław Iwanowski) (1 ...

* Slonim District * Smarhon' District * Svislach District * Vawkavysk District * Voranava District * Zel’va District

Cities and towns

Population of cities and towns in Grodno Region:

Economy

In 2016, Grodno Region produced 10.9% of industrial output of Belarus. The biggest company was a nitrogen fertilizer producer Grodno Azot (16% of regional industrial output). In 2017, the biggest taxpayer of the region was Grodno tobacco factory. Average salary (before income tax) in the region in 2017 was 700 BYN, or lower than average salary in Belarus (820 BYN). The highest salary in the region was recorded in Grodno (810 BYN). Unemployment rate in 2017 was estimated at 4.4%, but only 0.8% of population of employable age was registered as unemployed.Regions of the Republic of Belarus 'Регионы Республики Беларусь'' — Vol. 1. — Minsk: National Statistics Committee of Belarus, 2018. — P. 165—168.

References

External links

Grodno Regional Executive Committee
, in Belarusian, Russian, English and Chinese {{coord, 53, 45, N, 25, 20, E, region:BY-HR_type:adm1st_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Regions of Belarus