The Smorgon region was first mentioned in the documents about the history of the Vileyka Eparchy in 1503. The settlement of Smorgon became a town on June 6, 1904. The Smorgon region was founded on January 15, 1940 as part of Vileyka oblast. In September 1944, it became part of Molodechno oblast and on January 20, 1960 – Grodno oblast. In 1985, Smorgon became an independent administrative unit. In November 1996, the Smorgon region and the town of Smorgon were united into one administrative unit. The region is located in the north-east of Grodno oblast. Its area covers 1,5 thousand square kilometers; the population totals 58 thousand 200 people.
There are 324 rural settlements and 12 village councils of deputies on the territory of the region. The Naroch-Vileyka lowland covers the major part of the region; in the south – the Oshmyany upland. Minerals: peat, sand-gravel materials, sand, clay and loam.
All rivers of the region flow into the Neman river basin and as its part – into the Baltic Sea. The biggest lakes of the region are Svirskoye and Vishnevskoy. Bogs cover 3.8% of the territory. Architectural monuments: ruins of a castle in the village of Krevo (14th century), the Smorgon Calvinist Church (1553), the Zhodishki Calvinist Church (1612), the Zalesje country estate, where composer Michaі Ogiсski lived (1802-1822), a farmstead of Frantiљek Boguszewicz (2nd half of the 19th century). A railroad and a motorway Minsk-Vilnius go through the territory of the region.
There are 18 industrial companies employing 4,2 thousand people in the region. The biggest are: Smorgon Optical Machine-Tool Construction Plant, Smorgon Machine Plant, Smorgonsilikatobeton. The companies of the region produce: walling, building bricks, truck and farm machine spare parts, mini-tractors, rototillers, gear-type pumps, saw-timber, door panels, ferrous and nonferrous castings, flax fiber, foodstuffs (animal oil, whole milk products, bakery goods, grain flakes, tinned vegetables and others).
The main areas the agricultural companies specialize in – flax cultivation, meat and milk production, cattle breeding, cultivation of grain and forage crops, potatoes. There are four construction organizations in the Smorgon region. Housing construction has become top priority in recent years.
There are 197 trading companies of all forms of ownership in the region. Of them 44 companies are state-run, 64 – private, 89 are companies of the Consumer Cooperative Society. There are also 318 retail outlets. The main providers of consumer services are Smorgon Compound of Consumer Services, sole traders, trade and service center Garant, etc.
There are 57 education establishments in the region, of them 34 are secondary schools. Among after-school facilities are the Smorgon Regional Center of Children’s Creativity, Interschool Education and Production Complex, Smorgon Sports School of the Olympic Reserve, Smorgon Socio-Pedagogic Center, Smorgon Center of Special Education and Rehabilitation.
Medical care is provided in the regional clinic, ambulant clinics, hospitals, 22 feldsher-midwife stations. There are 13 therapeutic and pediatric departments in Smorgon. Several companies have emergency stations. Two hospitals service rural residents.
The cultural network is represented by 61 establishments: Town House of Culture, 25 clubs, one regional, two town, two children’s and 26 rural libraries, two children’s music schools, children’s art school, ethnographic museum.
The main sports facility of the region is the sports and leisure center Yunost, which has a children’s sports school and a football club.
