Administrative divisions of Vologda Oblast


, Vologda Oblast is divided into four cities and towns of oblast significance and twenty-six districts.
In terms of the area, the biggest administrative district is Vytegorsky District, the smallest ones are Chagodoshchensky and Ust-Kubinsky Districts.
In terms of the population, the biggest administrative district is Vologodsky District, the smallest one is Mezhdurechensky District.

Administrative and municipal divisions

Differences with municipal divisions

Most of the administrative districts of Vologda Oblast are municipally incorporated as municipal districts, and two of the cities and towns of oblast significance are municipally incorporated as urban okrugs. There are, however, several exceptions,
, 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. In the present area of Vologda oblast, two of the governorates — Archangelgorod Governorate and Ingermanland Governorate — were located. The governorates were subdivided into uyezds, and uyezds into volosts.
The centers of the following uyezds of Archangelgorod Governorate were located in the present-day area of Vologda Oblast,
On, 1719, the governorate was divided into four provinces: Archangelgorod, Vologda, Galich, and Ustyug. The uyezds were transformed into districts, however, in 1727 the districts were transformed back into uyezds. 1780 the Archangelgorod Governorate was transformed into Vologda Viceroyalty. In 1796, the viceroyalty was split into Arkhangelsk and Vologda Governorates. In 1918, the areas which are currently in the east of Vologda Oblast were split off from the Vologda Governorate and moved to the newly established Northern Dvina Governorate. The administrative center of the governorate was Veliky Ustyug.
In 1924, the uyezds of Northern Dvina Governorate were abolished in favor of the new divisions, the districts. Vologda Governorate retained the uyezd division till 1929. On July 15, 1929 the uyezds in Vologda governorate were abolished, and the areas which previously belonged to Vologda and Northern Dvina governorates were merged into Northern Krai. The krai consisted of the Komi-Zyryan Autonomous Oblast, a number of islands in the Arctic Ocean, as well as five administrative districts,
All these okrugs were divided into districts. In 1930, the okrugs were abolished, and the districts became directly subordinate to Northern Krai. In 1936, according to the new Soviet Constitution, the Northern Krai was transformed into Northern Oblast. In 1937, Northern Oblast was split into Arkhangelsk Oblast and Vologda Oblast.
West of Arkhangelsk Governorate, two of the centers of uyezds of Ingermanland Governorate were located in the present-day area of Vologda Oblast,
After a series of administrative reforms, by the beginning of the 19th century the west of the oblast belonged to Novgorod Governorate, with the exception of Vytegorsky Uyezd which belonged to Olonets Governorate. In 1922, Olonets Governorate was abolished, and Vytegorsky Uyezd was transferred to Petrograd Governorate, with the exception of three volosts, which were moved to Kargopolsky Uyezd and later ended up in Arkhangelsk Oblast.
In June 1918, five uyezds of the Novgorod Governorate, including those located on the area of the present-day Vologda Oblast, were split off to form Cherepovets Governorate, with the administrative center in Cherepovets. On August 1, 1927 Cherepovets Governorate was abolished, and its area became Cherepovets Okrug of Leningrad Oblast. Simultaneously, uyezds were abolished in favor of districts. On September 23, 1937, all these districts were transferred to newly established Vologda Oblast.
In total, the following districts formed Vologda Oblast in 1937:
On August 13, 1944 Pavinsky and Vokhomsky Districts were transferred to Kostroma Oblast.
During the attempted administrative reform in 1963, districts were subdivided into urban and rural districts. The reform was abandoned in 1965, and the division into districts was restored.

Abolished districts

After 1924 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 Vologda Oblast.
Four of the districts were renamed: Ledengsky into Babushkinsky, Shuysky into Mezhdurechensky, Sverdlovsky into Sokolsky, and Verkhne-Chagodoshchensky into Chagodoshchensky. Sukhonsky District was renamed into Nyuksensky District after it was merged with Kokshengsky District.