Mahilyow

Mahilyow: monastery of St. Nicholas

Mahilyow, in full Mahilyowskaya Voblasts, voblasts (province), east-central Belarus, in the middle Dnieper River lowland. The Dnieper bisects it north-south. It consists of a level plain of loesslike deposits, sloping gently southward from the rolling morainic hills of the Orsha and Smolensk uplands in the north. Much of the province is in mixed forest of pine, spruce, oak, and birch; areas of reed and grass marsh and peat bog are extensive. Communities, other than Mahilyow and Babruysk, are small local centres engaged in processing timber and farm produce. The principal branches of agriculture are flax growing and livestock husbandry. Winter rye, barley, and buckwheat are the main grain crops. Vegetable and fruit growing is important locally. Area 11,200 square miles (29,000 square km). Pop. (2008 est.) 1,129,600.