The Republic of Belarus consists of 6 Oblasts (major regions) which include 118 administrative districts and the City of Minsk. There are 104 towns and 108 settlements with the status of a town.

Cross-region diversity is not intense in Belarus, although the Oblasts differ in their level of socio-economic development and the structure of their economy. Major socioeconomic, natural geography and ecological features include:

• a higher level of industrial development of eastern regions with dominant energy and resource-intensive industries;
• major chemical and petrochemical complexes rife in Vitebsk, Grodno, Gomel, Minsk and Mogilev Oblasts, which are environmentally pressing;
• a high concentration of industrial production in the capital and major cities;
• differences between Oblasts in the level of agricultural production relating to soil, climatic, ecological and other local characteristic features, and with differences in the location of main branches of agricultural specialization;
• predominant concentration of social infrastructure facilities in Minsk, Oblast centers and other towns.