Bryansk is a first-level division of Russia, in Asia. Its mapped cities centre on 53.0373° N, 33.2397° E.

What is the largest city in Bryansk?

Bryansk is the largest city mapped in Bryansk, with a metropolitan population of about 427,236.

How many cities are in Bryansk?

YearMaps maps 4 cities and towns in Bryansk, with a combined metropolitan population of about 570,633. This counts mapped settlements, not every municipality.

Bryansk Map — Cities & Geography, Russia

Interactive Map of Bryansk

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About Bryansk

Bryansk Oblast, also known as Bryanshchina, is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Bryansk. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 1,169,161.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia: Bryansk Oblast (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Bryansk in Depth

History

The Venus of Eliseevichi is a piece of Paleolithic art (dated to 14,000 YBP) found in the region. The Eliseevichi site is also associated with the earliest recognized dog remains, dating to 15,000 YBP.

In the 9th to 11th centuries AD Slavic tribes lived along the banks of the Desna River and in the forests of the land between the Desna and the Oka. The city of Bryansk was established in 985.

Bryansk remained poorly attested until the 1237–1242 Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus'. It was the northernmost of the Severian cities in the possession of the Chernigov Rurikids and the Principality of Novgorod-Seversk. After the Mongols murdered Prince Mikhail of Chernigov in 1246 and his capital was destroyed, his son Roman Mikhailovich moved his seat to Bryansk.

Geography

Bryansk Oblast lies in western European Russia in the central to western parts of the East European Plain, on the divide between the Desna and Volga basins. The oblast borders with Smolensk Oblast in the north, Kaluga Oblast in the northeast, Oryol Oblast in the east, Kursk Oblast in the southeast, Chernihiv and Sumy Oblasts of Ukraine in the south, and with Gomel and Mogilev Oblasts of Belarus in the west.

Natural resources include deposits of peat, sand, clay, chalk, marl, and other building materials, as well as phosphorite. About a quarter of the total area of the oblast is covered by forests, mainly coniferous, mixed, and deciduous, as well as forest-steppe.

Bryansky Les Nature Reserve is a biosphere reserve that protects, among other things, a limited population of European bison.

Economy

A large railway junction is located in the capital of Bryansk. Most rail lines in the oblast are electrified, using AC power.

In connection with the border situation, Bryansk there are several major customs terminals.

The oblast is crossed by the M3 Moscow—Kiev highway and the M13 Bryansk-Novozybkov-Boundary Belarus—(Kobrin), and fourteen kilometers from the administrative center of the oblast is the Bryansk International Airport.

The top exports of Bryansk Oblast in 2021 were railway and trams (15.6%), iron & steel (10.8%), wood (9.74%), and paper articles (9.32%). Nearly half of exports (46.3%) were to Belarus.

Demographics

Population: 1,169,161 (2021 census); 1,278,217 (2010 census); 1,378,941 (2002 census); 1,474,785 (1989 Soviet census).

26,825 people were registered from administrative databases, and could not declare an ethnicity. It is estimated that the proportion of ethnicities in this group is the same as that of the declared group.

Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Bryansk Oblast (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Bryansk: Key Facts

Key facts about Bryansk
Population	1,132,795 (2025)
Area	34,900 km²
Capital	Bryansk
Head of government	Alexandr Bogomaz
Established	5 July 1944

Facts from Wikidata Q2810 (CC0).

History of Bryansk: Empires and States

The atlas records 14 polities whose mapped territory included part of Bryansk, from Kievan Rus' in 886 CE to 2024 CE. They are listed in the order they first appear.

Polities that held Bryansk, in chronological order
Polity	Period here
Kievan Rus'	886–1235 CE
Principality of Chernigov	1056–1240 CE
The Mongol Empire	1241–1293 CE
Golden Horde	1294–1362 CE
Principality of Smolensk	1294–1406 CE
Grand Duchy of Lithuania	1363–1449 CE
Polish-Lithuania Kingdom	1395–1449 CE
House of Jagiellon	1450–1506 CE
Grand Principality of Moscow	1507–1546 CE
Tsardom of Russia	1547–1720 CE
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth	1612–1658 CE
The Russian Empire	1721–1916 CE
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics	1922–1991 CE
Russian Federation	1992–2024 CE

Historical Maps of Bryansk

Bryansk on the world map in each year one of these states held it:

Derived by testing mapped cities against dated territorial polygons. Dates are when the polygons cover this place, not the polity's whole lifespan, and polities absent from the source dataset are not listed.

Visiting Bryansk

Bryansk Oblast is a region in Russia's Chernozemye region, bordering Belarus to the west, Smolensk Oblast to the north, Kaluga Oblast to the northeast, Oryol Oblast to the east, Kursk Oblast to the southeast, and Ukraine to the south.

Travel notes adapted from Wikivoyage: Bryansk Oblast (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Largest Cities in Bryansk

4 cities mapped. Ranked by metropolitan population. A port city's harbour is written up on the page of its sea.

Largest Cities in Bryansk
#	Name	Population	Region	Role
1	Bryansk	427,236	Bryansk	Admin-1 capital
2	Klintsy	66,336	Bryansk	Populated place
3	Novozybkov	43,534	Bryansk	Populated place
4	Dyatkovo	33,527	Bryansk	Populated place

Bryansk: Quick Answers

Where is Bryansk?: Bryansk is a first-level division of Russia, in Asia. Its mapped cities centre on 53.0373° N, 33.2397° E.
What is the largest city in Bryansk?: Bryansk is the largest city mapped in Bryansk, with a metropolitan population of about 427,236.
How many cities are in Bryansk?: YearMaps maps 4 cities and towns in Bryansk, with a combined metropolitan population of about 570,633. This counts mapped settlements, not every municipality.