The following is the list of cities in Belarus. Neither Belarusian nor Russian have equivalent words to English "city" and "town". The word horad (Belarusian: горад, Russian: город) is used for both. But Belarusian legislature provides the three-level hierarchy.
According to the Law under May 5, 1998, the categories of the most developed urban localities in Belarus are as follows:
capital — Minsk;
city of voblasć subordinance (Belarusian: горад абласнога падпарадкавання, Russian: город областного подчинения) — urban locality with the population of not less than 50,000 people; it has its own body of self-government, known as Council of Deputies (Belarusian: Савет дэпутатаў, Russian: совет депутатов) and an executive committee (Belarusian: выканаўчы камітэт, Russian: исполнительный комитет), which stand on the level with these of a rajon (Belarusian: раён).
city of rajon surbodinance (Belarusian: горад раённага падпарадкавання, Russian: город районного подчинения) — urban locality with the population of more than 6,000 people; it may have its own body of self-government (Belarusian: Савет дэпутатаў, Russian: совет депутатов) and an executive committee (Belarusian: выканаўчы камітэт, Russian: исполнительный комитет), which belong to the same level as these of rural councils and of s.c. haradski pasiolak (Belarusian: гарадскі пасёлак, Russian: городской посёлок) (a type of a smaller urban locality).
This division was inherited by the contemporary Republic of Belarus from BSSR and introduced in 1938.
At the beginning of 2010 112 settlements had the status of a city/town. Among them:
12 towns of voblasć subordinance;
99 towns of rajon subordinance;
Minsk — the capital of the country.
