An oblast ( uk, о́бласть; ) in

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 invas ...

, often called a region or province, is the main type of first-level

administrative division Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

of the country. Ukraine's territory is divided into 24 oblasts, as well as one autonomous republic,

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 ...

, and two

cities with special status City with special status ( uk, місто зі спеціальним статусом, misto zi spetsial'nym statusom), formerly "city of republican subordinance", is a type of first-level administrative division of Ukraine. Kyiv and Sevastop ...

, Kyiv and

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

is a

unitary state A unitary state is a sovereign state governed as a single entity in which the central government is the supreme authority. The central government may create (or abolish) administrative divisions (sub-national units). Such units exercise only th ...

, thus the oblasts 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 subdivided into raions (

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 county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

s), each oblast having from 3 to 10 raions following the July 2020 reform.

General characteristics

In Ukraine, the term '' oblast'' denotes a primary

. Under the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

and into the 1920s, Ukraine was divided between several governorates. The term ''oblast'' was introduced in 1932 by

Soviet authorities The Government of the Soviet Union ( rus, Прави́тельство СССР, p=prɐˈvʲitʲɪlʲstvə ɛs ɛs ɛs ˈɛr, r=Pravítelstvo SSSR, lang=no), formally the All-Union Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, commonly ab ...

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, Kyiv Oblast, Odesa 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 Kyiv and Kharkiv oblasts. Between 1935 and 1938, there were several newly created and self-governed special border okrugs (okruhas) located along the western border of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

in Ukraine and Belarus. Upon liquidation of the okrugs in 1937–1938, Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Odesa, and Kharkiv oblasts were each split into four additional oblasts ( Zhytomyr Oblast, Kamianets-Podilsky Oblast (later Khmelnytskyi), Mykolaiv Oblast, Poltava Oblast). Just before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the Donetsk Oblast was split into Stalino Oblast and

Voroshylovhrad Oblast Luhansk Oblast ( uk, Луга́нська о́бласть, translit=Luhanska oblast; russian: Луганская область, translit=Luganskaya oblast; also referred to as Luhanshchyna, uk, Луга́нщина) is the easternmost oblast ...

and the Kirovohrad Oblast was created out of portions of Kyiv, Mykolaiv and Odesa oblasts. During World War II, Ukraine added eight more oblasts of the West Ukraine and Bessarabia. Upon the occupation of Ukraine by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

the territory was split between General Government,

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...

and Reichskommissariat Ukraine and carried out a completely different administrative division, see Reichskommissariat Ukraine. With the re-establishing of Soviet power in the state after the war, the administrative division by oblast resumed, adding one more oblast— Zakarpattia. In 1954, the Crimean Oblast was transferred from the

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

to the Ukrainian SSR; parts of the surrounding oblasts were incorporated into the

Cherkasy Oblast Cherkasy Oblast ( uk, Черка́ська о́бласть, Cherkaska oblast, ), also referred to as Cherkashchyna ( uk, Черка́щина, ) is an oblast (province) of central Ukraine located along the Dnieper River. The administrative ce ...

, while Izmail Oblast was absorbed by Odesa Oblast. In 1959, Drohobych Oblast was merged with Lviv Oblast. Most of Ukraine's oblasts are named after their respective

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, L ...

s, which are also the largest and most developed cities in the region. Oblast populations range from 904,000 in

Chernivtsi Oblast Chernivtsi Oblast ( uk, Черніве́цька о́бласть, Chernivetska oblast), also referred to as Chernivechchyna ( uk, Чернівеччина) is an oblast (province) in Western Ukraine, consisting of the northern parts of the reg ...

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

Original in 1932

* Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, centered in Dnipropetrovsk (subdivided into raions) * Kharkiv Oblast, centered in Kharkiv (subdivided into raions) * Kyiv Oblast, centered in Kyiv (subdivided into raions) * Odesa Oblast, centered in Odesa (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 Kyiv oblasts)

Further division in 1937–1938

* Kamianets-Podilsk Oblast, centered in Kamianets-Podilsk (out of raions of Vinnytsia Oblast) * Mykolaiv Oblast, centered in Mykolaiv (out of raions of Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts) * Poltava Oblast, centered in Poltava (out of raions of Kharkiv and Kyiv oblasts) * Zhytomyr Oblast, centered in Zhytomyr (out of raions of Vinnytsia and Kyiv oblasts) * Donetsk Oblast was split into Stalino Oblast, centered in Stalino, and Voroshylovhrad Oblast, centered in Voroshylovhrad

New creations and World War II territorial expansions in 1939–1940

* Kirovohrad Oblast, centered in Kirovohrad (out of raions of Kyiv, Odesa, Poltava and Mykolaiv oblasts) * Sumy Oblast, centered in Sumy (out of raions of Chernihiv, Poltava and Kharkiv oblasts) * Zaporizhzhia Oblast, centered in Zaporizhzhia (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 * Rivne Oblast, centered in Rivne * Tarnopol Oblast, centered in Tarnopol * Chernivtsi Oblast, centered in Chernivtsi * Izmail Oblast, centered in Izmail

