Raion
- For the manufactured regenerated fiber, see rayon
A raion (or rayon) (Template:Lang-ru/uk, IPA: [ra'jon]; Azerbaijani: rayon; Belarusian: раён; Georgian: რაიონი, raioni; Latvian: rajons; Lithuanian: rajonas; Romanian and Romanian: raion) is one of two kinds of administrative subdivisions in languages of some post-Soviet states: a subnational entity and a subdivision of a city. In these senses the term is almost always translated as "district".
In the Soviet Union, a raion was a small territorial division for administrative purposes.[1] and raion is still in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Latvia, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine, all states that occupy the territory of the former Soviet Union. As an administrative subdivision, the term, of French origin, [2] was introduced by the Soviet administrative reform of 1923–1929 that transformed many former volosts and uyezds of the Russian Empire into raions.
A raion is usually an entity two steps below the national level. It can be a subordinate part:
- of a voblasts' (in Belarus);
- of an oblast, a krai, a republic, an autonomous okrug, or a big city (in Russia);
- of a small Soviet republic (SSR), oblast, krai, republic, or a big city of a large SSR (in the now-defunct Soviet Union);
- of an oblast, a big city, or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (in Ukraine).
Typically, raions have some degree of self-governance in the form of a popularly elected district council (raysovet) and the local head of administration, sometimes elected and sometimes appointed.
Raions in the Russian Federation
Administrative raion
Subdivision into raions largely remained after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Raion can be an administrative division of a federal subject or of a big city. In some federal subjects, however, the terminology changed to reflect national specifics:
- Sakha (Yakutia) Republic—ulus (улус)
- Tuva Republic—kozhuun (кожуун)
Municipal raion
A municipal raion (municipal district) (муниципа́льный райо́н) is a type of municipal formation which comprises a group of urban and/or rural settlements, as well as inter-settlement territories, sharing a common territory. Municipal districts are commonly formed within the boundaries of existing administrative districts, although in practice there are some exceptions to this rule—Neryungrinsky Municipal District in the Sakha Republic, for example, is formed around the town of Neryungri, which neither has a status, nor is a part of any administrative district.
See also
- Subdivisions of Russia
- Subdivisions of Ukraine
- Subdivisions of Azerbaijan
- Subdivisions of Belarus
- Districts of Latvia
- Administrative divisions of Moldova
Notes and references
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2007) |
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary second edition 1989, "rayon2"
- ^ Rayon was used in the Official English translations of the Treaty of Paris (1815) that were written French the Lingua franca of the day. (Great Britain Foreign Office, Great Britain Foreign and Commonwealth Office, British and Foreign State Papers Volume 3, 1815-1816. Published 1838. pp. 285,303 First use in the treaty: "The Town of Weissenbourg, however, through which that River runs, shall remain entirely to France, with a rayon on the left bank, not exceeding 1,000 toises, and which shall be more particularly determined by the Commissioners who shall be charged with the approaching designation of the Boundaries.")