Zelva
title: "Zelva" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["populated-places-in-grodno-region", "urban-type-settlements-in-belarus", "holocaust-locations-in-belarus", "zelva-district"] topic_path: "general/populated-places-in-grodno-region" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zelva" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| official_name | Zelva |
| native_name | be |
| ru | |
| settlement_type | Urban-type settlement |
| image_skyline | Зэльва. Касцёл Святой Тройцы (01).jpg |
| imagesize | 250px |
| image_flag | Zelva flag.svg |
| image_seal | Zelva coat.svg |
| flag_size | 150 |
| shield_size | 75 |
| subdivision_type | Country |
| subdivision_name | Belarus |
| subdivision_type1 | Region |
| subdivision_name1 | Grodno Region |
| subdivision_type2 | District |
| subdivision_name2 | Zelva District |
| established_title | First mentioned |
| established_date | 1258 |
| population_as_of | 2025 |
| population_footnotes | |
| population_total | 6,193 |
| area_total_km2 | 15 |
| pushpin_map | Belarus |
| timezone | MSK |
| utc_offset | +3 |
| coordinates | |
| elevation_m | 138 |
| postal_code | 231930, 231939, 231940 |
| area_code | +375-1564 |
| :: |
|official_name = Zelva |native_name = be ru |settlement_type = Urban-type settlement |image_skyline = Зэльва. Касцёл Святой Тройцы (01).jpg |image_caption = |imagesize = 250px |image_flag = Zelva flag.svg |image_seal = Zelva coat.svg |flag_size = 150 |shield_size = 75 | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = Belarus | subdivision_type1 = Region | subdivision_name1 = Grodno Region | subdivision_type2 = District | subdivision_name2 = Zelva District | established_title = First mentioned | established_date = 1258 |population_as_of = 2025 |population_footnotes = |population_total = 6,193 |area_total_km2 = 15 |population_density_km2 = |pushpin_map = Belarus |map_caption = |timezone = MSK |utc_offset = +3 |coordinates = |elevation_m = 138 |postal_code = 231930, 231939, 231940 |area_code = +375-1564 |website = |footnotes =
Zelva is an urban-type settlement in Grodno Region, in western Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Zelva District. It is situated by the Zelvyanka River. As of 2025, it has a population of 6,193.
History
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Zelva,_Carkoŭnaja._Зэльва,Царкоўная(1915-18).jpg" caption="Panorama from the 1910s"] ::
Initially Zelwa was a private possession of various nobles, by the mid-16th century it became a possession of the Polish Crown, and in the 17th century it became again a private possession of nobility, including the Sapieha, Połubiński, Radziwiłł, Jarmołowicz and Konarzewski families. In 1720 weekly markets and annual fairs were established. In 1739 a Piarist monastery was founded.
In the interbellum, it was administratively located in the Wołkowysk County in the Białystok Voivodeship of Poland. According to the 1921 census, the population was 63.4% Jewish, 31.1% Polish and 5.3% Belarusian.
Following the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland in September 1939, it was first occupied by the Soviet Union until 1 July 1941, and then by Nazi Germany until 12 July 1944 and administered as a part of Bezirk Bialystok. When the Germans entered the town, they killed 40 to 50 Jewish men and kept the Jews of the town imprisoned in a ghetto in very harsh conditions. In November 1942, the Jews were deported and murdered at the Treblinka extermination camp.
Notes
References
References
- "Численность населения на 1 января 2025 г. и среднегодовая численность населения за 2024 год по Республике Беларусь в разрезе областей, районов, городов, поселков городского типа".
- (2004). "Назвы населеных пунктаў Рэспублікі Беларусь: Гродзенская вобласць". Тэхналогія.
- . (1895). "Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom XIV".
- . (1924). "Skorowidz miejscowości Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej. Tom V". *Główny Urząd Statystyczny*.
- "History - Jewish community before 1989 - Zelwa - Virtual Shtetl".
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