Brest region, also known as Brest oblast or Brest voblasts, is one of the six regions of Belarus. Its administrative center is Brest. Other major cities in the region include Baranavichy and Pinsk. As of 2024, it has a population of 1,308,569. about 15.7% of the national total.
The westernmost point of Belarus is situated in Kamyenyets District near the town of Vysokaye.
2.7% of the territory is covered by Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park, 9.8% is covered by 17 wildlife preserves of national importance.
It is often dubbed the Western gateway to Belarus. Geographically, the Brest region belongs to the area known as Polesia. The area of the region was part of the Second Polish Republic from 1921 until 1939 largely as the Polesie Voivodeship, when it was joined to the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. Northeastern part of it was administered as part of Nowogródek Voivodeship.
Demographics
The Brest region has a population of 1,380,391,
Brest is the province with the highest birth rate in all of Belarus. As of 2008, the birth rate was 12.0 per 1000 and death rate was 13.4 per 1000. In 2017, 12.4% of live births were to unmarried women (average in Belarus — 18.1%).
As of 2018, share of the population under working age was 19.3% (average in Belarus — 17.9%), of working age — 55.7% (average in Belarus — 57.2%), over working age — 25% (average in Belarus — 25.1%).
In 2015—2017, the region had a positive net migration rate for international migration (+3,209 in 2015, +1,771 in 2016, +1,357 in 2017) and negative — for internal migration (-6,294 in 2015, -3,659 in 2016, -1,836 in 2017). In 2017, 6,944 people which departed from the Brest region arrived in Minsk, 2,219 — in the Minsk region, 2,118 — in the Hrodna region, less than 1,000 — in every other region.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! 1939 !! 1950 !! 1955 !! 1960 !! 1965 !! 1970 !! 1975 !! 1980 !! 1985
|-
| Population <small>(thousands)</small> || 1,208.9 || 1,186.2 || 1,142 || 1,191.5 || 1,234.4 || 1,292.8 || 1,332.8 || 1,367 || 1,407.5
|-
! Year !! 1990 !! 1995 !! 2000 !! 2005 !! 2006 !! 2007 !! 2008 !! 2009 !! 2010
|-
| Population <small>(thousands)</small> || 1,394.8 || 1,391.4 || 1,390.4 || 1,388.5 || 1,388.9 || 1,387.0 || 1,386.4 || 1,384.5 || 1,380.4
|-
! Year !! 2023
|-
| Population <small>(thousands)</small> || 1,315.4
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Birth & death rates !! 1950 !! 1960 !! 1970 !! 1980 !! 1985 !! 1990 !! 1995 !! 2000 !! 2005 !! 2010 !! 2011 !! 2012 !! 2013 !! 2014 !! 2015 !! 2016 !! 2017
|-
| Birth rate || 26.3 || 25.5 || 17.4 || 16.8 || 17.1 || 15 || 11.3 || 10.8 || 10.4 || 12.2 || 12.7 || 13.1 || 13.2 || 13.4 || 13.5 || 13.5 || 11.8
|-
| Death rate || 9 || 6.9 || 7.6 || 9.9 || 10.6 || 10.5 || 12.5 || 12.7 || 14.2 || 14.3 || 14.2 || 13.1 || 13 || 12.6 || 12.7 || 12.6 || 12.8
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Life expectancy<br>at birth !! 1990 !! 1995 !! 2000 !! 2005 !! 2010 !! 2015 !! 2016 !! 2017
|-
| Overall || 72 || 69.5 || 69.8 || 69.3 || 70.9 || 74.2 || 74.5 || 74.4
|-
| female || 11,743 || 11,613 || 11,639 || 13,366 || 14,029 || 11,386 || 9,453 || 10,660 || 11,060 || 11,155 || 9,016 || 9,123
|-
| Marriages <small>(per 1000 population)</small> Main tourist attractions in the region are Belovezhskaya Puscha and Brest Fortress.
<gallery>
File:BrestFortress7.JPG|Brest Fortress.
File:Kosaŭskі palac, 2016 2.jpg|Palace in Kosava.
