Kraj

First-level administrative division in various countries

A Kraj (plural: kraje) is the highest-level administrative unit in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. For lack of other English expressions, the Slavic term is often translated as "province", "region", or "territory", although it approximately means "(part of) country", or "(part of) countryside". A kraj is subdivided into okresy ("districts").

The first kraje were created in the Kingdom of Bohemia during the reign of Charles IV in the 14th century and they lasted till 1862/68. Kraje were reintroduced in 1949 in Czechoslovakia and still exist today (except for the early 1990s) in its successor states despite many rearrangements.

In Russia nine of the 85 federal subjects are called krais (Russian: края, kraya), coequal to oblasts. The toponym Krajina refers to several historical regions in Slavic countries.

Kraje in the Czech Republic

Kraje in Slovakia

Toponymy

Kraj is also found as a toponym outside of Czech- and Slovak-speaking areas.

Almaški Kraj, a part of Novi Sad, Serbia
Gerovski Kraj, a village near Čabar, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Croatia
Jovanovski Kraj, a former name of Rotkvarija/Žitni Trg, a part of Novi Sad, Serbia
Končarev Kraj, a village near Plitvička Jezera, Lika-Senj County, Croatia
Kraj, Pašman, a village in Zadar County, Croatia
Kraj, Split-Dalmatia County, a village near Dicmo, Croatia
Kraj, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, a village near Mošćenička Draga, Croatia
Kraj Donji, a village near Marija Gorica, Croatia
Kraj Drage, a village near Sveta Nedelja, Istria County, Croatia
Kraj Gornji, a village near Marija Gorica, Croatia
Rašića Kraj, a hamlet near Vranići, Serbia
Srednji Kraj, a village near Barajevo, Serbia