Kherson Oblast ( uk, Херсо́нська о́бласть, translit=Khersónsʹka óblastʹ, ), also known as Khersonshchyna ( uk, Херсо́нщина, ), is an
oblast
An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdo ...
(province) in southern
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...
, currently claimed and
partly occupied by
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
. It is located just north of
Crimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a p ...
. Its
administrative center
An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located.
In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...
is
Kherson
Kherson (, ) is a port city of Ukraine that serves as the administrative centre of Kherson Oblast. Located on the Black Sea and on the Dnieper River, Kherson is the home of a major ship-building industry and is a regional economic centre. I ...
, on the west bank of the
Dnieper
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine an ...
which bisects the oblast. The area of the region is 28,461 km
2 and the population It is considered the 'fruit basket' of the country, as much of its agricultural production is dispersed throughout the country, with production peaking during the summer months.
Most of the area of the oblast has been under
Russian military occupation since the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. A ...
. Territory in the northwest, including Kherson city, was recaptured by Ukraine in the
southern counteroffensive.
On 30 September 2022 Russia
annexed the
Donetsk
Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: cities' alternative names), is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine loc ...
(
Donetsk People's Republic
The Donetsk People's Republic ( rus, Донецкая Народная Республика, Donetskaya Narodnaya Respublika, dɐˈnʲetskəjə nɐˈrodnəjə rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə; abbreviated as DPR or DNR, rus, ДНР) is a disputed en ...
),
Luhansk (
Luhansk People's Republic
The Luhansk or Lugansk People's Republic (russian: Луга́нская Наро́дная Респу́блика, Luganskaya Narodnaya Respublika, ; abbreviated as LPR or LNR, rus, ЛНР) is a disputed entity created by Russian-backed ...
),
Zaporizhzhia
Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Запоріжжя) or Zaporozhye (russian: Запорожье) is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper River. It is the administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zaporizhzhia has a populat ...
, and Kherson Oblasts. However, the
referendums and subsequent annexations are internationally unrecognized.
History
20th century
During the
1991 referendum, 90.13% of votes in Kherson Oblast were in favor of the
Declaration of Independence of Ukraine
The Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine ( uk, Акт проголошення незалежності України, Akt proholoshennya nezalezhnosti Ukrayiny) was adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR on 24 August 1991.< ...
.
21st century
A survey conducted in December 2014 by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found that 90.9% of the oblast's population opposed their region joining Russia, 1% did support the idea, and the rest were undecided or did not respond.
Russian invasion
Since the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. A ...
began on 24 February, Kherson city and most of the oblast
had been occupied by Russian forces as the ''
Kherson military–civilian administration''.
On 27 July 2022 the Ukrainian army destroyed the
Antonovsky Bridge, as part of its wider campaign to isolate the Russian
49th Combined Arms Army on the
right bank of the
Dnipro river
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and ...
.
On 31 August it was reported that the defenders of the ill-gotten Kherson territory were the
49 Combined Arms Army and what was left of the
35 Combined Arms Army.
On 5 September it was announced that the newly-installed Russian administration had postponed its plans to hold a referendum on the planned secession from Ukraine. The plebiscite had been scheduled to occur on 11 September, in order to coincide with the Russian electoral calendar. Due to the contestation of the oblast by the Ukrainian forces, it was found to be impractical to hold at this time.
On 23–27 September 2022, the
Russian Federation
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
held
referendums in the occupied territories of Kherson and
Zaporizhzhia oblast
Zaporizhzhia Oblast ( uk, Запорі́зька о́бласть, translit=Zaporizka oblast), also referred to as Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Запорі́жжя, links=no), is an oblast (province) of southeast Ukraine. Its capital is Zaporizhzhia. The ...
s for "independence and subsequent entry into the Russian Federation", recognized by most states to be staged and against international law. On September 29, the Russian Federation recognized Kherson Oblast as an independent state. On 30 September, Russian president
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
announced the
annexation
Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...
of the Kherson Oblast and three other Ukrainian territories, and signed "accession decrees" that are widely considered to be illegal. At that time, Russia was not in control of the province as a whole. The
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
General Assembly
A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company.