File:Monument to Kosciuszko, Belarus.jpg|Tadeusz Kościuszko birthplace in Mieračoŭščyna.
File:Tower of Kamyanets.jpg|The Kamianiec Tower.
File:Цэнтр Пінска 12.jpg|The Jesuit Collegium in Pinsk.
</gallery>
Economy
As of 2017, the industrial output of the region amounted to (~US$5,300 million), or 11.2% of the Belarusian industrial output.
Food industry is the leading economy sphere in the region (47.6% of the region's industrial output). The biggest industrial plants in the region are "Savushkin produkt" (dairy products), "Santa Bremor" (fish products), Brestgazoapparat (gas equipment, including "Gefest" cookers; all three are situated in Brest), "Pinskdrev" in Pinsk (furniture, matches and other wood products), "Polesie" in Kobryn (toys and plastic products). Other major factories are machine tool plant "Atlant", cotton factory, military jet fighters repair plant (all three are situated in Baranavichy (Baranovichi)), sugar plant in Zhabinka, "Polesie" textile and garment factory in Pinsk, "Ivacevichidrev" wood products plant in Ivacevichi, "Granite" quarry in Mikashevichi, "Belsolod" malt factory in Ivanava (the only such plant in Belarus).
Food factories in the region produced 153.9 thousand tons of meat and offal in 2017, 90 thousand tons of sausage products, 29.7 thousand tons of meat semi-finished products, 71.8 tons of fish and semi-finished products (including canned fish), 551.9 thousand tons of whole milk products, 47.2 thousand tons of cottage cheese, 66.1 thousand tons of cheese, 21.3 thousand tons of butter, 108.2 thousand tons of flour, 2.5 million decalitres of beer and 4.3 million decalitres of distilled alcoholic beverages. Textile and garment factories produced 56,361 thousand m<sup>2</sup> of fabrics in 2017, 994 thousand m<sup>2</sup> of carpets, 5.9 million pieces of all types of knitwear, 1.9 million pieces of outerwear (except knitwear), 28.4 million pairs of socks and similar hosiery, 623 thousand shoes. Electrical plants in the region produced 242.2 thousand electric engines (alternating current), 4800 transformers, 899 thousand lamps. Brest lamp factory is producing incandescent light bulbs, 2 factories are engaged in production of diodes and printed circuit boards.
As of 2017, total cultivated area in the region was 930,000 hectares, including 844,400 hectares of land used by agricultural organizations (mainly state-owned), 17,900 hectares — by the registered farmers, and 67,700 hectares — by personal farms of the population. 383,800 hectares of fields were used to grow cereals, 52,800 — rapeseeds, 21,800 — sugar beets, 5,700 — flax, 56,300 — potatoes, 12,700 — vegetables, 392,800 — feed crops. Big agricultural organizations harvest almost all cereals, flax, sugar beets, rapeseeds and feed crops, while farmers (both registered and not) harvest more than 90% of potatoes (1,144,400 tons of 1,266,200 in the region) and vegetables (409,400 tons of 439,200 in the region). Average cereal yield in the region in 2017 was 3,480 kg per hectare (average in Belarus — 3,330), sugar beet yield — 43,900 kg per hectare (average in Belarus — 49,900), flax fiber yield — 1,160 kg per hectare (average in Belarus — 920). Due to warm mild climate and personal activity, the region leads in the production of many fruits, vegetables and berries in Belarus. Several villages are widely known as a "cucumber capital", "strawberry capital", "carrot capital", etc.
As of 2018, agricultural organizations and farmers kept 861,600 cattle (including 301,100 cows), 491,100 pigs, 10,000 horses, 19,500 sheep, 7,605,000 poultry. In 2017, all types of farms in the region produced 218,700 tons of livestock and poultry meat (in slaughter weight), 1,605,000 tons of milk (second place among the regions of Belarus) and 606.8 million eggs (second place).
See also
- Poland’s Nowogrodek Voivodeship (1919-1939)
- Beresteishchyna
Notes
References
External links
- Brest Regional Executive Committee