Astravyets ( be, Астравец, Astraviec, , rus, Островец, Ostrovets, ɐstrɐˈvʲɛts, lt, Astravas, pl, Ostrowiec) is a city in the

Grodno Region Grodno Region ( pl, Grodzieńszczyzna) or Grodno Oblast or Hrodna Voblasts ( be, Гродзенская вобласць, ''Hrodzienskaja vobłasć'', , ''Haradzienščyna''; russian: Гродненская область, ''Grodnenskaya oblast' ...

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 R ...

, an administrative center of the

Astravyets District Astravyets District ( be, Астраве́цкі раён, russian: link=no, Острове́цкий райо́н) – a district (rajon) in Grodno Region of Belarus. The administrative center is Astravyets. History 1940, January 15 – esta ...

History

Within 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 Li ...

, Astravyets was part of

Vilnius Voivodeship The Vilnius Voivodeship ( la, Palatinatus Vilnensis, lt, Vilniaus vaivadija, pl, województwo wileńskie, be, Віленскае ваяводства) was one of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania's voivodeships, which existed from the voivodeship's ...

. In 1795, Astravyets was acquired by the

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. ...

in the course of the Third Partition of Poland. From 1921 until 1939, Astravyets was part of the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...

. In September 1939, the town was occupied by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

and, on 14 November 1939, incorporated into the

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

. From 27 June 1941 until 3 July 1944, Astravyets was occupied by Nazi Germany and administered as a part of the '' Generalbezirk Litauen'' of ''

Reichskommissariat Ostland The Reichskommissariat Ostland (RKO) was established by Nazi Germany in 1941 during World War II. It became the civilian occupation regime in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the western part of Byelorussian SSR. German planning documents initia ...

''. On 11 October 2011 an agreement was signed to build Belarus’ first

nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a electric generator, generato ...

near the city, using two

VVER The water-water energetic reactor (WWER), or VVER (from russian: водо-водяной энергетический реактор; transliterates as ; ''water-water power reactor'') is a series of pressurized water reactor designs originally de ...

reactors with active and passive safety systems.

References

External links

Photos on Radzima.org

Photos on Panoramio.com
Astravyets District Cities in Belarus Oshmyansky Uyezd Populated places in Grodno Region Vilnius Voivodeship Wilno Voivodeship (1926–1939) {{Belarus-geo-stub