Specific examples of general assembly include:
Churches
* General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of pres ...
subsequently passed a
resolution calling on countries not to recognise what it described as an "attempted illegal annexation" and demanded that Russia "immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw".
On 9 November 2022, the city of Kherson and a pocket of land on the right bank of the Dniper river were was re-captured by Ukrainian forces.
The remaining territory of the oblast on the river's left bank is still under Russian control.
Geography
Kherson Oblast is bordered by
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast ( uk, Дніпропетро́вська о́бласть, translit=Dnipropetrovska oblast), also referred to as Dnipropetrovshchyna ( uk, Дніпропетро́вщина), is an oblast (province) of central-eastern Ukr ...
to the north, the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...
and
Crimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a p ...
to the south,
Mykolaiv Oblast to the west, and the
Azov Sea
The Sea of Azov ( Crimean Tatar: ''Azaq deñizi''; russian: Азовское море, Azovskoye more; uk, Азовське море, Azovs'ke more) is a sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch ...
and
Zaporizhzhia Oblast
Zaporizhzhia Oblast ( uk, Запорі́зька о́бласть, translit=Zaporizka oblast), also referred to as Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Запорі́жжя, links=no), is an oblast (province) of southeast Ukraine. Its capital is Zaporizhzhia. The ...
to the east. The
Dnieper River
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine an ...
, which includes the
Kakhovka Reservoir, runs through the oblast.
Before the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. A ...
, two bridges spanned the Dniper: the
Khakovsky Bridge near
Nova Kakhovka
Nova Kakhovka ( uk, Нова́ Кахо́вка, ; russian: Новая Каховка) is a city in the central Kakhovka Raion region of Kherson Oblast in southern Ukraine currently under Russian occupation.
Nova Kakhovka is an important po ...
and the
Antonovsky Bridge at Kherson. Another significant bridge, the
Daryivka Bridge crosses the
Inhulets river and connects Kherson via the
M14 highway to
Beryslav, the other abutment of the Khakovsky Bridge.
The oblast's
Henichesk Raion includes the northern portion of the
Arabat Spit, a thin strip of land between the brackish
Syvash and the
Sea of Azov that is geographically part of the
Crimean Peninsula. Due to Russia gaining ''de facto'' control of the
Autonomous Republic of Crimea in 2014, this strip within Kherson Oblast was the only part of the Crimean Peninsula under Ukrainian control immediately prior to the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. A ...
.
Administrative divisions
Until the 2020 re-organisation, the Kherson Oblast was administratively subdivided into 18 ''
raions
A raion (also spelt rayon) is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet states. The term is used for both a type of subnational entity and a division of a city. The word is from the French (meaning 'honeycomb, department'), and is com ...
'' (
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...
s) and 3
municipalities
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...
. The municipalities –
Kherson
Kherson (, ) is a port city of Ukraine that serves as the administrative centre of Kherson Oblast. Located on the Black Sea and on the Dnieper River, Kherson is the home of a major ship-building industry and is a regional economic centre. I ...
(administrative center of the oblast),
Nova Kakhovka
Nova Kakhovka ( uk, Нова́ Кахо́вка, ; russian: Новая Каховка) is a city in the central Kakhovka Raion region of Kherson Oblast in southern Ukraine currently under Russian occupation.
Nova Kakhovka is an important po ...
, and
Kakhovka – were directly subordinate to the oblast government. The Kherson municipality was subdivided into 3 urban districts. All information below was current as of 2015.
.* Note: Though the administrative center of the raion is housed in the city/town that it is named after, cities do not answer to the raion authorities only towns do; instead they are directly subordinated to the oblast government and therefore are not counted as part of raion statistics.
