A raion (also spelt rayon) is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet states. The term is used for both a type of subnational entity and a division of a city. The word is from the French (meaning 'honeycomb, department'),[1] and is commonly translated as "district" in English.[2]
A raion is a standardized administrative entity across most of the former Soviet Union and is usually a subdivision two steps below the national level, such as a subdivision of an oblast. However, in smaller USSR republics, it could be the primary level of administrative division. After the fall of the Soviet Union, some of the republics kept the raion (e.g. Azerbaijan, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Lithuania, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan) while others dropped it (e.g. Georgia, Uzbekistan, Estonia, Latvia, Armenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan).
In Bulgaria, it refers to an internal administrative subdivision of a city not related to the administrative division of the country as a whole, or, in the case of Sofia municipality a subdivision of that municipality.[3]
The word "raion" (or "rayon") is often used in translated form: Azerbaijani: rayon; Belarusian: раён|rajon; Bulgarian: район; Georgian: რაიონი|tr; Latvian: rajons; Lithuanian: rajonas; Polish: rejon; Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: raion; Russian: райо́н and Ukrainian: райо́н|translit=rayon.
Fourteen countries have or had entities that were named "raion" or the local version of it.
| Country | From | Until | Local name | Comment | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abkhazia (partially recognised state) | (existing) | araion (араион) | Districts of Abkhazia | |||
| Armenia | 1995 | Districts of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic | ||||
| Austria | ~ 1918 | Rayon, Rajon | Used only by the k.k. Gendarmerie to designate police districts ("Behördenrayon", lit. authorities' raion). | |||
| Azerbaijan | (existing) | rayon, pl. rayonlar; | Districts of Azerbaijan | |||
| Belarus | (existing) | Belarusian: раён, rajon | Districts of Belarus | |||
| Bulgaria | (existing) | район, pl. райони (rayoni) | raions are subdivisions of three biggest cities: Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna. Sofia is subdivided to 24 raions (Sofia districts), Plovdiv - 6, Varna - 5 raions | |||
| China | (existing) | restricted to the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region as influenced by the USSR. The districts of Ürümqi City and Karamay City are called رايون (SASM/GNC/SRC and ULY: rayon) in Uyghur. | ||||
| Crimea (Republic of Crimea - short lived Republic recognized by only a few UN member states) | 2014-03-16 | 2014-03-16 | ||||
| Estonia | 1990 | Estonian: rajoon, pl. rajoonid | inherited from the Estonian SSR. In 1990 transformed into counties (Estonian: maakond) | Counties of Estonia | ||
| Georgia | 2006 | Georgian: რაიონი raioni | inherited from the Georgian SSR; 2006 as first-level entities reorganized into municipalities. A raioni remains a territorial subdivision of Georgia's capital, Tbilisi. | List of municipalities in Georgia (country) | ||
| Kazakhstan | (existing) | Russian: райо́н | Districts of Kazakhstan | |||
| Latvia | 2009-07-01 | rajons; pl. rajoni | Districts of Latvia | |||
| Lithuania | 1994 | Lithuanian: rajonas | inherited from the Lithuanian SSR. In 1994 transformed into district municipalities (Lithuanian: rajono savivaldybė) | Municipalities of Lithuania | ||
| Moldova | (existing) | Romanian raion | introduced in administrative reform in 2003 | Districts of Moldova | ||
| Romania | 1968-02-16 | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: raion | ||||
| Russian Federation | (existing) | Russian: райо́н | Districts of Russia | |||
| South Ossetia-Alania (partially recognised state) | (existing) | Districts of South Ossetia | ||||
| Soviet Union | 1991-12-26 (end of entity) | At various levels below the constituent republics. | ||||
| Transnistria (breakaway territory; de jure part of Moldova) | (existing) | Raions of Transnistria | ||||
| Ukraine | (existing) | Ukrainian: райо́н | 490 raions were inherited from the Ukrainian SSR, which were replaced by 136 new raions in 2020.[4] Major Ukrainian cities are also subdivided into raions, constituting a total of 118 nationwide. | Raions of Ukraine |
In the Soviet Union, raions were administrative divisions created in the 1920s to reduce the number of territorial divisions inherited from the Russian Empire and to simplify their bureaucracies.[5] The process of conversion to the system of raions was called raionirovanie ("regionalization"). It was started in 1923 in the Urals, North Caucasus, and Siberia as a part of the Soviet administrative reform and continued through 1929, by which time the majority of the country's territory was divided into raions instead of the old volosts and uyezds.
The concept of raionirovanie was met with resistance in some republics, especially in Ukraine, where local leaders objected to the concept of raions as being too centralized in nature and ignoring the local customs. This point of view was backed by the Soviet Russian People's Commissariat of Nationalities. Nevertheless, eventually all of the territory of the Soviet Union was regionalized.
Soviet raions had self-governance in the form of an elected district council (raysovet) and were headed by the local head of administration, who was either elected or appointed.
Following the model of the Soviet Union raions have been introduced in Bulgaria, Romania. In China the term is used in Uyghur in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
In Romania they have been later replaced.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, raions as administrative units continue to be used in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Latvia, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine.
They are also used in breakaway regions: Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Transnistria.
| Set | Quantity | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | first-level | ||
| 59 | first-level, 18 other entities at that level exist | ||
| 118 | second-level below oblasts and Minsk City | ||
| 32 | first-level, 5 other entities at that level exist | ||
| 4 | first-level, 1 other entity at that level exists | ||
| 1731[6] | second-level below federal subjects | ||
| 5 | first-level | ||
| 136 and 118 city raions | second-level, numbers as of 2020, including Sevastopol and Crimea |
In Georgia they exist as districts in Tbilisi.
See main article: Districts of Abkhazia.
Abkhazia is divided into seven districts.
See main article: Districts of Azerbaijan.
See main article: Districts of Belarus. In Belarus, raions (Belarusian: раён, rajon[7]) are administrative units subordinated to oblasts. See also: .
In Bulgaria, raions are subdivisions of three biggest cities: Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna. Sofia is subdivided to 24 raions (Sofia districts), Plovdiv - 6, Varna - 5 raions.
See main article: Districts of South Ossetia.
See main article: Districts of Transnistria.
See main article: Districts of Russia.
See main article: Raions of Ukraine and Urban districts of Ukraine.
In Ukraine, there are a total of 136 raions which are the administrative divisions of oblasts (provinces) and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Major cities of regional significance as well as the two national cities with special status (Kyiv and Sevastopol) are also subdivided into raions (constituting a total of 118 nationwide).