Municipal Okrug

An okrug is a type of administrative division in some Slavic-speaking states. The word ''okrug'' is a loanword in English, alternatively translated as area, district, county, or region.

Etymologically, ''okrug'' literally means ' circuit', derived from Proto-Slavic , in turn from "around" + "circle". In meaning, the word is similar to the German term ''Bezirk'' or '' Kreis'' ('district') and the French word ''arrondissement''; all of which refer to something "encircled" or "surrounded".

Bulgaria

In Bulgaria, ''s'' are the abolished primary unit of the administrative division and implied "districts" or "counties". They existed in the postwar Bulgaria between 1946 and 1987 and corresponded approximately to today's oblasts.

Kazakhstan

In Kazakhstan, an ''okrug'' () refers to an administrative-territorial unit that operates below the district (''raion'') level. The term is most commonly used in the form of rural district (), which encompasses one or several rural settlements ( aul) administered collectively under a single local government.

Each rural okrug has an elected or appointed akim (executive head) who manages administrative affairs on behalf of the district authorities. The okrug serves as an intermediary administrative level between the district and individual auls, often responsible for local public services, infrastructure maintenance, and basic civil registration.

The use of the term "okrug" differs from other former Soviet countries where it may refer to larger administrative units; in Kazakhstan, it specifically denotes these small local government areas.

Poland

As historical administrative subdivisions of Poland, existed in the later part of the Congress Poland period, from 1842, when the name was applied to the former ''powiats'' (the name being transferred to the former '' obwody''). See: subdivisions of Congress Poland.

were also created temporarily from 1945 to 1946, in the areas annexed to Poland from Germany as a result of the Soviet military advance. An was then subdivided into . These were later replaced by voivodeships, and the by s.

Russia

Imperial Russia

''Okrugs'' were one of the several types of administrative division for oblasts and selected governorates in Imperial Russia. Until the 1920s, okrugs were administrative districts in Cossack hosts such as the Don Cossacks.

Soviet Union

Inherited from Imperial Russia, in the 1920s, ''okrugs'' were administrative divisions of several other primary divisions such as oblasts, krais, and others. For some time in the 1920s they also served as the primary unit upon the abolishment of guberniyas and were divided into raions. On 30 July 1930 most of the okrugs were abolished. The remaining okrugs were phased out in the Russian SFSR during 1930–1946, although they were retained in Zakarpattia Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR in a status equivalent to that of a raion.

National okrugs were first created in the Mountain ASSR of the Russian SFSR in 1921 as units of the Soviet autonomy and additional national okrugs were created in the Russian SFSR for the peoples of the north and Caucasus region. In 1977, all national okrugs were renamed autonomous okrugs.

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 (), such as the Siberian Federal District
* Autonomous okrugs (), such as Chukotka Autonomous Okrug

After the series of mergers in 2005–2008, several autonomous okrugs of Russia lost their federal subject status and are now considered to be administrative territories within the federal subjects they had been merged into:
* Agin-Buryat Okrug, a territory with special status within Zabaykalsky Krai
*Komi-Permyak Okrug, a territory with special status within Perm Krai
* Koryak Okrug, a territory with special status within Kamchatka Krai
*Ust-Orda Buryat Okrug, a territory with special status within Irkutsk Oblast

''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 is a lower-level administrative division

In the federal city of Sevastopol, municipal okrugs are a type of municipal formation.

In Tver Oblast, the term ''okrug'' also denotes a type of an administrative division which is equal in status to that of the districts.

Furthermore, the designation ''okrug'' denotes several ''selsoviet''-level administrative divisions:
* okrugs, such as okrugs of Samara Oblast
* rural okrugs (), such as the rural okrugs of Belgorod Oblast
* rural territorial okrugs (), such as the rural territorial okrugs of Murmansk Oblast
* stanitsa okrugs (), such as the stanitsa okrugs of Krasnodar Krai

In some cities, the term ''okrug'' is used to refer to the administrative divisions of those cities. Administrative okrugs are such divisions in the cities of Murmansk, Omsk, and Tyumen; city okrugs are used in Krasnodar; municipal ''okrugs'' are the divisions of Nazran; okrugs exist in Belgorod, Kaluga, Kursk, and Novorossiysk; and territorial okrugs are the divisions of Arkhangelsk and Lipetsk.

The term ''okrug'' is also used to describe a type of a municipal formation, the municipal urban okrug—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 City of Belgrade. The term ''okrug'' in Serbia is often translated as either ''district'' or ''county''.

See also

*Administrative division
*Krai
*Military district
*Oblast

Notes

References

External links

Okruha
in th
Encyclopedia of Ukraine

{{Types of administrative country subdivision

Types of administrative division
Political divisions of Russia
Russian-language designations of territorial entities
Former types of subdivisions of Serbia
Former types of subdivisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina