Zhodzina or Zhodino is a town in Minsk Region, in central Belarus, located north-east of Minsk. The city covers an area of . As of 2026, it has a population of 62,983.
History
The settlement is first mentioned in 1688, belonging to the Radziwiłł family.
It has had city status since 1963.
On 13 August 2020, Zhodzina was the site of the first large-scale worker strike in Belarus, at the BelAZ automobile plant, in protest of the contested results of the 2020 Belarusian presidential elections.
Geography The town, the most populous among the settlements in the surrounding Smalyavichy District (Smala in Lithuanian language is Tar and '-evichiai' is Lithuanian family ending), is situated north-east of Minsk and south-west of Barysaw. Zhodzina (Zhodynas in Lithuanian language means Vocabulary) is divided by the Plisa River, and it has a small lake in its southern suburb.
Education There are nine schools, two high schools, one professional lyceum and Zhodzina Polytechnical College in the city. Currently, there are no higher educational institutions in the city.
Economy
The BelAZ (The Belarusian Automobile Plant) is the largest employer in the city; it employs about 11,000 workers, one-sixth of the local population. Every third mining truck in the world is produced by BelAZ. The largest truck weighs 360 tonnes and can carry 450 tonnes of load. Another important factory is the clothing manufacturer SVITANAK, which produces children's and adults' clothes. Its products are exported to European countries.
Transport Zhodzina is served by the M1 highway, part of the European route E30, an international highwaypartly under construction that links Berlin and Warsaw to Moscow. It has two railway stations (Zhodzina and the stop of Zhodzina YuzhnyZhodzina South) on the international line Minsk-Moscow; and its main station is served by some international trains as the Sibirjak Berlin-Novosibirsk. Minsk International Airport is from Zhodzina.
Sport
The local football club is the Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino, playing in the Belarusian Premier League. Its home ground is the Torpedo Stadium.
Notable people
Roman Golovchenko (b. 1973), prime minister Mikalay Kashewski (b. 1980), footballer Nastassia Novikava (b. 1981), weightlifter Yury Shumanski (b. 1980), retired Belarusian professional footballer
International relations
Zhodzina is twinned with:
Dalanzadgad, Mongolia Hîncești, Moldova Horishni Plavni, Ukraine Kajaran, Armenia Mytishchi, Russia Neryungrinsky District, Russia Olmaliq, Uzbekistan Oryol, Russia Panagyurishte, Bulgaria Plastovsky District, Russia Považská Bystrica, Slovakia Rustavi, Georgia Ukmergė, Lithuania Verkhnyaya Pyshma, Russia Zheleznogorsk, Russia
See also Prison Number 8
Notes
References
External links
Zhodzina official website