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Urban-type settlement [note 1] is an official designation for lesser urbanized settlements, used in several Central and Eastern European countries. The term was primarily used in the Soviet Union and later also for a short time in socialist Bulgaria and socialist Poland. It remains in use today in nine of the post-Soviet states.
The designation was used in all 15 member republics of the Soviet Union from 1922. It was introduced later in Poland (1954) and Bulgaria (1964). All the urban-type settlements in Poland were transformed into other types of settlement (town or village) in 1972. In Bulgaria and five of the post-Soviet republics (Armenia, Moldova, and the three Baltic states), they were changed in the early 1990s, while Ukraine followed suit in 2023. [1] [2] Today, this term is still used in the other nine post-Soviet republics – Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan. It is also used in Transnistria, an unrecognised breakaway state in Moldova.
What counts as an urban-type settlement differs between time periods and countries and often between different divisions of a single country. However, the criteria generally focus on the presence of urban infrastructure or resort facilities for urban residents.
In the Soviet Union, the criteria of urban-type settlements were set independently by the Soviet republics. Those criteria, however, only differed very slightly from one republic to another.[ citation needed ]
In the Russian SFSR, urban-type settlements were subdivided into three types:
In 1981, the Presidium of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian SSR defined an urban-type settlement as follows: [3] "To the category of an urban-type settlement may be included any settlement located near industrial enterprises, buildings, railroad connections, hydro-technical constructions, and enterprises in production and refining of agrarian products as well as settlements that include higher or middle occupation educational establishments, science-researching institutions, sanatoria, and other stationary treatment and recreation establishments that have a state housing provided to no less than 2,000 inhabitants. [4]
The term was introduced in Ukraine in 1920s and became official since the resolution of the Central Executive Committee of Ukraine of October 28, 1925 replacing all towns (mistechko) as urban-type settlement.[ citation needed ]
As of 2011, there were 256 urban-type settlements in Azerbaijan. [5]
According to a 1998 law of Belarus, [6] there are three categories of urban-type settlement in the country:
As of 2014, there were 47 urban-type settlements in Georgia. Eight of them are located on the territory of the partially recognized states of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and are de facto not under the control of the Georgian government.
As of 2019, there were 48 urban-type settlements in Kazakhstan. [7]
In accordance with the 2008 Law on Administrative and Territorial Subdivision of Kyrgyzstan, [8] urban-type settlements are those that comprise economically significant facilities such as industrial plants, railway stations, construction sites, etc., as well as settlements with a recreational potential with population of at least 2,000. In exceptional cases, administrative, economic and cultural centers with a potential of economical development and population growth can be classified as urban-type settlements.
In modern Russia, the task of deciding whether an inhabited locality meets the criteria of urban-type settlements is delegated to the federal subjects. In most cases, the federal subject's legislative body is responsible for all administrative and territorial changes, including granting and revoking of the urban-type settlement and town status. [9]
Apart from being used to refer to a type of inhabited locality, the term "urban-type settlement" and its variations is also used to refer to a division of an administrative district, and sometimes to a division administratively subordinated to a city district of a city of federal subject significance. This kind of administrative division is equal in status to the towns of district significance and selsoviets, and is normally centered on an inhabited locality with urban-type settlement status. As of 2013, the following types of such entities are recognized:
As of January 1, 2018, there were 57 urban-type settlements in Tajikistan.
As of February 1, 2016, there were 76 urban-type settlements in Turkmenistan. [10]
As of January 1, 2011, 1,065 settlements have urban-type settlement status in Uzbekistan. [11]
Urban-type settlements existed in Armenia until the 1990s. Currently, all of them have been converted into cities or villages.
In Estonia, the urban-type settlements were created in 1945 during the Estonian SSR. In the 1990s most of them were transformed into cities. [12]
The urban-type settlements existed in Latvia from 1949 to 1993, when they were converted into cities and rural settlements.
Lithuania formerly used the urban-type settlement (Lithuanian: miesto tipo gyvenvietė, m.t.g.) system until 1995.
In Bulgaria, the first urban-type settlements (Bulgarian: селище от градски тип) were formed in 1964. In the 1990s they were transformed into villages and cities.
The urban-type settlement system was used on the territory of Moldova since 1924. In the 1990s they were converted either into cities or rural settlements. [13] The disputed and unrecognized Transnistria continues to use this system.
The urban-type settlements (Polish: osiedle typu miejskiego) were used in the Polish People's Republic from 1954 to 1972. Nowadays, Poland has cities, villages and settlements. [14] [15]
Ukraine formerly used the urban-type settlement (Ukrainian: селище міського типу, с.м.т.) system until 2023. [16]
In 1991 there were 921 urban-type settlements in Ukraine.
On 24 October 2023 President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed Law No. 8263 that abolished the concepts of "urban-type settlement" and "rural-type settlement" in Ukraine. [2] [17] The law came into an effect on January 26, 2024. [18] The law was meant to facilitate "de-Sovietization of the procedure for solving certain issues of the administrative and territorial system of Ukraine".
Administrative and territorial division of the Republic of Bashkortostan is regulated by the Law #178-z of the Republic of Bashkortostan, passed by the State Assembly—Kurultai on April 20, 2005. The Law established the following classification:
Administrative, territorial, and municipal division of the Altai Republic is regulated by the Law #12-15 of the Altai Republic, passed by the State Assembly—El Kurultai on June 2, 1999, with subsequent amendments. The Law established the following classification:
A selsoviet is the shortened name for a rural council and for the area governed by such a council (soviet).
