JewishGen Regions

The Region for each locality is defined to be the same as the Country — for every country except the following nine countries:

The above countries have/had larger Jewish populations, and are therefore being sub-divided into smaller regions for easier management and searching, and for sharing the overlapping regions in conjunction with the JewishGen “All Country” databases.

United States

The Regions for the United States are the 50 States, plus the District of Columbia (DC), and assorted territories.  The two-letter standard postal abbreviations are used.

Canada

The Regions for Canada are the 13 provinces and territories.  The two-letter standard postal abbreviations are used.

Alberta AB British Columbia BC Manitoba MB New Brunswick NB

Newfoundland & Labrador NL Nova Scotia NS Northwest Territories NT Nunavut NU

Ontario ON Prince Edward Island PE Québec QC Saskatchewan SK Yukon YT

Poland

The Regions for Poland are the same as the are for the JewishGen All Poland Database: the pre-WWI gubernias for the Russian Empire regions, the inter-war Polish województwo for the former Austrian Empire regions, and "Prussia" for the former pre-WWI German Empire regions.

Thus there are 14 regions for Poland.  They are: The 10 gubernias of Congress Poland: "Suwałki", "Łomża", "Płock", "Warszawa", "Siedlce", "Lublin", "Radom", "Kielce", "Piotrków" and "Kalisz";  part of "Grodno" gubernia (Russian Pale);  "Kraków" province and "Lwów" province (Galicia, former Austrian Empire);  and "Prussia" (former German Empire).

For more details on the regions for Poland see Geographical Regions for the All Poland Database.

[Note that "Grodno" is also used in the JewishGen Belarus Database; "Suwałki" is also used in the JewishGen Lithuania Database; and "Lwów" is also used in the JewishGen Ukraine Database, because these former regions overlap the modern country borders.]

Belarus

The Regions for Belarus are the pre-WWI Russian Empire gubernias, just as they are for the JewishGen Belarus Database.

There are five regions for Belarus: "Grodno", "Vilna", "Minsk", "Mogilev" and "Vitebsk".

For more details on the regions for Belarus see Geographical Regions for the JewishGen Belarus Database.

[Note that "Grodno" is also used in the JewishGen Poland Database, "Vilna" is also used in the JewishGen Lithuania Database, and "Vitebsk" is also used in the JewishGen Latvia Database, because these former regions overlap the modern country borders.]

Lithuania

The Regions for Lithuania are the pre-WWI Russian Empire gubernias, just as they are for the JewishGen Lithuania Database.

There are three regions for Lithuania: "Vilna", "Kovno", and "Suwałki".

For more details on the regions for Lithuania see Geographical Regions for the JewishGen Lithuania Database.

[Note that "Vilna" is also used in the JewishGen Belarus Database, and "Suwałki" is also used in the JewishGen Poland Database, because these former regions overlap the modern country borders.]

Latvia

The Regions for Latvia are the pre-WWI Russian Empire gubernias, just as they are for the JewishGen Latvia Database.

There are three regions for Latvia: "Courland", "Livland", and "Vitebsk".

For more details on the regions for Latvia see Geographical Regions for the JewishGen Latvia Database.

[Note that "Vitebsk" is also used in the JewishGen Belarus Database, because this region overlaps the modern country borders.]

Romania

The Regions for Romania follow those used in the JewishGen Romania Database:

"Banat" "Bucovina" "Crişana" "Dobrogea" "Maramureş"

"Muntenia" "Moldavia" "Oltenia" "Transylvania"

For more details on the regions for Romania see Geographical Regions for the JewishGen Romania Database.

[Note that "Bukovina" is also used in the JewishGen Ukraine Database; and "Banat", "Crişana", "Maramureş" and "Transylvania" are also included in the JewishGen Hungary Database, because these regions overlap the modern country borders.]

Ukraine

The Regions for Ukraine are the same as they are for the JewishGen Ukraine Database: the pre-WWI gubernias for the former Russian Empire regions;  and the former Austrian Empire regions: one of "Lwów", "Tarnopol", "Stanisławów", "Bukovina" or "Transcarpathia".

Thus there are 14 regions for Ukraine.  They are: The 9 former Russian Empire gubernias: "Chernigov", "Ekaterinoslav", "Kiev", "Kharkov", "Kherson", "Podolia", "Poltava", "Taurida" and "Volhynia";  plus the former Austrian Empire regions of "Lwów", "Tarnopol", "Stanisławów", "Bukovina" and "Transcarpathia".

[Note that "Lwów" is also used in the JewishGen Poland Database, "Bukovina" is also used in the JewishGen Romania Database, and "Transcarpathia" is also used in the JewishGen Hungary Database, because these former regions overlap the modern country borders.]

Czech Republic

The Regions for the Czech Republic are "Bohemia", "Moravia", and "Silesia".

Summary

There are 47 non-country Regions for Eastern Europe:  The 28 Russian Empire gubernias (10 Congress Poland, 15 Pale of Settlement, plus Courland, Livland and Kharkov);  Nine regions for the former Austrian Empire (the four inter-war Polish provinces of Galicia, three regions now in the Czech Republic, and two regions now in Ukraine);  Nine regions for Romania;  and Prussia.

The following table lists all of the regions which JewishGen has defined for Eastern and Central Europe.  The table also contains the name of the country(s) which that region was in during three historical time periods: Today, Between the Two World Wars, and Before WWI.  The last column lists which JewishGen “All Country” Database(s) contain data for that region.  This table is alphabetically sortable by any of its five columns, by clicking on the column header.

