Five regions of Western Belarus (1939-1954)

In September 1939 Western Belarus became part of the Byelorussian SSR, and on 4 December 1939 five regions were created on its lands: Baranovichi, Białystok, Brest, Vileyka and Pinsk. On the same date the border with the Ukrainian SSR was fixed - between the Brest and Pinsk regions in the north and the Volyn and Rivne regions in the south. On 15 January 1940 the regions were divided into districts; most of today's districts date from then.

The Brest Region of 1940 was smaller than today's: the east with Pinsk, Luninets, Stolin and David-Gorodok belonged to the Pinsk Region, the north with Baranovichi and Lyakhovichi to the Baranovichi Region. In 1944 part of the Brest Region was transferred to the Grodno Region, and Białystok went to Poland.

On 8 January 1954 five regions of Belarus were abolished. The Pinsk Region was joined to the Brest Region as a whole, and the districts of the Baranovichi Region were divided between the Brest, Grodno, Minsk and Molodechno regions. This is how the Brest Region took its present shape.