Reference articles on history, science, culture and more
Encyclopedia

Novopolotsk

City in Vitebsk Region, Belarus

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Novopolotsk or Navapolatsk (Russian: Новополоцк, IPA: [nəvɐˈpolətsk]; Belarusian: Наваполацк, romanized: Navapolack, IPA: [navaˈpɔlat͡sk]) is a city in Vitebsk Oblast, Belarus. Founded in 1958, it is located close to the city of Polotsk and the name literally means "New Polotsk". In 2008, its population was 107,458. As of 2025, it has a population of 95,370.

01Industry

Novopolotsk and the surrounding area generally relies on the petrochemical industry.

OJSC "Naftan"

Naftan is the leading oil refinery. It was constructed in 1959. This refinery takes crude oil from the Volga Region of Russia and generates diesel, gasoline, and kerosine, along with other technological products. In addition to Naftan, Belarus built a large chemical plant, called "Polymir". This plant produces plastic and polyethylene. There are multiple products that could be produced from polyethylene, for example artificial fur.

02Tourism

Novopolotsk is not very big in the tourism business. However, there are six hotels in the city available for tourists.

03Sport

Novopolotsk has produced several players for Belarus national bandy team. Daniil Garnitsky is President of the Belarusian Bandy Federation. Khimik-SKA Novopolotsk of the Belarusian Extraleague is the local pro hockey team.

04Culture

There are several culture centres, music schools, of which the Novopolotsk State Musical College, art schools, and libraries in the city. There is also a museum of history and culture of Novopolotsk. The city has an a cappella music group, which won an international award.

05International relations

Novopolotsk is twinned with:

Former twin towns:

In March 2022, the Polish city of Płock suspended its partnership with Novopolotsk as a response to Belarusian involvement in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

06Notable people

People from Novopolotsk:

Watch videos about NovopolotskExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Novopolotsk, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.