Postwar

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

Maps

File:Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic 1929—1930.svg, The okruhas of Ukraine in 1929–1930 File:Ukraine 1932-1937.png, After 1935; including recently created Donetsk and Chernihiv Oblasts and border okrugs File:Ukrainian SSR 1937—1938.svg, Border okrugs are liquidated and four additional oblasts created in 1937 File:Ukraine 1939-1940.png, Creation of additional oblasts just before

File:Ukraine 1946-1954.png, 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. Each of Ukraine's oblasts has its own legislative and executive authority, most of which is subordinate to the central government authorities in Kyiv. 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, receives a portion of its budget from Kyiv, which gives them a portion of the taxes it levies. Executive power in each of the oblasts (as well as in other subdivisions of Ukraine) is 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 authority, the heads of local administrations are accountable to the President and are subordinate to higher bodies of executive leadership. According to the Constitution the head of the heads of the local Oblast administrations should resign after a new President is elected. 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 ( uk, обласна рада) made up of people's deputies (representatives) voted into office in regional elections every four years, the last of which took place in 2020.

Nomenclature

The name of each oblast is a relative

adjective In linguistics, an adjective ( abbreviated ) is a word that generally modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Traditionally, adjectives were considered one of the ...

, 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 Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper R ...

and Kropyvnytskyi in 2016 as part of a process of replacing Soviet toponyms. 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

} , - , , CK , 20,891 , 1,198,000 , 61.80 , Cherkasy , 4 , 6 , - , , CH , 31,851.3 , 994,000 , 34.67 ,

Chernihiv Chernihiv ( uk, Черні́гів, , russian: Черни́гов, ; pl, Czernihów, ; la, Czernihovia), is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within ...

, 5 , 3 , - , , CV , 8,093.6 , 897,000 , 111.67 ,

Chernivtsi Chernivtsi ( uk, Чернівці́}, ; ro, Cernăuți, ; see also #Names, other names) is a city in the historical region of Bukovina, which is now divided along the Romania–Ukraine border, borders of Romania and Ukraine, including this ...

, 3 , 2 , - , , DP , 31,900.5 , 3,214,000 , 104.83 ,

, 7 , 13 , - , , DT , 26,505.7 , 4,157,000 , 167.81 , Donetsk ( Kramatorsk) , 8 , 28 , - , , IF , 13,894.0 , 1,382,000 , 99.38 , Ivano-Frankivsk , 6 , 5 , - , , KK , 31,401.6 , 2,683,000 , 87.74 ,

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Kherson , 5 , 3 , - , , KM , 20,636.2 , 1,274,000 , 64.52 , Khmelnytskyi , 3 , 6 , - , , KV , 28,118.9 , 1,775,000 , 61.15 , Kyiv , 7 , 13 , - , , KH , 24,577.5 , 958,000 , 41.29 , Kropyvnytskyi , 4 , 4 , - , , LH , 26,672.5 , 2,145,000 , 86.25 ,

Luhansk Luhansk (, ; uk, Луганськ, ), also known as Lugansk (, ; russian: Луганск, ), is a city in what is internationally recognised as Ukraine, although it is administered by Russia as capital of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). ...

(

Sieverodonetsk russian: Северодоне́цк , other_name = Severodonetsk , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_flag = Severodoneck prapor.png , image_shield ...

) , 8 , 14 , - , , LV , 21,823.7 , 2,515,000 , 116.65 ,

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukra ...

, 7 , 9 , - , , MY , 24,587.4 , 1,126,000 , 48.25 , Mykolaiv , 4 , 5 , - , , OD , 33,295.9 , 2,395,000 , 71.71 , Odesa , 7 , 7 , - , , PL , 28,735.8 , 1,392,000 , 51.98 , Poltava , 4 , 5 , - , , RV , 20,038.5 , 1,146,000 , 57.52 , Rivne , 4 , 4 , - , , SM , 23,823.9 , 1,094,000 , 48.97 , Sumy , 5 , 7 , - , , TP , 13,817.1 , 1,035,000 , 78.65 , Ternopil , 3 , 1 , - , , VI , 26,501.6 , 1,566,000 , 62.12 , Vinnytsia , 6 , 6 , - , , VO , 20,135.3 , 1,046,000 , 51.56 , Lutsk , 4 , 4 , - , , ZK , 12,771.5 , 1,247,000 , 97.59 , Uzhhorod , 6 , 5 , - , , ZP , 27,168.5 , 1,699,000 , 66.45 ,

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 popula ...

, 5 , 5 , - , , ZT , 29,819.2 , 1,213,000 , 43.03 , Zhytomyr , 4 , 5 Ukraine 1946-1954

Former

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

Renamed

* 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.

Government

Governors and legislatures

Notes

References

External links

* * *
Handbook on history of the Communist Party and the Soviet Union
{{authority control Subdivisions of Ukraine Ukraine 1 Regions, Ukraine