The Shumilino region was founded on July 17, 1924 as the Sirotino region. It was renamed into Shumilino on November 13, 1961. The region is situated in the central part of the Vitebsk oblast; it borders on the Polotsk, Gorodok, Beshenkovichi, Vitebsk and Ushachi regions.
The region’s area is 1.7 thousand square kilometers. The major part of the territory is located within the Polotsk lowland. The average height – 140-160 meters. Minerals: peat, loam, gravel and mortar sand.
The region is crossed by the railway Vitebsk-Polotsk, the roadway Vitebsk-Shumilino-Polotsk with branch roads to Lepel, Beshenkovichi, Gorodok.
The administrative and territorial structure includes 8 rural councils (Dobeya, Kovlyaki, Lovzha, Mishnevichi, Nikolaevo, Obol, Svetloselskiy, Sirotino), 252 rural and two town settlements. The regional center is 40 kilometers far away from Vitebsk and 250 kilometers away from Minsk.