Grodno Region, also known as Grodno Oblast or Hrodna Voblasts, is a region of Belarus. Its administrative centre and its namesake, Grodno, is the largest city in the whole region. As of 2024, it has a population of 992,556.
Located in western Belarus, it lies on the Neman River. The region borders the Minsk region to the east, the Brest region to the south, Poland (Podlaskie Voivodeship) to the west and the Vitebsk region and Lithuania (Alytus and Vilnius counties) to the north.
Grodno, or Hrodna, is a city in western Belarus. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. The city is located on the Neman River, 300 kilometres (190 mi) from Minsk, about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the border with Poland, and 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the border with Lithuania. Grodno serves as the administrative center of Grodno Region and Grodno District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, the city has a population of 363,718.
The modern city of Grodno, founded in 1127, originated as a small fortress and trading outpost, on the extreme northern end of the deeply penetrated Slavic peninsula into the lands of the Baltic tribal union of the Yotvingians. It was also a home to the Dregoviches Slavic tribe. It was a significant city in Black Ruthenia and later part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which joined the Polish-Lithuanian Union in 1385. Grodno faced numerous invasions, most notably by the Teutonic Knights. The city was an important trade, commerce, and cultural center in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and one of its royal residences. The Kings of Poland and Grand Dukes of Lithuania allowed the creation of a Jewish commune in 1389, and the city received its charter in 1441. Grodno was the site of two battles during the Great Northern War.
Western Belorussia or Western Belarus (Belarusian: Заходняя Беларусь, romanized: Zachodniaja Biełaruś; Polish: Zachodnia Białoruś; Russian: Западная Белоруссия, romanized: Zapadnaya Belorussiya) is a historical region of modern-day Belarus which belonged to the Second Polish Republic during the interwar period. For twenty years before the 1939 invasion of Poland, it was the northern part of the Polish Kresy macroregion. Following the end of World War II in Europe, most of Western Belorussia was ceded to the Soviet Union by the Allies, while some of it, including Białystok, was given to the Polish People's Republic. Until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Western Belorussia formed the western part of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR). Today, it constitutes the west of modern Belarus.
Created by the USSR after the conquest of Poland, the new western provinces of Byelorussian SSR acquired from Poland included Baranavichy, Belastok, Brest, Vileyka and the Pinsk Regions. The majority of Belastok Region was returned to Poland and the rest of the regions were reorganized one more time after the Soviet liberation of Belarus into the contemporary western provinces of Belarus which include all of Grodno and Brest regions, as well as parts of today's Minsk and Vitebsk regions. Vilnius was returned by the USSR to the Republic of Lithuania which soon after that became the Lithuanian SSR.
Kreva (Belarusian: Крэва, IPA: [ˈkrɛva]; Russian: Крево, romanized: Krevo; Lithuanian: Krėva, Krẽvas; Polish: Krewo) is an agrotown in Smarhon District, Grodno Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Krevas selsoviet.
The first mention dates to the 13th century. The toponym is derived from the name of the Krivichs tribe.
Białowieża Forest is a large forest complex and World Heritage Area straddling the border between Poland and Belarus. It is one of the last and the largest remaining parts of the immense primeval forest that once stretched across the European Plain. The forest is home to more than 800 European bison, Europe's heaviest land animal.
The forest has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an EU Natura 2000 Special Area of Conservation. The World Heritage Committee, through its decision of June 2014, approved the extension of the UNESCO World Heritage site "Belovezhskaya Pushcha / Białowieża Forest, Belarus, Poland", which became "Białowieża Forest, Belarus, Poland". It straddles the border between Podlachia historical region in Poland and the Brest and Grodno Oblasts in Belarus, and is 62 kilometres (39 miles) southeast of Białystok, Poland and 70 kilometres (43 miles) north of Brest, Belarus. The Białowieża Forest World Heritage site covers a total area of 141,885 ha (1,418.85 km; 547.82 sq mi).Since the border between the two countries runs through the forest, there is a border crossing available for hikers and cyclists.
The Belarusian–Polish border is the state border between the Republic of Poland (EU member) and the Republic of Belarus (Union State). It has a total length of 398.6 km (247.7 mi), 418 km (260 mi) or 416 km (258 mi) (sources vary). It starts from the triple junction of the borders with Lithuania in the north and stretches to the triple junction borders with Ukraine to the south. It is also part of the EU border with Belarus. The border runs along the administrative borders of two Voivodships Podlaskie and Lubelskie in the Polish side and Grodno and Brest Vobłasć in the Belarusian side. In the Polish side, the 246.93 km (153.44 mi) section is under the protection of the Podlaski Border Guard Regional Unit, while the 171.31 km (106.45 mi) section is in the operation area of the Bug Border Guard Regional Unit. Border rivers (from north to south) are Czarna Hańcza, Wołkuszanka, Świsłocz, Narew, and Bug.