Cherkasy Oblast

Template:Infobox Ukrainian oblast Cherkasy Oblast (Template:Lang-uk, translit. Cherkas’ka oblast’; also referred to as Черкащина, Cherkashchyna) is an oblast (province) of central Ukraine located along the Dnieper River. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Cherkasy.

Geography

With 20,900 km², the Cherkasy oblast is the 18th largest oblast of Ukraine, comprising about 3.5% of the area of the country. The south flowing Dnieper River with the hilly western bank and the plain eastern bank divides the oblast into two unequal parts. The larger western part belongs to the Dnieper Upland. The low-lying eastern part of the oblast used to be subject to the frequent Dnieper flooding before the flow of the river became controlled by multiple dams of Hydroelectric Power Plants constructed along the river in the 20th century.

The Ros River near Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi.

The oblast extends for 245 km from south-west to north-east, and for 150 km from north to south. The northernmost point of the oblast is located is near the village of Kononivka in the Drabivskyi Raion (district), the southernmost point near the village of Kolodyste in the Talnivskyi Raion, the westernmost point near the village of Korytnya in the Zhashkivskyi Raion, and the easternmost point near the village of Stetsivka in the Chyhyrynsky Raion. The geometric centre of the oblast is located near the village Zhuravky of the Horodyshchenskyi Raion. The oblast borders the Kiev Oblast to the north, the Kirovohrad Oblast to the south, the Poltava Oblast to the east, and the Vinnytsia Oblast to the west.

History

Main article: History of Cherkasy Oblast

The Cherkasy Oblast was created as part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on January 7, 1954. The oblast's territory was the major cities of Cherkasy, Smila and Uman, their corresponding raions (districts), as well as 30 former raions of the Vinnytsia, Kiev, Kirovohrad and Poltava Oblasts.

Archaeological discoveries, have shown that people have inhabited the valley of the Dnieper (Dnipro) River since the times immemorial. The oldest objects excavated on the territory of the region date back to the Stone Age – the Palaeolithic period.

Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of Cherkasy Oblast

Map of Cherkasy Oblast.

Cherkasy Oblast is administratively subdivided into 20 raions (districts), as well as 6 cities (municipalities) which are directly subordinate to the oblast government: Vatutine, Zolotonosha, Kaniv, Smila, and the administrative center of the oblast, Cherkasy. There are a total of 25 cities, 34 towns, and 838 villages.

The following data incorporates the number of each type of administrative divisions of Cherkasy Oblast:

• Administrative Center—1 (Cherkasy);
• Raions—20;
• City raions—2;
• Settlements—855, including:
  • Villages—824;
  • Cities/Towns—31, including:
    • Urban-type settlements—15;
    • Cities—16, including:
      • Cities of oblast subordinance—6;
      • Cities of raion subordinance—10;
• Selsovets—525.

The local administration of the oblast is controlled by the Cherkasy Oblast Rada. The governor of the oblast is the Cherkasy Oblast Rada speaker, appointed by the President of Ukraine.