Region Name	Modern Country(s)	Inter-war Country(s)	Pre-WWI Country(s)	JewishGen Database(s)
Austria	Austria	Austria	Austrian Empire	Austria-Czech
Banat	Romania	Romania	Hungary	Romania, Hungary
Bessarabia	Moldova, Ukraine	Romania	Russian Empire	Romania, Ukraine
Bohemia	Czech Republic	Czechoslovakia	Austrian Empire	Austria-Czech
Bosnia-Herzegovina	Bosnia-Herzegovina	Yugoslavia	Austrian Empire	-
Bucovina	Romania, Ukraine	Romania	Austrian Empire	Romania, Ukraine
Bulgaria	Bulgaria	Bulgaria	Bulgaria	-
Chernigov	Ukraine, Russia	U.S.S.R.	Russian Empire	Ukraine
Courland	Latvia	Latvia	Russian Empire	Latvia
Crişana	Romania	Romania	Hungary	Romania, Hungary
Croatia	Croatia	Yugoslavia	Hungary	Hungary
Denmark	Denmark	Denmark	Denmark	Scandinavia
Dobrogea	Romania, Bulgaria	Romania	Romania, Bulgaria	Romania
Ekaterinoslav	Ukraine	U.S.S.R.	Russian Empire	Ukraine
Estonia	Estonia	Estonia	Russian Empire	Latvia
Finland	Finland	Finland	Finland	Scandinavia
Germany	Germany	Germany	Germany	Germany
Greece	Greece	Greece	Greece	-
Grodno	Belarus, Poland	Poland	Russian Empire	Belarus, Poland
Hungary	Hungary	Hungary	Hungary	Hungary
Kalisz	Poland	Poland	Russian Empire	Poland
Kharkov	Ukraine	U.S.S.R.	Russian Empire	Ukraine
Kherson	Ukraine	U.S.S.R.	Russian Empire	Ukraine
Kielce	Poland	Poland	Russian Empire	Poland
Kiev	Ukraine	U.S.S.R.	Russian Empire	Ukraine
Kovno	Lithuania	Lithuania	Russian Empire	Lithuania
Kraków	Poland	Poland	Austrian Empire	Poland
Livland	Latvia	Latvia	Russian Empire	Latvia
Łomża	Poland	Poland	Russian Empire	Poland
Lublin	Poland	Poland	Russian Empire	Poland
Lwów	Poland, Ukraine	Poland	Austrian Empire	Poland, Ukraine
Macedonia	Macedonia	Yugoslavia	Ottoman Empire	-
Maramureş	Romania, Ukraine	Romania	Austrian Empire	Romania, Hungary
Minsk	Belarus	U.S.S.R.	Russian Empire	Belarus
Mogilev	Belarus, Russia	U.S.S.R.	Russian Empire	Belarus
Moldavia	Romania	Romania	Romania	Romania
Moravia	Czech Republic	Czechoslovakia	Austrian Empire	Austria-Czech
Muntenia	Romania	Romania	Romania	Romania
Oltenia	Romania	Romania	Romania	Romania
Piotrków	Poland	Poland	Russian Empire	Poland
Płock	Poland	Poland	Russian Empire	Poland
Podolia	Ukraine	U.S.S.R.	Russian Empire	Ukraine
Poltava	Ukraine	U.S.S.R.	Russian Empire	Ukraine
Prussia	Poland, Germany	Poland, Germany	Germany	Poland, Germany
Radom	Poland	Poland	Russian Empire	Poland
Serbia	Serbia	Yugoslavia	Serbia, Hungary	Hungary
Siedlce	Poland	Poland	Russian Empire	Poland
Silesia	Czech Republic, Poland	Czechoslovakia	Austrian Empire	Austria-Czech
Slovakia	Slovakia	Czechoslovakia	Hungary	Hungary
Slovenia	Slovenia	Yugoslavia	Hungary, Austrian Empire	Hungary
Stanisławów	Ukraine	Poland	Austrian Empire	Poland, Ukraine
Suwałki	Poland, Lithuania	Poland	Russian Empire	Poland, Lithuania
Sweden	Sweden	Sweden	Sweden	Scandinavia
Tarnopol	Ukraine	Poland	Austrian Empire	Poland, Ukraine
Taurida	Ukraine	U.S.S.R.	Russian Empire	Ukraine
Transcarpathia	Ukraine	Czechoslovakia	Hungary	Hungary, Ukraine
Transylvania	Romania	Romania	Hungary	Romania, Hungary
Vilna	Lithuania, Belarus	Poland	Russian Empire	Belarus, Lithuania
Vitebsk	Belarus, Latvia, Russia	U.S.S.R.	Russian Empire	Belarus, Latvia
Volhynia	Ukraine	Poland, U.S.S.R.	Russian Empire	Poland, Ukraine
Warszawa	Poland	Poland	Russian Empire	Poland

What Region Is My Town In? Search for your town in the "JewishGen Communities Database": In the results display, click on the JewishGen icon next to your town's name.  This will bring you to the "JewishGen Locality Page" for your town. The town's Region is listed in the top-left of its "JewishGen Locality Page".  The Region is in the top section, immediately under the "Alternate names" list.

Note that these regions apply to all JewishGen “All Country” and “All Topic” Databases.  The “All Topic” Databases include:

• the JewishGen Holocaust Database, which contains Holocaust-related data from various sources;
• the Yizkor Book Necrology Database, which indexes lists of Holocaust martyrs published in Yizkor Books;
• the Yizkor Book Master Name Index (YBMNI), which indexes the names of all persons mentioned in the translated Yizkor Books;
• the JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR), which indexes cemetery and burial records.

For more information about these regions, see the “Provinces and Regions” section of the JewishGen Eastern Europe FAQ; and the “Geographical Regions” pages for each of the JewishGen “All Country” Databases: Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania.