Administrative divisions of Tver Oblast


, Tver Oblast is divided into two urban-type settlements under the federal government management, five cities and towns of oblast significance, and thirty-six districts.
In terms of the population, the biggest administrative district is Konakovsky District, the smallest one is Molokovsky District and Lesnoy District.
In terms of the area, the biggest administrative district is Kalininsky District, the smallest ones are Kesovogorsky District and Sonkovsky District.

Administrative divisions

The municipal divisions of Tver Oblast are identical with its administrative divisions. All of the administrative districts of Tver Oblast are municipally incorporated as municipal districts, and the cities of oblast significance are municipally incorporated as urban okrugs.

History

Before 1918

, 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 Tver oblast was split between Ingermanland Governorate, which was renamed Saint Petersburg Governorate in 1710, Moscow Governorate, and Smolensk Governorate. The governorates were subdivided into uyezds, and uyezds into volosts. In 1713, Smolensk Governorate was abolished and split between Moscow and Riga Governorates; in 1726, it was re-established. In 1727, a separate Novgorod Governorate was established, and the areas within present Tver Oblast, belonging to Saint Petersburg Governorate, were transferred to Novgorod and Moscow Governorates. It was subdivided into five provinces, and the current area of Tver Oblast belonged to two of them — Tver Province and Velikiye Luki Province. The rest of the current area of the oblast belonged to Uglich Province of Moscow Governorate and Belsky Uyezd of Smolensk Governorate.
In 1775-1776, the administrative reform abolished governorates and created viceroyalties. The current area of Tver Oblast was divided between Tver, Novgorod, Pskov, and Smolensk Viceroyalties. In 1796, the viceroyalties were abolished, and transformed back into eponymous governorates.
In the 19th century, the area was divided between the following uyezds,
Minor areas also belonged to Kholmsky Uyezd of Novgorod Governorate, Velizhsky Uyezd of Vitebsk Governorate, and to Myshkinsky Uyezd of Yaroslavl Governorate.

1918—1935

On 10 March 1918, Krasnokholmsky Uyezd with the center in Krasny Kholm was established. On 28 December 1918 Kimrsky Uyezd with the center of Kimry was established as well. On 25 April 1921, Vesyegonsky and Krasnokholmsky Uyezds were transferred to newly established Rybinsk Governorate. In 1921, there was some minor land exchange between Tver Governorate and Moscow and Rybinsk Governorates. On 23 February 1923, Rybinsk Governorate was abolished, and the uyezds were transferred back to Tver Governorate.
On 30 May 1922, Zubtsovsky, Kalyazinsky, and Korchevskoy Uyezds were abolished and merged into Rzhevsky, Kashinsky, and Kimrsky Uyezds, respectively.
On 1 August 1927 Novgorod and Pskov Governorates were abolished, and their 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 subdidived into 140 districts, which were grouped into nine okrugs. The areas which currently belong to Tver Oblast were grouped into Velikiye Luki Okrug with the center in Velikiye Luki.
The following districts have been established in Velikiye Luki Okrug,
Bologovsky, Idritsky, Ilyinsky, Kholmsky, Kunyinsky, Leninsky, Loknyansky, Nasvinsky, Nevelsky, Novosokolnichesky, Oktyabrsky, Ostashkovsky, Penovsky, Porechyevsky, Pustoshkinsky, Rykovsky, Sebezhsky, Sovetsky, Toropetsky, Troitsky, Tsevelsky, Usmynsky, Ust-Dolyssky, Usvyatsky, Velizhsky, and Velikoluksky.
Bologovsky District was established and included into Borovichi Okrug of Leningrad Oblast.
On 12 July 1929 Moscow and Smolensk Governorates were abolished as well. Their uyezds formed a number of administrative divisions, and current area of Tver Oblast overlapped with two of them, Moscow and Western Oblasts. Western Oblast had the administrative center in Smolensk. These oblasts were subdivided into okrugs as well. Velikiye Luki Okrug was transferred from Leningrad to Western Oblast; additionally, Rzhev Okrug with the center in Rzhev was established in Western Oblast, and most of its area later entered Tver Oblast. The following districts were established in Rzhev Okrug, Belsky, Kamensky, Karmanovsky, Lukovnikovsky, Molodotudsky, Nelidovsky, Oleninsky, Pogorelsky, Rzhevsky, Selizharovsky, Staritsky, Stepurinsky, Sychyovsky, Vysokovsky, Yeltsovsky, and Zubtsovsky.
In Moscow Oblast, three of the okrugs were established in the areas which later formed Tver Oblast. They contained the following districts:
On 23 July 1930, the okrugs were abolished, and the districts became directly subordinate to the oblasts. On 20 November 1931, Tver was renamed Kalinin.

After 1935

On 29 January 1935 Kalinin Oblast was established on the areas which previously belonged to Moscow, Western and Leningrad Oblasts. The city of Kalinin became the administrative center of the oblast.
Originally, it contained the following districts:
Between 9 July 1937 and 7 February 1939, Karelian National Okrug existed as a territory with special status within Kalinin Oblast. It was intended to be a Tver Karelians autonomy. The okrug consisted of Kozlovsky, Likhoslavlsky, Maksatikhinsky, Novokarelsky, and Rameshkovsky Districts. Its administrative center was located in the town of Likhoslavl.
On March 5, 1935, Velikiye Luki Okrug, one of the okrugs abutting the boundaries of the Soviet Union, was established. It consisted of Bezhanitsky, Loknyansky, Nevelsky, Novorzhevsky, Novosokolnichesky, Opochetsky, Pustoshkinsky, Pushkinsky, Sebezhsky, and Velikoluksky Districts. On May 11, 1937, the okrug was split into Velikiye Luki and Opochka Okrugs. On 4 May 1938 Velikoluksky Okrug was abolished, and on 5 February 1941 Opochetsky Okrug was abolished as well. The districts were directly subordinated by the oblast.
During World War II, between 1941 and 1944, the western part of the oblas were occupied by German troops.
On 22 August 1944, Velikiye Luki Oblast was established, and on 23 August 1944, Pskov Oblast was established, to administrate areas of Soviet Union previously occupied by German troops and liberated in the course of World War II. A number of districts were transferred from Tver Oblast to these two oblasts,
On 2 October 1957 Velikiye Luki Oblast was abolished. Its area was split between Kalinin and Pskov Oblasts. Belsky, Ilyinsky, Leninsky, Nelidovsky, Oktyabrsky, Penovsky, Seryozhinsky, Toropetsky, and Zharkovsky Districts were transferred to Kalinin Oblast, and all other districts were merged into Pskov Oblast. On 29 July 1958 Ploskoshsky District was transferred from Pskov to Kalinin Oblast, which finally set the current borders of Tver Oblast.
In the middle of the 1960s the oblast went through the abortive Khrushchyov administrative reform, when districts were first divided into large-scale agricultural and industrial districts, and several years later these were abolished, and the oblast got a district structure slightly different from that before the reform.
In 1990, Kalinin Oblast was renamed Tver Oblast.

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 Tver Oblast.
Several of the districts were renamed: Tverskoy into Kalininsky, Kuznetsovsky into Konakovsky, Kamensky into Kuvshinovsky, Kirovsky into Selizharovsky; Novotorzhsky into Torzhoksky. Kamensky and Kirovsky Districts were not renamed directly but rather abolished and later re-established under a different name.