Etymologically, okrug literally means 'circuit', derived from Proto-Slavic *okrǫgъ, in turn from *ob- "around" + *krǫgъ "circle".
In Bulgaria, okrags are the abolished primary unit of the administrative division and implied "districts" or "counties".
Okręgi were also created temporarily from 1945 to 1946, in the areas annexed to Poland from Germany as a result of the Soviet military advance.
The remaining okrugs were phased out in the Russian SFSR during 1930–1946, although they were retained in Zakarpattia Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR in a status equivalent to that of a raion.
In Tver Oblast, the term okrug also denotes a type of an administrative division which is equal in status to that of the districts.