The basis of the cultural and geographical zoning of Belarus proposed in this work lies in natural factors (vegetation and relief, which define the “physiognomy” of the landscape), which influenced the adaptation of the population to the environment, the peculiarities of natural resource use, and the creation of “cultural landscapes.” However, it should be noted that when delineating cultural and geographical regions, it is not enough to consider only the history of natural resource use and settlement of the territory; it is also necessary to draw on information regarding contemporary processes in nature transformation, ethnic processes, and the peculiarities of cultural development (including language, writing, literature, morals, customs, religion, art, education, etc.).
According to physical and geographical zoning, the territory of Belarus is divided into 5 provinces, 14 districts, and 49 regions: Poozerye Province (districts: Vitebsk Poozerye, Braslav Poozerye, Podvinye, Narochano-Ushachskoye Poozerye); West Belarusian Province (Central and Southwestern districts of the Belarusian Highlands, Ponemanye); Pre-Polesye (Western and Eastern); East Belarusian Province (Podneprovye district); Polesye Province (Brest, Pripyat, Mozyr, Gomel Polesye). This zoning is one of the sources for clarifying historical and cultural zoning.
Six ethnographic regions are distinguished in the territory of Belarus [11]. The boundaries between these regions are unclear, “blurred,” but nevertheless, they can be linked to modern administrative borders. The toponymic zoning of Belarus proposed by V. A. Zhuchkevich [3] almost coincides with the ethnographic one. We will denote these ethnographic (and simultaneously toponymic) regions [4]:
1. Poozerye – the northern part of Belarus (Vitebsk region), characterized by a combination of Baltic and Slavic hydronyms, with weakly expressed Baltic-Finnish relics.
2. Podneprovye – the eastern part of Belarus (Mogilev region and the eastern part of Gomel region), with rare Finno-Ugric and Baltic hydronyms and Slavic toponymy of settlements.
3. Eastern Polesye – the southeast of Belarus (the western part of Gomel region and the eastern part of Brest region), with a wide distribution of names with the suffix -ka and the absence of Baltic names.
4. Western Polesye – the southwest of Belarus (Brest region), with archaic Slavic toponymy and the absence of Baltic names.
5. Ponemanye – the west of Belarus (Grodno region), with a clear Baltic toponymic layer.
6. Central Belarus – the central part of Belarus (Minsk region), with a complex toponymy reflecting the process of long-standing Slavic-Baltic contacts.
Historians distinguish historical and ethnographic regions of Belarus (Fig. 1), which in some cases coincide with physical and geographical provinces, and in others – with districts [9].
Linguistic differences in Belarus have a zonal character. The Belarusian language is divided into two dialects: northeastern and southwestern (Fig. 2). The northeastern dialect includes the Vitebsk, Polotsk, and eastern Mogilev groups of dialects. The southwestern dialect includes the Grodno-Baranovichi, Slutsk, Mozyr groups of dialects. In the central part of Belarus, a Middle Belarusian belt with transitional dialectal features has formed [11].
The Polesye group of dialects, which has transitional features with the Ukrainian language, is particularly notable. In the early 20th century, Polesye dialects were considered part of the northern group of Little Russian dialects, while the southwestern and northeastern groups of Belarusian dialects were sometimes referred to as northern Belarusian and southern Belarusian dialects [7].
In the book “Geography of Belarus” [8], A. A. Smolich identified the following historical and cultural regions (HCR) of Belarus: Polotsk Nadvinye, Vilnius land (now mainly Lithuania, but also the southeastern part of the former Vileika region), Minsk and Upper Berezina lands, Nadneman and Nadbug lands, Great Polesye lowland and Pinsk region, Belarusian forest-steppe and Radan, Mstislavl region, Orsha region, Vitebsk land, Smolensk region (now part of Russia). Based on the descriptions of the composition of historical and cultural regions by A. A. Smolich, we compiled a zoning map (Fig. 3).
Russian geographer A. G. Manakov [4, 5] distinguishes historical and cultural lands (regions) of Belarus, which adequately reflect the cultural and geographical reality: Disna, Polotsk, Vitebsk Poozerye; Orsha, Mogilev, Krichiev, Gomel Podneprovye, Vileika, Minsk land, Bobruisk land, Baranovichi, Grodno Ponemanye, Slutsk land; Lower Pripyat, Mozyr, Pinsk, Brest Polesye.
The scheme of historical and cultural zoning of Belarus by A. G. Manakov is presented in Table 1 and in Fig. 4. Cultural zones are a direct reflection of linguistic and major ethnographic differences, and as non-zonal cultural formations, historical and ethnographic regions (provinces) are represented.
