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Belarus

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Regions

Belarus is divided into six regions which are named after the cities that serve as their administrative centers as stated in the wikipedia article about Belarus. The six region are:

1.Brest Region (Brest)

2.Homel Region (Homel)

3.Hrodna Region (Hrodna)

4.Magileu Region (Magileu)

5.Minsk Region (Minsk)

6.Vitebsk Region (Vitebsk)

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Vitebsk

Historical Jurisdictions

Finding Historical Civil Records

City, Town or Village , Voivodeship/Gubernia and Powiat/Uezd Names are Key

Many times discovering where to get civil records from where your ancestors lived, in what is now the counrty of Belarus, will require you to know the name of their city, town or village, the Voivodeship or Gubernia (province) and Uezd or Powiat where their town was or is located. -With the exception of Vilna (Vilnius), Nowogrudok, Bialystok and Polesie, voivodeships were in use only through the late 1700's. Gubernia was the term used to refer to a province from the late 1700's up until the 1920's.

Voivodeships and Gubernia Names Changed Over the Years

Finding the correct voivodeship/Gubierna will likely not be an easy task. These provincial boundaries changed over the years right in step with the ever-changing borders of the countries of Poland, Lithuania, Russia and Belarus.

Maps and Reference Material in Russian, Polish or Belarusian Languages

Many times the maps and lists you will be referencing for help with will be written in Russian, Belarusian or Polish.

Use Google (or other on line) translator to translate your ancestor's town into/from Russian, Polish, Belarusian or Ukranian. Keep the translations handy as you proceed with your research.

What you are looking for are the correct Voivodeship and Uezd or the correct Gubernia, Povet (Powiat) and Gmina.

Cracking the Language of Administrative Districts

Voivodeship,Gubernia or Governate = Province

Uezd or Powiat (poviat) = District

Gmina = Larger size town (usually where church was located)

Weis = Village

Online Resources

These links may help you gain a better understanding of voivodeships, poviats, gubernia, uezds and gminas.

• History of Administrative Districts of Belarus
• Administrative District Details - Lists of Gubernia and corresponding uezds
• Wiki Belarus Governate-Voivodeship Maps - from FamilySearch.org
• The History of the Administrative-Territorial Division of Belarus by Nancy Holden on JewishGen.org
• Eastern Borderlands Places Government Administrative voivodeships

1870 Historical Administrative Districts of Vilna, Grodno, Minsk and Nowogrudok

Gubernia	Vilna 1870	Grodno 1870	Nowogrudok 1923	Minsk 1870
Powiats:	Disna	Bialystok	Baranovichi	Bobruysk
	Lida	Belsk	Lida	Borisov
	Oshmiany	Brest	Nesvizh	Igumen
	Sventsiany (Zavileisk)	Grodno	Nowogrudok	Minsk
	Troki	Kobrin	Slonim	Mozyr
	Vileika	Pruzhany	Stolbtsy	Nowogrudok
	Vilno	Slonim	Wolozyn	Pinsk
		Sokolka		Reshita
		Volkovysk		Slutsk

For Gmina/Town and Weis/Village information for each Gubernia click Uyzed (sic) Links for:

• Grodno
• Minsk
• Nowogrudok 1923
• Vilna

1870 Maps of Gubernia

• Grodno
• Minsk
• Vilna