Oblasts of the Soviet Union

The oblasts of the Soviet Union were second-level administrative units of the Soviet Union, and first-level entities of the republics of the Soviet Union.

Terminology

Oblast is a Slavic term that exists in the Russian language. Russian was official in all republics along with national languages of other republics.

By location

Baltic region

In the 1950s there were 10 oblasts in the three Baltic republics.

• 1953-04-28 Law on abolition of Pärnu, Tallinn and Tartu oblasts (Estonia) ^[1]
• 1953-04-25 Law on abolition of Riga, Daugavpils and Liepāja oblasts (Latvia) ^[2]
• 1953-05-28 Law on abolition of Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda and Šiauliai oblasts (Lithuania) ^[3]

Transcaucasian region

In the 1950s there were 4 oblasts in two of the three Transcaucasian republics (only in Azerbaijan and Georgia).

• 1953-04-23 Law on abolition of Baku and Ganja oblasts (Azerbaijan) ^[4]
• 1953-04-23 Law on abolition of Kutaisi and Tbilisi oblasts (Georgia) ^[5]

List

Name in English	Name in Russian	Republic	Established	Dissolved
Pärnu Oblast	Пярнуская область (ru)	Estonian SSR	1952-05-10	1953-04-28
Tallinn Oblast	Таллинская область (ru)	Estonian SSR	1952-05-10	1953-04-28
Tartu Oblast	Тартуская область (ru)	Estonian SSR	1952-05-10	1953-04-28
Riga Oblast	Рижская область (ru)	Latvian SSR	1952-04-08	1953-04-25
Daugavpils Oblast	Даугавпилсская область (ru)	Latvian SSR	1952-04-08	1953-04-25
Liepāja Oblast	Лиепайская область (ru)	Latvian SSR	1952-04-08	1953-04-25
Šiauliai Oblast	Шяуляйская область (ru)	Lithuanian SSR	1950-06-20	1953-05-28
Klaipėda Oblast	Клайпедская область (ru)	Lithuanian SSR	1950-06-20	1953-05-28
Vilnius Oblast	Вильнюсская область (ru)	Lithuanian SSR	1950-06-20	1953-05-28
Kaunas Oblast	Каунасская область (ru)	Lithuanian SSR	1950-06-20	1953-05-28
Baku Oblast	Бакинская область (ru)	Azerbaijan SSR	1952-04-03	1953-04-23
Ganja Oblast	Гянджинская область (ru)	Azerbaijan SSR	1952-04-03	1953-04-23
Kutaisi Oblast	Кутаисская область (ru)	Georgian SSR	1951-11-05	1953-04-23
Tbilisi Oblast	Тбилисская область (ru)	Georgian SSR	1951-11-05	1953-04-23
Central Black Earth Oblast		RSFSR	1928-05-14	1934-06-13
Chita Oblast		RSFSR	1937-09-26	[n 1]
Crimean Oblast		RSFSR	1945-06-30	1954-02-19
		Ukrainian SSR	1954-02-19	1991-02-12
East Siberian Oblast		RSFSR	1936-12-05	1937-09-26
Grozny Oblast		RSFSR	1944-03-07	1957-01-09
Irkutsk Oblast		RSFSR	1937-09-26	N/A [n 2]
Kuban-Black Sea Oblast		RSFSR	1920-03-18	1924-02-13
Northern Oblast (1936–37)		RSFSR	1936-12-05	1937-09-23
Ural Oblast		RSFSR	1923-11-03	1934-01-17
Velikiye Luki Oblast		RSFSR	1944-08-23	1957-10-02
Western Oblast		RSFSR	1929-10-1	1937-09-27

See also

• Oblasts of Russia
• Oblasts of the Russian Empire
• Oblast

References

1. "Указ Президиума ВС СССР от 28.04.1953 об упразднении Пярнуской, Таллинской и Тартуской областей Эстонской ССР — Викитека". ru.wikisource.org.
2. "Указ Президиума ВС СССР от 25.04.1953 об упразднении Рижской, Даугавпилсской и Лиепайской областей Латвийской ССР — Викитека". ru.wikisource.org.
3. "Указ Президиума ВС СССР от 28.05.1953 об упразднении Вильнюсской, Каунасской, Клайпедской и Шяуляйской областей Литовской ССР — Викитека". ru.wikisource.org.
4. "Указ Президиума ВС СССР от 23.04.1953 о ликвидации Бакинской и Гянджинской областей Азербайджанской ССР — Викитека". ru.wikisource.org.
5. "Указ Президиума ВС СССР от 23.04.1953 о ликвидации Кутаисской и Тбилисской областей Грузинской ССР — Викитека". ru.wikisource.org.

Notes

1. Dissolved in 2008 as an oblast of Russia
2. Still exists