POLOTSK

also spelled Polock, city, Vitebsk oblast (province), Belarus. It is situated on the Western Dvina River at its confluence with the Polota. Polotsk, first mentioned in 862, has always been a major trading centre and an important fortress with a remarkably stormy history. Modern Polotsk and its satellite town, Novopolotsk, are railway junctions and industrial centres, with oil-refining, petrochemical, glass-fibre, wood-working, and food-processing industries, as well as a teacher-training institute. Pop. (1991 est.) 78,700.