The classification system of inhabited localities in Russia and some other post-Soviet states has certain peculiarities compared with those in other countries.
Shalinsky District is an administrative and municipal district (raion), one of the fifteen in the Chechen Republic, Russia. It is located in the center of the republic. The area of the district is 700 square kilometers (270 sq mi). Its administrative center is the town of Shali. Population: 115,970 (2010 Census); 68,862 ; 136,590 (1989 Soviet census). The population of Shali accounts for 41.1% of the district's total population.
Novodnistrovsk is a city in Dnistrovskyi Raion, Chernivtsi Oblast (province) of Ukraine. Novodnistrovsk is located in the historical region of Bessarabia. Population: 10,463.
Susumansky District is an administrative district (raion), one of the eight in Magadan Oblast, Russia. As a municipal division, it is incorporated as Susumansky Urban Okrug. It is located in the southeast of the oblast and borders the Sakha Republic in the west and north, Srednekansky District in the east, and Yagodninsky and Tenkinsky Districts in the south. The area of the district is 46,800 square kilometers (18,100 sq mi). Its administrative center is the town of Susuman. As of the 2010 Census, the total population of the district was 9,015, with the population of Susuman accounting for 65.0% of that number.
Amursky District is an administrative and municipal district (raion), one of the seventeen in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia. It is located in the southwest of the krai. The area of the district is 16,269 square kilometers (6,281 sq mi). Its administrative center is the town of Amursk. Population: 22,669 (2010 Census); 27,273 (2002 Census); 32,288 (1989 Soviet census).
Imeni Lazo District is an administrative and municipal district (raion), one of the seventeen in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia. It is located in the south of the krai. The area of the district is 31,786 square kilometers (12,273 sq mi). Its administrative center is the urban locality of Pereyaslavka. Population: 46,185 (2010 Census); 52,568 (2002 Census); 64,780 (1989 Soviet census). The population of Pereyaslavka accounts for 19.3% of the district's total population.
Okhotsky District is an administrative and municipal district (raion), one of the seventeen in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia. It is located in the north of the krai. The area of the district is 158,517.8 square kilometers (61,204.1 sq mi). Its administrative center is the urban locality of Okhotsk. Population: 8,197 (2010 Census); 12,017 (2002 Census); 19,183 (1989 Soviet census). The population of Okhotsk accounts for 51.4% of the district's total population.
Solnechny District is an administrative and municipal district (raion), one of the seventeen in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia. It is located in the center of the krai. The area of the district is 31,085 square kilometers (12,002 sq mi). Its administrative center is the urban locality of Solnechny. Population: 33,701 (2010 Census); 36,006 (2002 Census); 46,772 (1989 Soviet census). The population of the administrative center accounts for 39.5% of the district's total population.
Vaninsky District is an administrative and municipal district (raion), one of the seventeen in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia. It is located in the east of the krai. The area of the district is 25,747 square kilometers (9,941 sq mi). Its administrative center is the urban locality of Vanino. Population: 37,310 (2010 Census); 42,235 (2002 Census); 51,428 (1989 Soviet census). The population of Vanino accounts for 45.6% of the district's total population.
Verkhnebureinsky District, Upper Bureya District, is an administrative and municipal district (raion), one of the seventeen in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia. It is located in the west of the krai. The area of the district is 63,561 square kilometers (24,541 sq mi). Its administrative center is the urban locality of Chegdomyn. Population: 27,457 (2010 Census); 33,250 (2002 Census); 59,705 (1989 Soviet census). The population of Chegdomyn accounts for 47.5% of the district's total population.
Brasovsky District is an administrative and municipal district (raion), one of the twenty-seven in Bryansk Oblast, Russia. It is located in the east of the oblast. The area of the district is 1,185 square kilometers (458 sq mi). Its administrative center is the urban locality of Lokot. Population: 21,471 (2010 Census); 24,972 ; 26,873 (1989 Soviet census). The population of Lokot accounts for 46.7% of the district's total population.
Omsukchansky District is an administrative district (raion), one of the eight in Magadan Oblast, Russia. As a municipal division, it is incorporated as Omsukchansky Urban Okrug. It is located in the eastern central part of the oblast. The area of the district is 60,400 square kilometers (23,300 sq mi). Its administrative center is the urban locality of Omsukchan. As of the 2010 Census, the total population of the district was 5,531, with the population of Omsukchan accounting for 75.2% of that number.
Tenkinsky District is an administrative district (raion), one of the eight in Magadan Oblast, Russia. As a municipal division, it is incorporated as Tenkinsky Urban Okrug. Its administrative center is the urban locality of Ust-Omchug. As of the 2010 Census, the total population of the district was 5,422, with the population of Ust-Omchug accounting for 72.2% of that number.
Yagodninsky District is an administrative and municipal district (raion), one of the eight in Magadan Oblast, Russia. It is located in the western central part of the oblast. The area of the district is 29,500 square kilometers (11,400 sq mi). Its administrative center is the urban locality of Yagodnoye. Population: 9,839 (2010 Census); 15,833 ; 50,174 (1989 Soviet census). The population of Yagodnoye accounts for 42.8% of the district's total population.
In Ukraine, the term "populated place" refers to a structured component of the human settlement system, representing a stationary community within a territorially cohesive and compact area characterized by a significant concentration of population. Its defining attribute is the continuous presence of human inhabitants. Populated places in Ukraine are classified into two primary categories: urban and rural. Urban populated places are cities, whereas rural areas include villages and rural settlements. According to data from the 2001 Ukrainian Census, there are 1,344 urban and 28,621 rural populated places in Ukraine.