Wikipedia:Naming conventions (Ukrainian places)

This page is intended to help clarify how places in Ukraine should be referred to on Wikipedia. There are the multiple levels of administrative division in Ukraine. This is general guidance; there may be exceptions. Remember to take into account Wikipedia policies and guidelines when applying this guidance, especially the policy on article titles and the guideline on naming conventions for geographic names.

General guidance

Some general principles apply when referring to places in Ukraine on Wikipedia:

• In most cases, use the Ukrainian national romanisation system to transliterate Ukrainian place names.
• Do not use transliterations derived from the Russian language, unless such a transliteration is demonstrably more common in reliable sources.
• Do not use the definite article before the word "Ukraine". This usage was formerly standard in English, but has been deprecated since Ukrainian independence from the Soviet Union.

First-level divisions

Ukraine is divided into twenty-four regions, called oblasts, one autonomous republic, and two cities with special status.

The conventions that govern the naming of articles on these subdivisions are as follows:

• Most oblasts are titled "administrative centre Oblast", e.g. Donetsk Oblast for the oblast with its centre in the city of Donetsk. Use the Ukrainian national transliteration of oblast names, unless another transliteration is more common, e.g. Luhansk Oblast, not Lugansk Oblast, and Kyiv Oblast, not Kiev Oblast, but Odessa Oblast, not Odesa Oblast. See the Wikipedia guidelines on the romanisation of Ukrainian for more information on romanisation. Two oblasts have historical names that are not related to their administrative centres. These are Volyn Oblast and Zakarpattia Oblast. For these oblasts, do not use anglicisations that are used to refer to historical regions of the same name, e.g. do not write Lodomeria Oblast or Volhynia Oblast for Volyn Oblast, and do not write Transcarpathian Oblast for Zakarpattia Oblast.
• When referring specifically to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea administrative unit, please write out the full name, e.g. Autonomous Republic of Crimea, not Crimea. The republic does not include the Crimean city of Sevastopol, which is administered separately as a city with special status. If one is referring to the peninsula as a whole, including both the republic and Sevastopol, either Crimea or Crimean Peninsula are acceptable. The word Crimea formerly took the definite article in English, but this is no longer the case; do not write the Crimea.

• In general, city names are transliterated using the Ukrainian national transliteration, except where the WP:COMMONNAME in English is different:
  • Notable examples where the common name is different from the transliteration are Odessa (not Odesa) and Chernobyl (not Chornobyl).
  • Following a move discussion closed in September 2020, the capital of Ukraine is referred to as Kyiv, based on the standard transliteration of the Ukrainian name of the city, at least in modern contexts. However, this form was not common historically in the English language, and Kiev may be used in historical contexts, as well as derivative names where a standard use has been established in English-language historiography, e.g. Kievan Rus' or Kiev Governorate.
  • The traditional English usage of the spelling Sebastopol is no longer common; write Sevastopol.
• Names of other entities or concepts which derive their names from their location (such as companies and sports teams) should use the form most commonly used for that entity (ie: Dynamo Kyiv but Chicken Kiev).

Second-level divisions

Oblasts and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea are divided into districts, called raions or "rural districts", and cities of regional significance. Cities of regional significance and cities of special status can also be divided into districts, termed "urban districts" or "raions of cities". The conventions that govern the naming of articles on these subdivisions are as follows:

• Rural districts are titled "administrative centre Raion", e.g. Shakhtarsk Raion for the raion with its centre in Shakhtarsk. Use the Ukrainian national transliteration of the name of the administrative centre. See the Wikipedia guidelines on the romanisation of Ukrainian for more information on romanisation. Do not translate raion names, e.g. do not write Miner's Raion for Shakhtarsk Raion. Do not maintain the Ukrainian adjectival suffix, e.g. write Brody Raion for the raion with its centre in Brody, not Brodivskyi Raion. The word raion (Ukrainian: район) should not be translated when referring to rural districts, e.g. Brody Raion, not Brody District.
• The names of cities of regional significance should be transliterated into Latin letters with the Ukrainian national system, e.g. write Donetsk, not Donets'k (BGN/PCGN). Do not use transliterations derived from Russian names for cities of regional significance in Ukraine, e.g. write Lviv, not Lvov. The city referred to in English as Odessa is an exception to this rule. Do not use the standard Ukrainian transliteration, which is Odesa, as this is not in common use.
• The names of urban districts vary, and are often named after an important feature in a given area. Articles about urban districts should therefore be transliterated with the Ukrainian national system, and should retain the Ukrainian adjectival suffix, e.g. write Zavodskyi District, not Zavod District. Do not translate urban district names, e.g. do not write Factory District for Zavodskyi District. The word raion (Ukrainian: район) should be translated when referring to urban districts, e.g. Zavodskyi District, not Zavodskyi Raion.

Third-level divisions

Districts are divided into rural and urban settlements. The names of these settlements should be transliterated into Latin letters with the Ukrainian national system. Do not use transliterations derived from Russian names for rural or urban settlements, e.g. write Dmytrivka, not Dmitrovka.

• When referring to the administration of an urban-type settlement, write "settlement Council", e.g. Balabyne Council, not Balabyne Settlement Council or Balabyne Town Council.
• When referring to the administration of a rural settlement, write "settlement Rural Council", e.g. Avhustynivka Rural Council, not Avhustynivka Village Council or Avhustynivka Council.

Disambiguation

See also: Wikipedia:Disambiguation

In many cases, multiple settlements or rural districts within Ukraine will have the same name.
In order to disambiguate one settlement with a name from another with the same name, follow these conventions:

• If there is more than one settlement or district with a certain name in Ukraine, disambiguate by oblast, e.g. write Chornomorske, Odessa Oblast.
• If there is more than one settlement with a certain name in an oblast, disambiguate by district, e.g. write Hrabove, Shatsk Raion.
• If there is more than one settlement with a certain name in an oblast, and there is also a settlement of that name in another oblast, disambiguate with both district and oblast, e.g. write Kalynivka, Vasylkiv Raion, Kyiv Oblast.
• If there is only one settlement of a certain name in Ukraine, but there is a place of the same name outside of Ukraine, disambiguate by country, e.g. write Dzerzhynsk, Ukraine.
• If there is more than one urban district with a certain name in Ukraine, disambiguate by city, e.g. write Zavodskyi District, Zaporizhia.

Even if a name can refer to more than one settlement, it is important to consider whether one of these settlements may be the primary topic. For example, the Wikipedia article on the Russian town of Donetsk is titled Donetsk, Russia, but the article on the much larger and more significant city of Donetsk in Ukraine is titled simply Donetsk. These are only general guidelines. For more specific information on Wikipedia's policy on disambiguation, please go to this page.

Resources

• Wikipedia article titles policy
• Manual of Style
• Wiktionary guide to Ukrainian romanisation