The administrative divisions of Ukraine ( ) are under the jurisdiction of the

Ukrainian Constitution The Constitution of Ukraine (, ) is the fundamental law of Ukraine. The constitution was adopted and ratified at the 5th session of the ''Verkhovna Rada'', the parliament of Ukraine, on 28 June 1996. The constitution was passed with 315 ayes o ...

. Ukraine is a

unitary state A unitary state is a (Sovereign state, sovereign) State (polity), 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 or ...

with three levels of administrative divisions: 27 regions (24

oblasts An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Historically, it was used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The term ''oblast'' is often translated i ...

, two

cities with special status A city with special status (), formerly a "city of republican subordinance", is a type of first-level administrative division of Ukraine. Kyiv and Sevastopol are the only two such cities. Their administrative status is recognized in the Ukraini ...

and one

autonomous republic An autonomous republic is a type of administrative division similar to a province or state. A significant number of autonomous republics can be found within the successor states of the Soviet Union, but the majority are located within Russia. Ma ...

), 136

raion 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 c ...

s (districts) and 1469

hromada In Ukraine, a hromada () is the main type of municipality and the third level Administrative divisions of Ukraine, local self-government in Ukraine. The current hromadas were established by the Cabinet of ministers of Ukraine, Government of Uk ...

s. The administrative reform of July 2020 merged most of the 490 legacy raions and 118 pre-2020 cities of regional significance into 136 reorganized raions, or districts of Ukraine. The next level below raions are

s. Following the annexations of Crimea and southeastern Ukraine by the Russian Federation,

Autonomous Republic of Crimea The Autonomous Republic of Crimea is a ''de jure'' administrative division of Ukraine encompassing most of Crimea that was unilaterally annexed by Russia in 2014. The Autonomous Republic of Crimea occupies most of the peninsula,Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...

as well as portions of

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...

Kherson Kherson (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and , , ) is a port city in southern Ukraine that serves as the administrative centre of Kherson Oblast. Located by the Black Sea and on the Dnieper, Dnieper River, Kherson is the home to a major ship-bui ...

Luhansk Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be making Luhansk the Cities in Ukraine, 12th-largest city in Ukraine. Luhansk served as the administra ...

and

Zaporizhzhia Zaporizhzhia, formerly known as Aleksandrovsk or Oleksandrivsk until 1921, is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. It is the Capital city, administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zaporizhzhia ...

oblasts came under the '' de facto'' administration of the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Internationally, most states have not recognized the Russian claims.

Overview

According to Article 133 of the

Constitution of Ukraine The Constitution of Ukraine (, ) is the fundamental law of Ukraine. The constitution was adopted and ratified at the 5th session of the ''Verkhovna Rada'', the parliament of Ukraine, on 28 June 1996. The constitution was passed with 315 ayes o ...

as amended, the system of administrative and territorial organization of Ukraine consists of: * the

Autonomous Republic of Crimea The Autonomous Republic of Crimea is a ''de jure'' administrative division of Ukraine encompassing most of Crimea that was unilaterally annexed by Russia in 2014. The Autonomous Republic of Crimea occupies most of the peninsula,oblasts An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Historically, it was used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The term ''oblast'' is often translated i ...

s *

populated places In geography, statistics and archaeology, a settlement, locality or populated place is a community of people living in a particular location, place. The complexity of a settlement can range from a minuscule number of Dwelling, dwellings gro ...

(

cities A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

, rural settlements, villages) *

urban districts An urban district is a division generally managed by a local government. It may also refer to a city district, district, urban area or quarter Specific urban districts in some countries include: * Urban districts of Denmark * Districts of Germa ...

s (communities) In an administrative reform in 2020, all populated places in the country (except for two cities with special status, Kyiv and

Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...

) were resubordinated to raions. The new figure of 136 raions includes 10 in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and

; since September 2023, the Crimean raions are functional.

First level

There are three types of first-level administrative divisions: 24 oblasts (regions), 1 autonomous republic and 2 cities with special status.

List

Autonomous republic

The Autonomous Republic of Crimea () geographically encompasses the major portion of the Crimean peninsula in southern Ukraine. Its capital is

Simferopol Simferopol ( ), also known as Aqmescit, is the second-largest city on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, but controlled by Russia. It is considered the cap ...

