A kraj (plural: kraje) is the highest-level administrative unit in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. For lack of other English expressions, the Slavic term is often translated as region, territory, or province, although it actually approximately means "(part of) country", "(part of) countryside", "county", "shire". A kraj is subdivided into okresy (districts).
The first "kraje" were created in the Bohemian kingdom of Charles IV of Luxembourg in the 14th century. They were reintroduced in 1949 in Czechoslovakia and still exist today (except for the early 1990's) in the its successor states despite many rearrangements.
In Russia nine of the 83 federal subjects are called Krais (края), coequal to oblasts. The toponym Krajina refers to several historical regions in Slavic countries.
See also
External links
- (Russian) etymology of the word
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