Oblast
An oblast is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Ukraine and the former Soviet Union and Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
Official terms in successor states of the Soviet Union differ, but some still use a cognate of the Russian term, e.g., voblast is used for regions of Belarus and oblys for regions of Kazakhstan.
Often translated as "area", "", "province" or "region". The last translation may lead to confusion, because "raion" may be used for other kinds of administrative subdivision, which may be translated as "region", "district" or "county" depending on the context.
Bulgaria
Since 1999, Bulgaria has been divided into 28 oblasts, usually translated as "provinces". Before, the country was divided into just nine units, also called oblast.Russian Empire
In the Russian Empire, oblasts were considered to be administrative units and were included as parts of Governorates General or krais. The majority of then-existing oblasts were on the periphery of the country or covered the areas where Cossacks lived.Soviet Union
In the Soviet Union, oblasts were one of the types of administrative divisions of the union republics. As any administrative units of this level, oblasts were composed of districts and cities/towns directly under oblasts' jurisdiction. Some oblasts also included autonomous entities called autonomous okrugs. Because of the Soviet Union electrification program under the GOELRO plan, Ivan Alexandrov, as director of the Regionalisation Committee of Gosplan, divided the Soviet union into thirteen European and eight Asiatic oblasts, using rational economic planning rather than "the vestiges of lost sovereign rights".The names of oblasts did not usually correspond to the names of the respective historical regions, as they were created as purely administrative units. With a few exceptions, Soviet oblasts were named after their administrative centers.
Post-Soviet countries
The oblasts in other post-Soviet countries are officially called:| Territorial entity | Local term | English term | Details | Comment |
| Armenia | marz | province or region | see Marz | Oblast in the Russian version of a 1995 law. |
| Belarus | voblast / oblast | region | see Regions of Belarus | Russian and Belarusian are both state languages. |
| Georgia | mkhare | region | see Mkhare | |
| Kazakhstan | oblys | region | see Regions of Kazakhstan | |
| Kyrgyzstan | oblus / oblast | region | see Regions of Kyrgyzstan | Kyrgyz and Russian are both official languages |
| Russia | oblast | oblast or region | see Oblasts of Russia | According to the Constitution of Russia, oblasts are considered to be subjects of the Federation, which is a higher status than that of administrative units they had within the Russian SFSR before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The federal subject status gives the oblasts some degree of autonomy and gives them representation in the Federation Council. |
| Tajikistan | viloyat | region | see Regions of Tajikistan | |
| Turkmenistan | welaýat | region | see Regions of Turkmenistan | |
| Ukraine | oblast | oblast or region | see Oblasts of Ukraine | |
| Uzbekistan | viloyat | region | see Regions of Uzbekistan |
Viloyat and welaýat are derived from the Turkish language term vilayet, itself derived from the Arabic language term wilāya
Yugoslavia
In 1922, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was divided into 33 administrative divisions called oblasts. In 1929, oblasts were replaced with larger administrative units known as banovinas.During the Yugoslav Wars, several Serb Autonomous Oblasts were formed in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. These oblasts were later merged into the Republic of Serbian Krajina and the Republika Srpska.