Geographical position

The Oktyabrskiy region is situated in the north-west of Gomel oblast bordering on the Petrikov, Kalinkovichi, Svetlogorsk regions of Gomel oblast, Bobruisk and Glusk – Mogilev oblast, Liuban – Minsk oblast. The region goes 65km from east to west and 43km – from north to south. The center of the region is the town of Oktyabrskiy which is 220km away from the oblast center of Gomel.

The total area of the region is 138,119 hectares, of them 58 per cent are forests, mainly mixed woods and some pinery in the low lands, 1.2 per cent – rivers, lakes, tanks and canals, 33 per cent or 45,5 thousand of farm lands, including 26,7 thousand hectares of arable lands.

The region is rich in mineral resources such as oil, coal, potash and rock salts which deposits are being geologically surveyed. The industrial development of the Visha and Ozemlya oil fields has been underway so far.

The region is home to the republican biological reserve Oktyabrskiy which occupies 4,205 hectares. The reserve is a part of the Central-Predpolesie woodland of the Berezina-Predpolesie forestry region.

The flora of the reserve is represented by 507 species of higher vascular plants of 286 genuses. Six species of plants and 12 species of animals inhabiting the reserve are under protection of the Red Book of the Republic of Belarus.

There are 10 rivers (the river Ptich is a medium river, other 9 rivers being small) and ten main canals in the region. All rivers and canals of the Dnieper and Pripyat basins flow into the Black Sea.

The Rivers Peschanka and Rudyanka flow into the Dnieper. The aggregate length of the rivers is 9 kilometers.