| Hrodna Voblast Гродзенская вобласць (be) Гродненская область (ru) |
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| Administrative center | Hrodna | ||
| Largest cities | Hrodna - 332,300 Lida - 98,200 Slonim - 51,600 |
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| Raions | 17 Cities: 12 Urban localities: 21 |
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| City raions | 6 | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 25,000 km2 (9,652.6 sq mi) | ||
| Highest elevation | 323 m (1,060 ft) | ||
| Lowest elevation | 80 m (262 ft) | ||
| Population | |||
| • Total | 1,123,400 | ||
| • Density | 45/km2 (116.5/sq mi) | ||
| Website | region.grodno.by | ||
Hrodna Voblast or Grodno Oblast (Belarusian: Гродзенская вобласць, Hrodzienskaja vobłasć; Russian: Гродненская область Grodnenskaya Oblast; Polish: Obwód grodzieński) is a voblast (province) in northwestern Belarus.
The capital - Grodno is the biggest city of the province. It lies on the Neman River. Grodno's existence is attested to from 1127. Two castles dating from the 14th - 18th centuries are located here on the steep right bank of the Nemen. Many consider this city one of the most beautiful in Belarus: one of its masterpieces survived through the centuries, Orthodox St Barys & St Hleb (Kalozhskaya) Church dating back to the 12th century, is the second oldest in Belarus.
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This region was the westernmost "border" of the Early East Slavs (tribal union Dregovichs?) on the lands of the Balts in the 6th-9th centuries. In the 13th-14th centuries it was a center of the area sometimes known as Black Ruthenia, that with neighbor the Grand Duchy of Lithuania became a basis for Baltic-Slavic state - Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL). Being a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, amounting to the GDL's Trakai Voivodship, it was annexed by Russian Empire in 1795 during the partitions of Poland. The city of Grodno then became a seat for Grodno Governorate. During the World War I the area was occupied by Germany. During the German occupation the Belarusian National Republic declared its independence from the Soviet Russia in March 1918 in Minsk, Grodno was the site of the last stand of the BNR's Council (Rada). They were then forced to emigrate before Soviet troops captured the region in 1919. Since 1921 under the Peace Treaty of Riga the territory belonged to Second Polish Republic, in 1939 it became a part of the USSR and since its fall in 1991 - one of 6 provinces of independent Belarus.
The Mir Castle Complex, a 16th century historical landmark as well as part of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha nature reserve, both UNESCO World Heritage sites are located in this region.
The province covers an area of 25,000 km² and has a population of 1,146,100 (2004 estimate), giving a population density of 46/km². About 63.5% live in cities and towns, while 36.5% live in rural areas. Females account for 53% of the region's population and men 47%. There are about 310,000 children under 19, and about 240,000 people aged over 60.
Belarusians account for 62.3% of the population. The region is home to a significant minority population: Poles (24.8%), Russians (10%), Ukrainians (1.8%), Jews (0.4%), Tatars (0.2%), Lithuanians (0.2%), other nationalities (0.4%).
Whereas Belarus as a whole is primarily Russian Orthodox, Grodno Voblast has two major religions, Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox. There are 449 religious communities and 18 denominations, 2 Russian Orthodox eparchial districts, 1 Orthodox nun sorority, 2 Catholic monk brotherhoods, 1 Catholic nun sorority, 2 Orthodox and 4 Catholic monasteries, 165 Orthodox and 169 Catholic churches. The Catholic minority is made up mostly of Poles, although the identifier "Pole" has also been historically applied to Catholic Belarusians.
There are a number on national minority associations: 6 Polish, 6 Lithuanian, 4 Jewish, 1 Ukrainian, 1 Russian, 1 Tatar, 1 Georgian, 1 Chuvash.
The Grodno Region is subdivided into 17 districts (raions), 194 selsovets, 12 cities, 6 city municipalities, and 21 urban-type settlements.
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