Oblasts of Ukraine

Oblasts of Ukraine
Sea of Azov Black Sea Dnieper • Chernihiv Chernivtsi Cherkasy Dnipropetrovsk Donetsk Ivan.-Fr. Kharkiv Kherson Kyiv Kirovohrad Khmel. Luhansk Lviv Mykolaiv Odesa Poltava Rivne Sumy Ternopil Vinnytsia Volyn Zakarpattia Zaporizhzhia Zhytomyr •Sevastopol Crimea Russia Belarus Poland Slov. Hung. Romania Moldova Serb.
Category	Subdivision of a unitary state
Location	Ukraine
Created	27 February 1932 (1932-02-27)
Number	24 (as of 1991)
Populations	904,000 (Chernivtsi) – 4,450,000 (Donetsk)
Areas	8,100 km2 (3,126 sq mi) (Chernivtsi) – 33,300 km2 (12,860 sq mi) (Odessa)
Government	Oblast State Administration, Oblast Council
Subdivisions	490 raions (districts)

An oblast (Ukrainian: область), in English referred to as a region, refers to one of Ukraine's 24 primary administrative units. Ukraine is a unitary state, thus, the regions do not have much legal scope of competence other than that which is established in the Ukrainian Constitution and by law. Articles 140-146 of Chapter XI of the constitution deal directly with local authorities and their competency.

Oblasts are further subdivided into raions (districts), ranging in number from 11 to 27 per entity.

General characteristics

In Ukraine the term Oblast denotes a primary administrative division. Under the Russian Empire and into the 1920s, Ukraine was divided between several Governorates. The term oblast itself was first introduced in 1932 by Soviet authorities when the Ukrainian SSR was divided into seven oblasts replacing the previous subdivision system based on okruhas and encompassing 406 raions (districts). The first oblasts were Vinnytsia Oblast, Kiev Oblast, Odessa Oblast, Kharkiv Oblast, and Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Soon after that in the summer of 1932 Donetsk Oblast was formed out of eastern parts of Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts; in the fall of 1932 Chernihiv Oblast was formed on the border of Kiev and Kharkiv oblasts.

Between 1935–1938 there existed several newly created and self-governed special border okrugs located along the western border of the Soviet Union in Ukraine and Belarus. Upon liquidation of the okrugs in 1937-38 Kiev, Vinnytsia, Odessa, and Kharkiv oblasts were each split into four additional oblasts (Zhytomyr Oblast, Kamianets-Podilsky Oblast (later – Khmelnytskyi), Mykolaiv Oblast, Poltava Oblast). Just before the World War II, the Donetsk Oblast was split into Stalino Oblast and Voroshylovhrad Oblast and the Kirovohrad Oblast was created out of portions of Kiev, Mykolaiv and Odessa oblasts.

During World War II Ukraine added eight additional oblasts of the West Ukraine and Bessarabia. Upon the occupation of Ukraine by the Nazi Germany the territory was split between General Government, Kingdom of Romania and Reichskommissariat Ukraine and carried out a completely different administrative division, see Reichskommissariat Ukraine. With the re-establishing of the Soviet power in the state after the war, the administrative division by oblast was resumed adding one more oblast—Zakarpattia. In 1954, the Crimean Oblast was transferred from the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic to the Ukrainian SSR; parts of the surrounding oblasts were incorporated into the Cherkasy Oblast, while Izmail Oblast was absorbed by Odessa Oblast. In 1959, Drohobych Oblast was merged with Lviv Oblast.

Most of Ukraine's oblasts are named after their respective administrative centers, which are also the largest and most developed city in a given region. Each region generally consists of about one to two million of people, ranging anywhere from as low as 904,000 in Chernivtsi Oblast to 4.4 million in the eastern oblast of Donetsk. Each oblast is generally subdivided into about 20 raions (mean average, can range anywhere from 11 in Chernivtsi to 27 in Kharkiv and Vinnytsia Oblasts).

