Uezd
An uezd ), or povit in a Ukrainian context, was a type of administrative subdivision of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire, the Russian SFSR, and the early Soviet Union, which was in use from the 13th century. For most of Russian history, uezds were a second-level administrative division. By sense, but not by etymology, uezd approximately corresponds to the English "county".
General description
Originally describing groups of several volosts, they formed around the most important cities. Uezds were ruled by the appointees of a knyaz and, starting from the 17th century, by voyevodas.In 1708, an administrative reform was carried out by Peter the Great, dividing Russia into governorates. The subdivision into uyezds was abolished at that time but was reinstated in 1727, as a result of Catherine I's administrative reform.
By the USSR administrative reform of 1923–1929, most of the uezds were transformed into raions. In UkSSR, uezds were reformed into forty okruhas which were the primary-level of administrative division from 1925 to 1930.