Vitsebsk Voblast (Province) or
Vitebsk Oblast (
Belarusian ??´??????? ??´??????;
Vitsebskaya Voblast;
Russian ??´??????? ?´??????;
Vitebskaya Oblast) is a
province (
voblast) of
Belarus with its
administrative center being
Vitebsk (Viciebsk). As of a 2005 estimate, the voblast has a population of 1,294,700. It also has the lowest population density in Belarus at 32 p/km².
Important cities within the voblast' include Vitebsk, Orsha, and Navapolatsk.
The Vitsebsk Voblast covers an area of 40,100 km², which is about 19.4&_160;% of the national total. It is bordered on the north by Pskov Oblast of Russia, by Smolensk Oblast of Russia on the east, on the south by Minsk and Mahilyow Voblasts, on the southwest by Minsk and Hrodna Voblasts, and on the west and northwest by Vilnius County and Daugavpils District of Lithuania and Latvia.
In 2000 Belarusian scientists Alexey Solomonov and Valery Anoshko published a report in which they stated that the geographic centre of Europe was located near lake Sho (Belarusian ??) in Vitsebsk Voblast. [1]