First oblasts of Ukraine in 1932

• Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, centered in Dnipropetrovsk (subdivided into raions)
• Kharkiv Oblast, centered in Kharkiv (subdivided into raions)
• Kiev Oblast, centered in Kiev (subdivided into raions)
• Odessa Oblast, centered in Odessa (subdivided into raions)
• Vinnytsia Oblast, centered in Vinnytsia (subdivided into raions)
• raions of republican subordination (directly to Kharkiv)

Later there were added

• Donetsk Oblast, centered in Stalino (initially – Artemivsk) (created on 17 July 1932 out of raions of Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts and raions of republican subordination)
• Chernihiv Oblast, centered in Chernihiv (created on 15 October 1932 out of raions of Kharkiv and Kiev oblasts)

Further division in 1937-38

• Kamianets-Podilsk Oblast, centered in Kamianets-Podilsk (out of raions of Vinnytsia Oblast)
• Mykolaiv Oblast, centered in Mykolaiv (out of raions of Odessa and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts)
• Poltava Oblast, centered in Poltava (out of raions of Kharkiv and Kiev oblasts)
• Zhytomyr Oblast, centered in Zhytomyr (out of raions of Vinnytsia and Kiev oblasts)

In 1938 there were added

• Donetsk Oblast was split in two Stalino Oblast, centered in Stalino and Voroshylovhrad Oblast, centered in Voroshylovhrad

New creations and World War II territorial expansions in 1939-40

• Kirovohrad Oblast, centered in Kirovohrad (out of raions of Kiev, Odessa, Poltava and Mykolaiv oblasts)
• Sumy Oblast, centered in Sumy (out of raions of Chernihiv, Poltava and Kharkiv oblasts)
• Zaporizhia Oblast, centered in Zaporizhia (out of raions of Dnipropetrovsk and Mykolaiv oblasts)
• Drohobych Oblast, centered in Drohobych
• Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, centered in Ivano-Frankivsk
• Lviv Oblast, centered in Lviv
• Volyn Oblast, centered in Lutsk
• Rovno Oblast, centered in Rovno
• Tarnopol Oblast, centered in Tarnopol

In 1940 there were added

• Chernivtsi Oblast, centered in Chernivtsi
• Izmail Oblast, centered in Izmail

Post World War II

• Kherson Oblast, centered in Kherson
• Zakarpattia Oblast, centered in Uzhhorod
• Cherkasy Oblast, centered in Cherkasy
• Crimean Oblast, centered in Simferopol

Maps

• 
  Map of the Okruhas of Ukraine in 1929—1930.
• 
  After 1935; including recently created Donetsk and Chernihiv Oblasts and border okrugs.
• 
  Border okrugs are liquidated and created four additional oblasts in 1937.
• 
  Creation of additional oblasts just before World War II.
• 
  Post war divisions of Ukraine.

Constitutional provisions and authority

The Ukrainian constitution establishes Ukraine as a unitary state. The specific text of the constitution that refers to the territorial structure is as follows.

The territorial structure of Ukraine is based on the principles of unity and indivisibility of the state territory, the combination of centralisation and decentralisation in the exercise of state power, and the balanced socio-economic development of regions that takes into account their historical, economic, ecological, geographical and demographic characteristics, and ethnic and cultural traditions.

— Constitution of Ukraine, Chapter IX: Territorial Structure of Ukraine, Article 132

Election results of the 2015 regional parliamentarian elections

Each of Ukraine's oblasts have their own legislative and executive authority, most of which is subordinate to the central government authorities in Kiev. Each region is administered under laws passed by the Ukrainian government and the Constitution of Ukraine. Each region levies its own taxes and, in return, receive a portion of their budget from Kiev, which gives them a portion of the taxes they levy.

Executive power each of the oblasts (as well as in other subdivisions of Ukraine) are exercised by local elected administrations. The heads of local administrations are in turn appointed and dismissed by the President of Ukraine upon nomination by the Cabinet of Ministers. Since Ukraine is a unitary state, there is little true political power and weight that these local administrations actually hold. Carrying out their authorities, the heads of local administrations are accountable to the President and are subordinate to higher bodies of executive leadership.

Legislative power in the oblast governments is exercised by their respective oblast councils, which in turn supervise the activities of local administrations. They also have considerable budgets managed by an oblast council (Ukrainian: обласна рада) made up of people's deputies (representatives) voted into office in regional elections every 4 years, the last of which took place in 2010.

Nomenclature

The name of each oblast is a relative adjective, formed by adding a feminine suffix to the name of respective center city. E.g. Poltava is a center of Poltavs'ka oblast' (Poltava Oblast). Most of them are also sometimes referred to in a feminine noun form, following the convention of traditional regional place names, ending with the suffix "-shchyna". E.g. Poltava Oblast is also called Poltavshchyna.

Exceptions to this rule include:

• Two oblasts, Volyn and Zakarpattia, which retain the names of their respective historical regions, Volyn' (Volhynia) and Zakarpattia (Transcarpathia), whose respective capitals are Lutsk and Uzhhorod.
• The capital cities of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and Kirovohrad Oblast were renamed to Dnipro and Kropyvnytskyi in 2016 as part of a process of replacing Soviet toponyms. However as the names of the oblasts are mentioned in the Ukrainian Constitution changing them requires a complicated and lengthy process, thus as of 2017 the two oblasts still formally retain their soviet names.