. The Autonomous Republic of Crimea is the only region within Ukraine that has its own constitution. On 16 March 2014, after the occupation of Crimea by the Russian military, a referendum on joining the Russian Federation was held. A majority of votes supported the measure. On 21 March 2014, the Russian Duma voted to annex Crimea as a

subject Subject ( "lying beneath") may refer to: Philosophy *''Hypokeimenon'', or ''subiectum'', in metaphysics, the "internal", non-objective being of a thing **Subject (philosophy), a being that has subjective experiences, subjective consciousness, or ...

into the Russian Federation. The Ukrainian government does not recognize the referendum or annexation of Crimea as legitimate. On 27 March, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 68/262 by 100 to 11 votes, recognizing the referendum as invalid and denying any legal change in the status of Crimea and Sevastopol.

Oblasts

An oblast (; ) is on the first level of the administrative division of Ukraine. Most oblasts are named after their administrative center. Volyn and Zakarpattia oblasts, whose respective capitals are Lutsk and Uzhhorod, are named after the historic regions

Volhynia Volhynia or Volynia ( ; see #Names and etymology, below) is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between southeastern Poland, southwestern Belarus, and northwestern Ukraine. The borders of the region are not clearly defined, but in ...

and

Transcarpathia Transcarpathia (, ) is a historical region on the border between Central and Eastern Europe, mostly located in western Ukraine's Zakarpattia Oblast. From the Hungarian Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin, conquest of the Carpathian Basin ...

Cities with special status

Two cities have special status ():

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

and

. Their special status puts them on the same administrative level as the oblasts, and thus under the direct supervision of the state via their respective local state administrations, which constitute the executive bodies of the cities. Following the

annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation In February and March 2014, Russia invaded the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, part of Ukraine, and then annexed it. This took place in the relative power vacuum immediately following the Revolution of Dignity. It marked the beginning of the Russ ...

, Sevastopol is controlled by Russia and is incorporated as a Federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia.

Second level

Raions

Raions (; ) are smaller territorial units of subdivision in Ukraine. There are 136 raions. Following the December 2019 draft Constitution of Ukraine, constitutional changes submitted to the Verkhovna Rada by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, 136 new raions have replaced the former 490 raions of Ukraine.

Urban districts

An urban district is subordinate to the city administration.

Third level

Hromadas

The territorial hromadas (; Literal translation, lit. 'territorial community'; ), or simply hromadas (; ) were established by the Cabinet of ministers of Ukraine, Government of Ukraine on 12 June 2020 as a part of administrative reform that started in 2015. There are three types of hromadas: ''rural'' (), ''settlement'' () and ''urban'' (). There are 1469 hromadas in total (as of November 1, 2023).

History

Cossack Hetmanate

The Cossack Hetmanate was divided into military-administrative districts known as Regiment (administrative unit), regimental districts (''polks'') whose number fluctuated with the size of the Hetmanate's territory. In 1649, when the Hetmanate controlled both the right and left banks, it included 16 such districts. After the loss of Right-bank Ukraine, this number was reduced to ten. The regimental districts were further divided into companies (''Sotnia, sotnias''), which were administered by captains (''sotnyk''). The lowest division was the kurin. File:Kropyvna polk.svg, Kropyvna Regiment File:Lubny polk.svg, Lubny Regiment File:Chyhyryn polk.svg, Chyhyryn Regiment File:Chernihiv polk.svg, Chernigov Regiment, Chernihiv Regiment File:Nizhyn polk.svg, Nizhyn Regiment

Ukrainian People's Republic

Ukrainian People Republic administrative division

According to the Constitution of the Ukrainian People's Republic, the country was divided into zemlias (lands), volosts and hromadas (communities). This law was not fully implemented as on 29 April 1918 there was the anti-socialist coup in Kyiv, after which Pavlo Skoropadskyi reverted the reform back to the Governorate (Russia), governorate-type administration.

Soviet Ukraine

Before the introduction of oblasts in 1932, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Ukraine comprised 40 Okruhas of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, okruhas, which had replaced the former Russian Empire, Russian Imperial governorate subdivisions. In 1932 the territory of the Soviet Ukraine was re-established based on oblasts. At the same time, most of the Western Ukraine at the time formed part of the Second Polish Republic and shared in the Polish form of administrative division based on Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeships.

References

External links

* * * * {{Authority control Administrative divisions of Ukraine, Administrative divisions in Europe, Ukraine