Geographical position

The Khoiniki region is located in the south-east of Belarus. In the north-west it borders on the Kalinkovichi region, in the north-east – the Rechitsa region, in the east – the Bragin region, in the south-east – the Narovlya and Mozyr regions of Gomel oblast. In the south the region borders on Ukraine.

The town of Khoiniki is the administrative center of the region. It is located 105km away from the oblast center and 60km from Mozyr. There is a railway station in Khoiniki connecting the town with Gomel, Vasilevichi and Kalinkovichi. Surfaced roads link up Khoiniki, Gomel, Rechitsa, Kalinkovichi, Mozyr, Bragin and all central administrative centers of the region.

The area of the region makes 202,8 thousand hectares; forests cover 58,2 thousand hectares. These are mainly conifers, birches, oaks and asps. The total area of agricultural land makes 45,9 thousand hectares, of them arable land – 23,0 thousand hectares and reclaimed land – 18,9 thousand hectares. Some 6,9 thousand hectares (3.4 per cent of the total area) are bogs.

The territory of the region is within the boundaries of the Gomel Polessye. The ground surface is flat; 98 per cent - at a height of 110-140 meters.

The region has the following minerals – peat and oil. New oilfields were opened in 2005-2006 near the village of Dubrovitsa.

In January mean temperature makes 6.6 degrees Celsius below zero, in July – 18.6 degrees Celsius above zero. Some 565 millimeters of precipitations fall every year.

The Pripyat with the feeders of Vit and Turja runs through the region. There are several lakes, a reservoir and soil-reclamation canals there.

The Polessye state radiation-ecological reserve is located in the Khoiniki region. It unites the lands withdrawn from the agricultural use after the Chernobyl catastrophe. The reserve occupies 215 thousand hectares, with 54 species of mammals, about 80 species of birds and 25 species of fish. The flora features some 1250 various plants. The work on introducing new species of animals has begun. In 1996 some 15 aurochses were settled in the reserve; today their number makes 40. The Red Book of the Republic of Belarus describes 43 flora and 19 fauna species from the reserve.