At a lower level of administration, these district-level administrations are subdivided into:
* Settlements – 697, including:
**
Villages – 658;
** Cities/Urban-type settlements – 36, including:
*** Cities of raion subordinance – 4 (
Beryslav,
Henichesk,
Skadovsk,
Tavriisk
Tavriisk ( uk, Таврі́йськ, ; russian: Таврийск) is a town in Kakhovka Raion, Kherson Oblast, southern Ukraine, close to the city of Nova Kakhovka. It is located on the left bank of the Dnieper River. Tavriisk hosts the administ ...
, and
Oleshky);
***
Urban-type settlement
Urban-type settlementrussian: посёлок городско́го ти́па, translit=posyolok gorodskogo tipa, abbreviated: russian: п.г.т., translit=p.g.t.; ua, селище міського типу, translit=selyshche mis'koho typu, ab ...
– 30;
*
Selsovets – 260.
The local administration of the oblast is controlled by the Kherson Oblast Rada. The governor of the oblast is the Kherson Oblast Rada speaker, appointed by the
President of Ukraine
The president of Ukraine ( uk, Президент України, Prezydent Ukrainy) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, condu ...
.
Demographics
The population of the oblast is 1,083,367 (2012), which is 2.4% of the total population of Ukraine. It is also ranked 21st by its population. The population density is 38 per km
2.
About 61.5% or 745,400 people live in urban areas of the Oblast and 38.5% or 467,600 people live in agricultural centers/villages. Men make up 46.7% or 565,400 people of the population, women make up 53.3% or 644,600 people, and
pensioners make up 26.2% or 317,400 people of the Oblast population.
Ukrainian National Census (2001):
*
Ukrainians
Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Ort ...
– 82.0%
*
Russians
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
– 14.1%
*
Belarusians
, native_name_lang = be
, pop = 9.5–10 million
, image =
, caption =
, popplace = 7.99 million
, region1 =
, pop1 = 600,000–768,000
, region2 =
, pop2 ...
– 0.7%
*
Meskhetian Turks
Meskhetian Turks, also referred to as Turkish Meskhetians, Ahiska Turks, and Turkish Ahiskans, ( ka, მესხეთის თურქები ''Meskhetis turk'ebi'') are an ethnic subgroup of Turks formerly inhabiting the Meskheti reg ...
– 0.5%
*
Crimean Tatars – 0.5%
* Others – 2.2%
Age structure
: ''0-14 years:'' 15.1% (male 83,397/female 79,303)
: ''15-64 years:'' 70.5% (male 364,907/female 393,933)
: ''65 years and over:'' 14.4% (male 50,404/female 104,856) (2013 official)
Median age
: ''total:'' 39.5 years
: ''male:'' 36.2 years
: ''female:'' 42.7 years (2013 official)
Public opinion
A 2014 survey by the Kyiv Institute of international Sociology found that 90% of the population opposes the idea of joining Russia, 1% supported the idea, and the rest was undecided or did not respond.
Attractions
*
Askania-Nova
Askania-Nova ( uk, Асканія-Нова) is a Ukrainian nature reserve located in Kherson Oblast, Ukraine, within the dry Taurida steppe near Oleshky Sands and active member of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme. It is also a res ...
*
Lake Lemuria
*
Legendary tachanka monument
*
Kurhan cemetery
*
Shovkunek Art museum
*
Saint Yekaterynian Temple
See also
*
Subdivisions of Ukraine
*
Kherson Governorate
The Kherson Governorate (1802–1922; russian: Херсонская губерния, translit.: ''Khersonskaya guberniya''; uk, Херсонська губернія, translit=Khersonska huberniia), was an administrative territorial unit (als ...
References
External links
Portal of KhersonSite of Kherson nationalistsState Administration of Kherson Region– official site
Information Card of the Region– official site of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
Promo-video about Kherson and South of Ukraine- official YouTube channel of The center of tourism and adventures "ХерсON"
{{Coord, 46, 30, N, 34, 00, E, region:UA-65_type:adm1st, display=title
Oblasts of Ukraine
1944 establishments in Ukraine
Ukrainian territories claimed by Russia