Belarus Districts

The district (raion) is the second tier of Belarus, between the six regions and the village councils, and the unit the state runs from schools to roads. There are 118 of them, plus the city of Minsk, which is drawn as a piece of its own.

The quiz: Name to place, on the map
Grouped by: Region: the six regions and the city of Minsk
In the game: 119 districts

Start

What you are looking at

The 118 districts of Belarus and the capital, the way the map is drawn today. A district is named for the town that heads it, and most of the names are worth learning as places too: Pinsk, Brest, Mazyr, Orsha, Lida and Salihorsk are all towns that are well known on their own.

The cities that are not part of a district, among them Brest, Hrodna, Homyel, Mahilyow, Vitsebsk, Babruysk, Baranavichy, Pinsk, Navapolatsk and Zhodzina, are drawn with the district that surrounds them or shares their name, since that is where the answer to the usual question is. Minsk is the exception, and is its own piece. The district that surrounds it is named the Minsk District here, to tell the two apart.

The count is one that some maps get wrong: Drybin, in the Mogilev Region, is missing from some published files, which have 117 districts.

The groups are the regions, so the game lets you drill them one at a time. Each region answers under the same name in Belarus Regions.

How to place one

Pick one region and learn it. Brest has 16 and Grodno has 17, the two smallest counts, and are the quickest to finish; the Minsk Region has 22, the most of any.
Start with the towns on the rivers. Mazyr and Rechytsa on the Pripyat and the Dnieper, Mogilev and Orsha on the Dnieper, Pinsk and Stolin in the marshes: the large towns tell you where the districts are.
Use the capital as a hub. The Minsk District wraps the capital, and Smalyavichy, Barysaw, Maladzyechna, Valozhyn and Stowbtsy are the districts around it.
Follow the border. Hrodna and Lida are on the Lithuanian and Polish side, Brest and Stolin toward Ukraine, Homyel and Mogilev toward Russia, and Vitebsk and Braslaw in the north.

Every district, by region

Brest16 districts: Baranavichy, Brest, Byaroza, Drahichyn, Hantsavichy, Ivanava, Ivatsevichy, Kamenets, Kobryn, Luninets, Lyakhavichy, Malaryta, Pinsk, Pruzhany, Stolin, Zhabinka
Minsk Region22 districts: Barysaw, Byerazino, Chervyen, Dzyarzhynsk, Kapyl, Kletsk, Krupki, Lahojsk, Lyuban, Maladzyechna, Minsk District, Myadzel, Nesvizh, Pukhavichy, Salihorsk, Slutsk, Smalyavichy, Staryya Darohi, Stowbtsy, Uzda, Valozhyn, Vileyka
Vitebsk21 districts: Beshankovichy, Braslaw, Chashniki, Dokshytsy, Dubrowna, Haradok, Hlybokaye, Lepiel, Liozna, Miory, Orsha, Pastavy, Polatsk, Rasony, Sharkawshchyna, Shumilina, Syanno, Talachyn, Ushachy, Verkhnyadzvinsk, Vitebsk
Grodno17 districts: Ashmyany, Astravyets, Byerastavitsa, Dzyatlava, Hrodna, Iwye, Karelichy, Lida, Masty, Navahrudak, Shchuchyn, Slonim, Smarhon, Svislach, Vawkavysk, Voranava, Zelva
Mogilev21 districts: Asipovichy, Babruysk, Byalynichy, Bychaw, Chavusy, Cherykaw, Drybin, Hlusk, Horki, Kastsyukovichy, Khotsimsk, Kirawsk, Klichaw, Klimavichy, Krasnapolle, Kruhlaye, Krychaw, Mogilev, Mstsislaw, Shklow, Slawharad
Gomel21 districts: Akciabrski, Brahin, Buda-Kashalyova, Chachersk, Dobrush, Homyel, Kalinkavichy, Karma, Khoiniki, Loyew, Lyelchytsy, Mazyr, Naroulia, Pyetrykaw, Rahachow, Rechytsa, Svietlahorsk, Vietka, Yelsk, Zhlobin, Zhytkavichy
Minsk City1 district: Minsk City

Worked examples

Minsk City

The capital on its own

The city of Minsk is not part of any district, and it is a small piece close to the centre of the map. It is small enough to need a careful tap.

Minsk District

The district with the same name

The Minsk District is the one that surrounds the capital. The two share a name, so the quiz calls the district by the longer form.

Drybin

The one a file loses

Drybin is in the east of the Mogilev Region, beside Horki. Some published files merge it into its neighbour, which is why this map is drawn from OpenStreetMap.