According to social-ecological-economic zoning (SEEZ), carried out in 1996 and linked to 20 centers, the following regions are distinguished: Mogilev, Bobruisk, Krichiev, Orsha, Vitebsk, Polotsk, Glubokoye, Molodechno, Baranovichi, Zhlobin, Minsk, Borisov, Slutsk, Lida, Grodno, Brest, Pinsk, Gomel, Mozyr, Zhitkovichi. In 2002, 15 SEEZ were already identified [6]: Polotsk, Vitebsk, Orsha, Minsk, Mogilev, Krichiev, Bobruisk, Lida, Grodno, Baranovichi, Soligorsk, Gomel, Mozyr, Pinsk, and Brest. The distinguished SEEZ are systems for the life support of the population and the basis for more detailed cultural and geographical zoning.
Taking into account the entire set of zoning characteristics and zoning factors, we distinguished 19 integral cultural and geographical regions (CGR): Polotsk land (Polotsk Podvinye, or Polotsk Poozerye), Vitebsk Podvinye (Surazh Poozerye), Podisennye (Disna Poozerye; Postavy-Glubokoye land), Vileika, Grodno Ponemanye, Novogrudok land (Middle Ponemanye; Lida-Novogrudok land), Upper Ponemanye (Baranovichi Pre-Polesye; Baranovichi land), Minsk land (Minsk-Logoysk), Borisov land (Upper Poberezye), Slutsk land, Bobruisk land (Poberezye), Orsha Podneprovye (Drutsk-Orsha land), Mogilev Podneprovye, Mstislavl-Krichiev land (Middle Posozhye), Brest Polesye (Pobuzhye), Pinsk Polesye, Turov land (Mozyr Polesye), Pripyat Polesye, Gomel Polesye (Gomel Podneprovye, Lower Posozhye) [10] (Fig. 5).
If we overlay the map of the distinguished cultural and geographical regions onto the map of historical units of the Rzeczpospolita, we can notice that the boundaries of the CGR have some correspondence with the borders of medieval principalities, voivodeships, and powiats of the 18th century (Fig. 6).
It is interesting to note that during the partitions of the Rzeczpospolita (1772, 1793, 1795), the imperial administration took into account not only the administrative-territorial division of the Rzeczpospolita but also, possibly, cultural-geographical, historical, and other factors and conditions (Fig. 7).
During the time of Belarus being part of the Russian Empire, the administrative-territorial division also took into account historical and cultural features (governorships, provinces, districts) (Fig. 8). When establishing the Soviet-Polish border in 1921, the boundaries of old administrative units, the front line in 1916-1917, and the preferences of the population (religious, cultural, etc.) were taken into account.
The districts existing in the 1920s (Polotsk, Vitebsk, Orsha, Mogilev, Klimovichi, Bobruisk, Minsk, Borisov, Slutsk, Mozyr, Gomel, Rechitsa), which replaced the provinces, coincide by 80-90% with the cultural and geographical regions we have distinguished.
In January 1938, regions were established in the territory of Belarus. By 1940, there were 10 regions: Vitebsk, Vileika (Molodechno), Mogilev, Gomel, Mozyr, Minsk, Pinsk, Baranovichi, Brest, and Bialystok (which included the western regions of the modern Grodno region and the city of Grodno). The boundaries of these and subsequent administrative units also coincide with the boundaries of the CGR.
Cultural and geographical regions are part of cultural areas: Polotsk, Vitebsk, Central Belarus, Podneprovye, Ponemanye, Western and Eastern Polesye (Fig. 9). At the same time, the Gomel CGR is part of the Podneprovye area, which aligns with the historical and ethnographic zoning of V. S. Titov and A. A. Smolich.
The conducted zoning shows that the town of Turov, during the reform of the administrative structure, can claim the role of the center of the region, which will undoubtedly raise its status, especially since Turov and its surroundings historically gravitate towards the Pinsk CGR (formerly the Turovo-Pinsk principality), sharing common features in the history of ethnic resource use and cultural landscapes.
Cultural and geographical areas are included in cultural and geographical zones: 1. Belarusian Poozerye (Vitebsk and Polotsk regions), 2. Central (Middle Belarus; Central Belarusian region, Ponemanye), 3. Eastern Belarus (Podneprovye; within one region), 4. Belarusian Polesye (regions of Western and Eastern Polesye).
The analysis of the schemes of physical and geographical, landscape, historical and ethnographic, historical and cultural, and socio-ecological-economic zoning, as well as a brief historical analysis of the administrative-territorial division of Belarus, confirmed the initial working hypothesis about the stability of the boundaries of the cultural and geographical regions (regions) we have distinguished over the past 500-700 years. The results of the study can be used both in the implementation of the administrative-territorial reform of the Republic of Belarus, planned since the 1980s, and in conducting a wide range of regional studies.
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