List of former and renamed oblasts

Map of the administrative divisions of the Ukrainian SSR from 1946–1954 shows the Izmail Oblast and Drohobych Oblast

Former Oblasts

• Izmail Oblast (initially as Akkerman Oblast) existed in 1940–41 and 1944–54 (under Romanian occupation, later was added to Odessa Oblast)
• Drohobych Oblast existed in 1939–1941 and 1944–1959 (under German occupation, it was merged into Lviv Oblast)
• Crimean Oblast (1954–1991) was transformed into Crimean ASSR

Renamed Oblasts

• Stalino Oblast was the name of Donetsk Oblast 1938-41 and 1943-61 (created out of the united Donetsk Oblast 1932–38, German occupation 1941–43)
• Akkerman Oblast was the name of Izmail Oblast 1940
• Stanislav Oblast was the name of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast 1939–41 and 1944–62 (German occupation 1941–44)
• Kamianetsk-Podilska Oblast was the name of Khmelnytskyi Oblast 1937-41 and 1944-54 (German occupation 1941–44, later transfer of administrative center to Khmelnytskyi)
• Voroshylovhrad Oblast was the name of Luhansk Oblast 1938–42, 1943–58 and 1970–90 (German occupation 1942–43)
• Tarnopil Oblast was the name of Ternopil Oblast 1939–41 (renamed soon after World War II)

The Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and Kirovohrad Oblast are pending renaming following the renaming of their capital cities to Dnipro and Kropyvnytskyi.

List of oblasts

Region	HASC	Area (km2)	Population (2010)	Pop. density	Administrative center	Raions/Districts	Cities of regional significance
Cherkasy Oblast	CK	20,891	1,291,135	61.80	Cherkasy	20	6
Chernihiv Oblast	CH	31,851.3	1,104,241	34.67	Chernihiv	22	3
Chernivtsi Oblast	CV	8,093.6	903,782	111.67	Chernivtsi	11	2
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast	DP	31,900.5	3,344,073	104.83	Dnipro	22	13
Donetsk Oblast	DT	26,505.7	4,448,031	167.81	Donetsk	18	28
Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast	IF	13,894.0	1,380,770	99.38	Ivano-Frankivsk	14	5
Kharkiv Oblast	KK	31,401.6	2,755,177	87.74	Kharkiv	27	7
Kherson Oblast	KS	28,449	1,091,151	38.35	Kherson	18	3
Khmelnytskyi Oblast	KM	20,636.2	1,331,534	64.52	Khmelnytskyi	20	6
Kiev Oblast	KV	28,118.9	1,719,602	61.15	Kiev	25	13
Kirovohrad Oblast	KH	24,577.5	1,014,809	41.29	Kropyvnytskyi	21	4
Luhansk Oblast	LH	26,672.5	2,300,412	86.25	Luhansk	18	14
Lviv Oblast	LV	21,823.7	2,545,634	116.65	Lviv	20	9
Mykolaiv Oblast	MY	24,587.4	1,186,452	48.25	Mykolaiv	19	5
Odessa Oblast	OD	33,295.9	2,387,636	71.71	Odessa	26	7
Poltava Oblast	PL	28,735.8	1,493,668	51.98	Poltava	25	5
Rivne Oblast	RV	20,038.5	1,152,576	57.52	Rivne	16	4
Sumy Oblast	SM	23,823.9	1,166,765	48.97	Sumy	18	7
Ternopil Oblast	TP	13,817.1	1,086,694	78.65	Ternopil	17	1
Vinnytsia Oblast	VI	26,501.6	1,646,250	62.12	Vinnytsia	27	6
Volyn Oblast	VO	20,135.3	1,038,223	51.56	Lutsk	16	4
Zakarpattia Oblast	ZK	12,771.5	1,246,323	97.59	Uzhhorod	13	5
Zaporizhia Oblast	ZP	27,168.5	1,805,431	66.45	Zaporizhia	20	5
Zhytomyr Oblast	ZT	29,819.2	1,283,201	43.03	Zhytomyr	23	5

See also

• Administrative divisions of Ukraine
• Ukrainian historical regions
• List of etymologies of country subdivision names: "Ukraine"

References

Notes

Footnotes

External links

• "Regions of Ukraine and their composition". Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 25 December 2011.
• "Territorial Division of Ukraine". pidruchniki.ws (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 25 December 2011.
• Handbook on history of the Communist Party and the Soviet Union