Editing Regions of Belarus (section)

{{Short description|First-level administrative divisions of Belarus}}
{{Infobox subdivision type
| name = Regions of Belarus
| alt_name = 
| map = [[File:Belarus, administrative divisions - en - colored.png|300px]]
| category = First-level subdivision of a [[unitary state]]
| territory = [[Belarus]]
| start_date = 1960
| current_number = 6 regions<br/>1 capital city
| number_date = 
| population_range = (Regions only): 981,174 ([[Mogilev Region|Mogilev]]) – 1,992,862 ([[Minsk]])
| area_range = (Provinces only): {{Convert|9698.14|sqmi|km2|order=flip|abbr=on}} ([[Grodno Region|Grodno]]) – {{Convert|15583.72|sqmi|km2|order=flip|abbr=on}} ([[Gomel Region|Gomel]])
| government = Province government
| subdivision = [[Districts of Belarus|Raion]]
}}

{{Politics of Belarus}}

At the top level of administration, [[Belarus]] is divided into six regions and one capital city. The six regions are [[oblast]]s (also known as ''voblastsi''), while the city of [[Minsk]] has a special status as the capital of Belarus.<ref>[http://www.statoids.com/uby.html Belarus Regions<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Minsk also serves as the administrative center of [[Minsk Region]].<ref>[http://www.embassybel.ru/belarus/minsk/ Minsk summary], at the website of the Belarus embassy in [[Russia]].</ref>

At the second level, the regions are divided into [[Districts of Belarus|districts]] ([[raion]]s).

The layout and extent of the regions were set in 1960 when Belarus (then the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic]]) was a [[Republics of the Soviet Union|constituent republic]] of the [[Soviet Union]].<ref name="kge">
{{Cite web
|title=Regions of Belarus
|url=http://www.statoids.com/uby.html
|publisher=Statoids
}}
</ref>