Molodechno Region, also known as Maladzyechna Region or Molodechno Oblast (; ), was a

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

( voblasts) of the

Byelorussian SSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 1922 as an independent state, and ...

, the first-level administration division in the republic. Initially the region was formed on 4 December 1939, following the annexation of

Western Belorussia Western Belorussia or Western Belarus (; ; ) is a historical region of modern-day Belarus which belonged to the Second Polish Republic during the interwar period. For twenty years before the 1939 invasion of Poland, it was the northern part of th ...

into the Byelorussian SSR from the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

, as Vileyka Region. However, after the liberation of Byelorussia by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

in July 1944, most of the pre-war civil administration was not possible for a number of reasons, one of which was that the city of

Vileyka Vileyka or Vilyeyka is a town in Minsk Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vileyka District. It is located on the Viliya River, northwest of Minsk. The first historical record dates from 16 November 1460. As of 2025, the ...

was heavily damaged during the war, and the transportation links between it and the rest of the region were too. However, the nearby city of Maladzyechna (Molodechno) located away from Vileyka escaped heavy destruction, and as a result, on 20 September 1944, Maladzyechna Region was established. Initially it contained 14 districts. These districts were Astravets,

Ashmyany Ashmyany or Oshmyany is a city in Grodno Region, Belarus. It is located from Vilnius in Lithuania, and serves as the administrative center of Ashmyany District. The river Ashmyanka passes through the city. As of 2025, it has a population of 16 ...

Volozhin Valozhyn or Volozhin (, ; ; ; ; ) is a town in Minsk Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Valozhyn District. It is located northwest of the capital Minsk, on the Valozhynka River in the Neman, Neman River basin, and the begi ...

Ilya Ilya, Iliya, Ilia, Ilja, Ilija, or Illia ( , or ; ; ) is the East Slavic form of the male Hebrew name Eliyahu (Eliahu), meaning "My God is Yahu/ Jah." It comes from the Byzantine Greek pronunciation of the vocative (Ilía) of the Greek Eli ...

Iwye Iwye is a town in Grodno region, Belarus. It is the administrative center of Iwye district. , Iwye has a population of 6,906. Iwye was historically a multicultural settlement with a Jewish majority, but nearly all of the town's Jews were kille ...

, Krivichi, Kurenets (Its center was relocated in Vileyka and renamed as Vileyka in 1946),

Molodechno Maladzyechna, or Molodechno, is a town in Minsk Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative centre of Maladzyechna District (and formerly of Molodechno Region from 1944 to 1960). Maladzyechna is located northwest of Minsk. In 2006, it had an ...

, Myadzyel, Pastavy, Radashkovichy,

Smarhon Smarhon, or Smorgon, is a town in Grodno Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Smarhon District. It was the site of Smarhon air base, now mostly abandoned. Smarhon is located from the capital, Minsk. As of 2025, it has a p ...

, Svir and Yuratishki. However, on 8 January 1954, in course of administrative-territorial reforms of the Byelorussian SSR, the neighbouring

Polatsk Polotsk () or Polatsk () is a town in Vitebsk Region, Belarus. It is situated on the Western Dvina, Dvina River and serves as the administrative center of Polotsk District. Polotsk is served by Polotsk Airport and Borovitsy air base. As of 2025, it ...

and

Baranavichy Baranavichy or Baranovichi is a city in the Brest Region of western Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Baranavichy District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has a population of 170,817. ...

voblasts (along with others) were disestablished. Molodechno Region incorporated 10 raions ( Ivyanets from

;

Braslaw Braslaw or Braslav (; ; Lithuanian: Breslauja; Polish: Brasław) is a town in Vitebsk Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Braslaw District. As of 2025, it has a population of 9,338. History The town was first mention ...

, Vidzy,

Hlybokaye Hlybokaye or Glubokoye (; ; ; ; ) is a town in Vitebsk Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Hlybokaye District. As of 2024, it has a population of 17,746. The town is located on the international road from Polotsk to Vilniu ...

Dzisna Dzisna (; ; ) is a town in Miory District, Vitebsk Region, in northern Belarus. It is located on the left bank of the Daugava River, near the confluence of the Dysna. Dzisna is located northwest of Vitebsk. In 2017, its population was 1,500. ...

Dokshytsy Dokshytsy (; ; ; ) is a town in Vitebsk Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Dokshytsy District. It is located approximately southwest of Vitebsk and one kilometer from the source of the Berezina, Berezina River. Its popula ...

, Dunilovichi, Miory, Plisa and

Sharkawshchyna Sharkawshchyna or Sharkovshchina is an urban-type settlement in Vitebsk Region, Belarus. It is located north of the capital Minsk, and serves as the administrative center of Sharkawshchyna District. As of 2025, it has a population of 5,945. Hi ...

from

Polotsk Polotsk () or Polatsk () is a town in Vitebsk Region, Belarus. It is situated on the Dvina River and serves as the administrative center of Polotsk District. Polotsk is served by Polotsk Airport and Borovitsy air base. As of 2025, it has a pop ...

) from the two regions with its size growing from 14.8 to 24.3 thousand square kilometres. During the same reforms, Iwye raion was passed to Grodno Region. In 1957, Ilya raion was dissolved and was attached to Vileyka. In 1959, the Dzisna and Svir raions were dissolved and were attached to Myadzyel and Miory. The number of raions of the oblast was reduced to 20. However, on 20 January 1960, Maladzyechna Region too was disestablished. Its territory, with 848 thousand people, was divided between the modern

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Vitsyebsk (, ; , ; ) is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has 358,927 inhabitants, m ...

(raions of Braslav, Vidzy, Hlybokaye, Dokshytsy, Dunilovichi, Miory, Plisa, Pastavy and Sharkawshchyna),

Grodno Grodno, or Hrodna, is a city in western Belarus. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. The city is located on the Neman, Neman River, from Minsk, about from the Belarus–Poland border, border with Poland, and from the Belarus–Lithua ...

(raions of Ostrovets, Oshmyany, Smorgon and Yuratishki and Bogdanov village of Volozhin) and

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

regions (raions of Maladzyechna, Vileyka, Volozhin (except Bogdanov village), Ivyanets, Kryvichi, Myadzyel and Radashkovichy), with the city of Maladzyechna being incorporated into the latter. This turned out to be the last of the administrative division reforms in Belarus, and since then, the borders of the regions remain today.

External links

Information on WHP
Former subdivisions of Belarus {{Belarus-geo-stub