Raion

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Not to be confused with rayon.

A raion (or rayon) (Russian and Ukrainian: райо́н; Belarusian раён; Azeri: rayon, Latvian: rajons, Georgian: რაიონი, raioni) is one of two kinds of administrative subdivisions in languages of some post-Soviet states: a subnational entity and a subdivision of a city. In these senses the term is almost always translated as "district".

Raion is a subnational entity of Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Latvia, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine, and the former Soviet Union. As an administrative subdivision, the term was introduced by the Soviet administrative reform of 1923–1929 that transformed many former volosts and uyezds of the Russian Empire into raions.

A raion is usually an entity two steps below the national level. It can be a subordinate part:

of a voblasts' (in Belarus);
of an oblast, krai, autonomous republic, autonomous district, or big city (in Russia);
of a small Soviet republic (SSR), oblast, krai, republic, or a big city of a large SSR (in the now-defunct Soviet Union);
of an oblast, a big city, or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (in Ukraine).

Typically, raions have some degree of self-governance in the form of a popularly elected district council (Raysovet) and the local head of administration, sometimes elected and sometimes appointed.

[edit] Raions in the Russian Federation

Subdivision into raions largely remained after the collapse of the Soviet Union. However, in some federal subjects the terminology changed, to reflect national specifics:

Republic of Karelia—raions coexist with volosts (волости). Both types are considered to be on the same administrative level.
Sakha (Yakutia) Republic—ulus (улус)
Tuva Republic—kozhuun (кожуун)