Administrative divisions of Leningrad Oblast


, Leningrad Oblast is divided into seventeen districts and a town of oblast significance, Sosnovy Bor. Lomonosovsky District is the only one in Russia which has its administrative center located in the area of a different subject of Russian Federation.
In terms of the area, the biggest administrative district is Podporozhsky District ; the smallest one is Lomonosovsky District.

Administrative and municipal divisions

Differences with municipal divisions

The municipal divisions of Leningrad Oblast are identical with its administrative divisions. All of the administrative districts of Leningrad Oblast are municipally incorporated as municipal districts, and the city of oblast significance is municipally incorporated as an urban okrug.

History

Until 1927

, 1708 Tsar Peter the Great issued an edict which established seven governorates. The description of the borders of the governorates was not given; instead, their area was defined as a set of towns and the lands adjacent to those towns. The present area of Leningrad oblast was a part of Ingermanland Governorate, which was renamed Saint Petersburg Governorate in 1710. The governorates were subdivided into uyezds, and uyezds into volosts. Eventually, parts of Saint Petersburg Governorate were split off to form separate governorates, such as Novgorod, Pskov, or Olonets Governorates. Vyborg Governorate, which was split off early, in 1812 was included into the Grand Duchy of Finland as the Viipuri Province, and in 1918 became a part of independent Finland. In 1913, Saint Petersburg Governorate was renamed Petrograd, and in 1924 Leningrad Governorate.
The east and south of the current area of the oblast was transferred in 1727 to Moscow and Novgorod Governorates. After a sequence of administrative reforms, the northeastern part of the oblast ended up in 1801 in Olonets Governorate. In June 1918, five uyezds of Novgorod Governorate, including Tikhvinsky Uyezd, were split off to form Cherepovets Governorate, with the administrative center in Cherepovets. In 1922, Olonets Governorate was abolished, and Lodeynopolsky Uyezd was transferred to Petrograd Governorate. Thus, by 1927 the current area of the oblast was split between three governorates — Leningrad, Novgorod, and Cherepovets.
Additionally, the areas adjacent to the Narva River, including the town of Ivangorod, were assigned to Estonia in 1920, following the Estonian War of Independence and the Treaty of Tartu, signed on February 2, 1920.

1927—1944

On August 1, 1927 the governorate was abolished, and uyezds were merged into newly established Leningrad Oblast, with the administrative center in Leningrad, which included the northwestern part of Russian Federation. The oblast was subdivided into 140 districts, which were grouped into nine okrugs,
Murmansk Okrug was not contiguous with the rest of Leningrad Oblast and was separated from it by the territory of the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. The areas where Leningrad Oblast was established belonged previously not only to Saint Petersburg, Novgorod, and Cherepovets Governorates, but also to Murmansk and Pskov Governorates.
The following districts have been established,
On October 1, 1929 Velikiye Luki Okrug was transferred to newly established Western Oblast. On August 15, 1930, the okrugs were abolished as well, and the districts were directly subordinated to the oblast. Subsequently, the administrative divisions were merged and split on a regular basis, so that some districts were abolished, and others were established. On September 23, 1937 Vologda Oblast was established, and eastern districts of Leningrad Oblast were transferred to Vologda Oblast.
On May 28, 1938 Murmansk Oblast was established, and the districts which belonged to Murmansk Okrug were transferred there. Between 1938 and 1944, the area of Leningrad Oblast approximately corresponded to the current area of Leningrad, Pskov, and Novgorod Oblasts.
On March 22, 1935 Pskov and Kingisepp Okrugs, adjacent to the state borders, were established. In September 1940, both were abolished.
After the Winter War in 1940, some areas which previously belonged to independent Finland were ceded to the Soviet Union, in particular, to Leningrad Oblast and to the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic.
During World War II, considerable areas of Leningrad Oblast were occupied by German and Finnish troops and thus were outside the jurisdiction of the oblast.

After 1944

On July 5, 1944, Novgorod Oblast, and on August 23, 1944 Pskov Oblast were established. The areas of Estonia adjacent to the Narva River, including the town of Ivangorod, were transferred to Leningrad Oblast on November 24, 1944. They were shared between Slantsevsky and Kingiseppsky Districts. On the same day some areas, which are now parts of Vyborgsky and Priozersky Districts, were transferred from the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic to Leningrad Oblast. In 1948-1949, most of the names of Finnish origin were replaced by made-up Russian names. After 1944, some areas which belonged to Leningrad Oblast, were on several occasions transferred to the federal city of Saint Petersburg.

Abolished districts

After 1927 borders between the districts sometimes were modified, and as a result some of the districts were abolished. This list includes the districts which existed in the current area of Leningrad Oblast.