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Administrative and Territorial
Vitebsk Region offers beneficial transportation advantages since two international transeuropean corridors (Paris-Moscow and Helsinki-Vitebsk-Gomel-Kiev-Plovdiv) run through its territory.
The Pripyatsky National Park (in which the landscape, unique for the Belarusian Polessie, is preserved in the natural state and used for studying changes of the environment induced by land drainage reclamation in the Polesskaya Lowland) and the Polessky radiation and ecological reserve are located in the Region. |
Vitebsk Region is located in the northwest of the country. It borders Lithuania, Latvia and Russia. Its area — 40.1 thousand km² (19.3% of the republic’s area) and resident population — 1,348.3 thousand people (13.5% of the country’s population). The center of the Region is the city of Vitebsk (population size is 351 thousand residents). The Region comprises 21 Districts, 19 towns and 28 urban-type settlements. Vitebsk Region is an industrially developed region of the country. The power-engineering sector is dominant in the industry. High-capacity Lukoml Public District power plant (PDPP) and Novopolotsk central heat power plant (CHPP) are located in the Region. In addition to the power engineering industry, the food, consumer goods, fuel, and chemical industries are also developed. The farms specialize in dairy and beef husbandry, pig husbandry, flax growing, while farms in the vicinity of Vitebsk, Orsha and Polotsk specialize in poultry husbandry and horticulture.
A unique natural complex — the major part of the Belarusian Poozerye (lake district) — is located in the Region. Of 19 largest Belarusian lakes, 11 are located in Vitebsk Region. The lakes serve as a habitat for survived fauna and flora species included into the Red Book of Belarus. The territory of the complex offers good opportunities for developing tourist and recreational industries. One of the ancient cities of the Eastern Slavs — Polotsk — is located in the Region in which many historical and cultural monuments (St. Sophia’s Cathedral, Church of Savior and Efrasinnia, Epiphany Church, etc.) remained intact.
Gomel Region is located in the southeast of the republic. It borders Russia in the east and Ukraine in the west. Its area — 40.4 thousand km² (19.5% of the republic’s area) and resident population — 1,527.5 thousand people (15.4% of the republic’s population). The center of the Region is the city of Gomel (the population size is 492 thousand residents). The Region comprises 21 districts, 17 towns and 18 urban-type settlements. The Region is one of the most industrially developed areas. The food, ferrous metallurgy and machine-building industries make up the largest share in the industrial structure (nearly half of the output of the region). The Region produces about 92% of all ferrous metallurgy products manufactured in the republic. The Region is also leading in Belarus in fuel, forestry, woodworking, and pulp-and-paper and microbiological industries’ output. The farms specialize in dairy and beef husbandry, in cropping cereals, flax, potato and those located in the vicinity of cities specialize in poultry husbandry and horticulture. The free economic zone Gomel — Raton has been established in the Region. National and international main railway traffic arteries run through the Region. The transeuropean corridor goes through Gomel and it is provided with diverging routes (Gomel-Minsk-Klaipeda) allowing cargo owners from the regions of the Eastern Ukraine and Central Russia to have access to specialized maritime ports Klaipeda, Ventspils and Kaliningrad.