Name	Ukrainian Name	Area (km2)	Population census 2015	Admin.center	Urban Population Only
Cherkasy	Черка́си (місто)	69	284,479	Cherkasy (city)	283,610
Kaniv	Канів (місто)	18	25,169	Kaniv (city)	25,169
Smila	Сміла (місто)	40	68,664	Smila (city)	68,657
Uman	Умань (місто)	41	86,050	Uman (city)	86,050
Vatutine	Ватутіне (місто)	11	17,616	Vatutine (city)	16,958
Zolotonosha	Золотоноша (місто)	22	29,277	Zolotonosha (city)	28,301
Cherkaskyi Raion	Черкаський (район)	1,617	75,758	Cherkasy (city)	N/A *
Chornobaivskyi Raion	Чорнобаївський (район)	1,554	41,217	Chornobai	7,312
Chyhyrynskyi Raion	Чигири́нський (район)	1,217	27,012	Chyhyryn	9,002
Drabivskyi Raion	Драбівський (район)	1,160	35,387	Drabiv	9,349
Horodyshchevskyi Raion	Городищенський (район)	883	40,986	Horodyshche	18,562
Kamyanskyi Raion	Кам'янканський (район)	726	27,539	Kamianka	12,059
Kanivskyi Raion	Канівський (район)	1,282	19,218	Kaniv (city)	N/A *
Katerynopilskyi Raion	Катеринопільський (район)	672	24,337	Katerynopil	9,740
Khrystynivskyi Raion	Христинівський (район)	632	35,108	Khrystynivka	14,533
Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi Raion	Новобузький (район)	896	43,296	Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi	21,994
Lysianskyi Raion	Лисянський (район)	746	23,808	Lysianka	7,998
Mankivskyi Raion	Маньківський (район)	765	27,773	Mankivka	9,642
Monastyryshenskyi Raion	Монастирищенський (район)	720	36,395	Monastyryshche	12,575
Shpolyaskyi Raion	Шполянський (район)	1,106	43,729	Shpola	17,331
Smilyanskyi Raion	Смілянський (район)	934	32,422	Smila (city)	N/A *
Talnivskyi Raion	Тальнівський (район)	910	34,371	Talne	14,048
Umanskyi Raion	Уманський (район)	1,393	43,046	Uman (city)	N/A *
Zhashkivskyi Raion	Жашківський (район)	964	37,310	Zhashkiv	14,111
Zolotonskyi Raion	Золотоніський (район)	1,492	41,605	Zolotonosha (city)	N/A *
Zvenyhorodskyi Raion	Звенигородський (район)	1,010	44,594	Zvenyhorodka	17,463

Note: Asterisks (*) Though the administrative center of the rayon is housed in the city/town that its named after, cities do not answer to the rayon authorities only towns do; instead they are directly subordinated to the oblast government and therefore are not counted as part of rayon statistics.

Demographics

A church in Subotiv near Chyhyryn, the birthplace of Ukrainian Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky.

The Sviato-Uspenskyi Cathedral in Zolotonosha.

The current estimated population is 1,335,064 (as of 2006).

According to the 2001 Ukrainian census, the oblast's population is almost equally divided between the urban and rural areas (53.7% and 46.3%, respectively). The demographic situation in this largely agricultural territory is somewhat complicated by population ageing.

By ethnic composition, Ukrainians represent the overwhelming majority of the oblast's population (93.6%). Ethnic Russians are the distant second group of population (5.4%), and are concentrated mainly in the city of Cherkasy.

The oblast is primarily Ukrainophone.

Age structure

0-14 years: 13.4% (male 87,557/female 82,340)

15-64 years: 69.1% (male 417,426/female 457,390)

65 years and over: 17.5% (male 72,835/female 147,711) (2013 official)

Median age

total: 41.7 years

male: 38.4 years

female: 45.0 years (2013 official)

Economy

The economy of the Cherkasy Oblast is largely dominated by agriculture. While the winter wheat and sugar beets are the main products grown in the oblast, barley, corn, tobacco and hemp are also grown. Cattle breeding is also important.

The industry is mainly concentrated in Cherkasy, the oblast's capital and the largest city. A chemical industry was developed in the city in late 1960s in addition to machine building, furniture making and agricultural processing.

Attractions

• Sofiivka
• Fatherland of Taras Shevchenko
• Trypillian culture
• Shevchenko National preserve
• Martynivka Treasure housed in Kiev

Nomenclature

Most of Ukraine's oblasts are named after their capital cities, officially referred to as "oblast centers" (Template:Lang-uk, translit. oblasnyi tsentr). The name of each oblast is a relative adjective, formed by adding a feminine suffix to the name of respective center city: Cherkasy is the center of the Cherkas’ka oblast’ (Cherkasy Oblast). Most oblasts are also sometimes referred to in a feminine noun form, following the convention of traditional regional place names, ending with the suffix "-shchyna", as is the case with the Cherkasy Oblast, Cherkashchyna.

See also: Romanization of Ukrainian

See also

• Administrative divisions of Ukraine
• Right and Left-bank Ukraine, historical region

References

• "Cherkasy Region". Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Retrieved 2007-06-01.
• (1972) Icтopia мicт i ciл Укpaїнcькoї CCP - Черкаськa область (History of Towns and Villages of the Ukrainian SSR - Cherkasy Oblast), Kiev. Template:Uk icon

External links

• oda.ck.ua—Official website of Cherkasy Oblast Administration Template:Uk icon/Template:Ru icon/Template:En icon
• ukrainebiz.com—Cherkasy oblast: facts and figures