Administrative divisions of Vologda Oblast

Administratively, Vologda Oblast is divided into four cities and towns of oblast significance and twenty-six districts.

In terms of the area, the biggest administrative district is Vytegorsky District (13,100 square kilometers (5,100 sq mi)), the smallest ones are Chagodoshchensky and Ust-Kubinsky Districts (2,400 square kilometers (930 sq mi)).

In terms of the population, the biggest administrative district is Vologodsky District (50,956 in 2002), the smallest one is Mezhdurechensky District (7,641).

Most of the administrative districts of Vologda Oblast are municipally incorporated as municipal districts, and two of the cities and towns of oblast significance are municipally incorporated as urban okrugs. There are, however, several exceptions,

December 29 [O.S. December 18], 1708 Tsar Peter the Great issued an edict which established seven governorates. The description of the borders of the governorates was not given; instead, their area was defined as a set of towns and the lands adjacent to those towns. In the present area of Vologda oblast, two of the governorates — Archangelgorod Governorate (east of the oblast) and Ingermanland Governorate (west of the oblast) — were located. The governorates were subdivided into uyezds, and uyezds into volosts.

The centers of the following uyezds of Archangelgorod Governorate were located in the present-day area of Vologda Oblast,

On June 9 [O.S. May 29], 1719, the governorate was divided into four provinces: Archangelgorod, Vologda, Galich, and Ustyug. The uyezds were transformed into districts, however, in 1727 the districts were transformed back into uyezds. February 5 [O.S. January 25] 1780 the Archangelgorod Governorate was transformed into Vologda Viceroyalty. In 1796, the viceroyalty was split into Arkhangelsk and Vologda Governorates. In 1918, the areas which are currently in the east of Vologda Oblast were split off from the Vologda Governorate and moved to the newly established Northern Dvina Governorate. The administrative center of the governorate was Veliky Ustyug.

...
Wikipedia