Khmelnytskyi Oblast (Ukrainian:Хмельницька область,romanized: Khmelnytska oblast), also known asKhmelnychchyna (Ukrainian:Хмельниччина), is anoblast (province) in westernUkraine covering portions of the historical regions of westernPodolia and southernVolhynia. Theadministrative center of the oblast is the city ofKhmelnytskyi. The current estimated population is around1,228,829 (2022 estimate).[4]
Created in 1937 out of border okrugs ofVinnytsia Oblast, in 1941–44 it was underNazi Germany occupation and part of theReichskommissariat Ukraine (Wolhynien und Podolien general district). Following theKamenets-Podolsky pocket in spring of 1944 as part of the Proskurov-Chernovtsy operation, Soviet troops removed the German occupation in the region. Until 4 February 1954 it was calledKamianets-Podilskyi Oblast (Ukrainian:Кам'янець-Подільська область,romanized: Kamianets-Podilska oblast) and was centered inKamianets-Podilsky until 1941. The region rebranding took place after the official renaming of the region's administrative center toKhmelnytskyi.
Khmelnytskyi Oblast has a total area of 20,600 km2 (7,953.70 sq mi) (3.4% of the total area of Ukraine) and is located between 48°27' and 50°37' north latitude and between 26°09' and 27°56' east longitude. It is 220 km (136.70 mi) long when measured from north to south, and is 120 km (74.56 mi) in length when measured from east to west. It is associated with a historical region ofPodolia, yet in reality its territory is split almost in half, the northern inVolhynia, and the southern inPodolia. Its Volhynian region contains smaller cities likeIziaslav,Starokostiantyniv,Shepetivka, while its Podolian portion more developed cities ofKhmelnytskyi andKamianets-Podilskyi.
ThePodolian Upland (270–370 meters abovesea-level) occupies the central area of the Khmelnytskyi Oblast. The northwestern areas of the oblast are part of theVolyn highland (highest point — 329 m above sea-level), while to the north, the oblast claims a part of the historic region ofPolissia (highest point — 200–250 m above sea-level). The southwestern territory of the Khmelnytskyi Oblast is crossed by the Tovtry range (Ukrainian:Товтровий кряж,romanized: Tovtrovyi kriazh), which includes MountVelyka Buhaikha (Ukrainian:Велика Бугаїха), the highest point of the oblast at 409 m above sea-level. The extreme south of the oblast has a surface with canyon-like river valleys. The Dniester Reservoir located there is the lowest point of the oblast (121 m above sea level).
There are 120 rivers with a length of 10 km (6.21 mi) or more in the Khmelnytskyi Oblast. The largest of these are theDniester River (which flows for 160 km (99.42 mi) within the oblast), as well as itstributaries:Smotrych,Ushytsia, and theZbruch — and theSouthern Buh River (which flows for 120 km (74.56 mi) within the oblast), as well as its tributaries:Buzhok,Ikva, andVovk. The rivers of the Dnieper River's basin —Horyn,Khmora, andSluch Rivers also run through the oblast. The oblast's lakes are located mostly in basin of the Horyn River. The largest reservoir in the oblast is the Dniester Reservoir.
There are 1858 ponds and/or reservoirs in the oblast. The largest of these include Shchedrivske (with a surface area of 12.58 km2 (4.86 sq mi)), Novostavske (with a surface area of 11.68 km2 (4.51 sq mi)), and Kuzmynske (with a surface area of 7.65 km2 (2.95 sq mi)).
Khmelnytskyi Oblast was created on September 22, 1937, as the Kamianets-Podilskyi Oblast (Ukrainian:Кам'янець-Подільськa область,romanized: Kamianets-Podilska oblast) out of borderokruhas (Proskuriv and Kamianets-Podilskyi) of theVinnytsia Oblast.
The local administration of the oblast is controlled by the Khmelnytskyi Regional Council. The governor of the oblast is the Khmelnytskyi Regional Council speaker, appointed by thePresident of Ukraine.
TheKamianets-Podilskyi Castle. The bastion on the right was guarding the bridgehead leading to the fortress. In the far right the "New Castle" is visible.
Khmelnytskyi Oblast's population is 1,401,140 as of January 1, 2004. As of 2002, the oblast ranks 13th by population in Ukraine. The population density is 69.5/km2.
Pensioners make up 453,800 thousand people or 31,7% of population. Thebirth rate per 1,000 residents is 8.3, and thedeath rate — per 1000 residents – 16.1.[9] The urban population, according to the2001 Ukrainian Census data, accounted for 729,600 people, or 51%, and the rural population — for 701,200 people, or 49%.[10]
According to the data, the number of men accounted for 659,900 people, or 46.1%, that of women — 770,900 people, or 53.9%.
According to the2001 Ukrainian census,Ukrainian was the native language for over 95% of Khmelnytskyi Oblast's population: it was the dominant language in all of the city, town, and village councils of the oblast.
Due to theRussification of Ukraine during the Soviet era, the share of Ukrainian speakers in the population of Khmelnytskyi Oblast gradually decreased between the 1970 and 1989 censuses, while the share of Russian speakers increased.[11] Native language of the population of Khmelnytskyi Oblast according to the results of population censuses:[12][13][14][15][16][17]
Ukrainian is the only official language on the whole territory of Khmelnytskyi Oblast.[19]
According to a poll conducted byRating from 16 November to 10 December 2018 as part of the project «Portraits of Regions», 85% of the residents of Khmelnytskyi Oblast believed that the Ukrainian language should be the only state language on the entire territory of Ukraine. 8% believed that Ukrainian should be the only state language, while Russian should be the second official language in some regions of the country. 3% believed that Russian should become the second state language of the country. 4% found it difficult to answer.[20]
On 15 June 2022, a moratorium on the public use of Russian-language cultural products was imposed in Khmelnytskyi Oblast by a decision of theKhmelnytskyi Oblast Council.[21]
In 2023, Khmelnytskyi Oblast Military Administration approved the «Programme of development and functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language in all spheres of public life in Khmelnytskyi Oblast for 2023—2025», the main purpose of which is to strengthen the position of the Ukrainian language in various spheres of public life in the oblast.[22][23]
According to the research of theContent Analysis Centre, conducted from 15 August to 15 September 2024, the topic of which was the ratio of Ukrainian and Russian languages in the Ukrainian segment ofsocial media, 88.8% of posts from Khmelnytskyi Oblast were written in Ukrainian (86.0% in 2023, 77.9% in 2022, 41.8% in 2020), while 11.2% were written in Russian (14.0% in 2023, 22.1% in 2022, 58.2% in 2020).[24][25]
After Ukraine declared independence in 1991, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, as well as Ukraine as a whole, experienced a gradualUkrainization of the education system, which had beenRussified[26] during the Soviet era. Dynamics of the ratio of thelanguages of instruction in general secondary education institutions in Khmelnytskyi Oblast:[27][28][29][30][31][32][33]
According to theState Statistics Service of Ukraine, in the 2023–2024 school year, of the 135,705 pupils in general secondary education institutions in Khmelnytskyi Oblast, 135,475 (99.83%) were studying in classes whereUkrainian was the language of instruction, while 230 (0.17%) were studying in classes wherePolish was the language of instruction.[36]
Most of Ukraine's oblasts are named after theiradministrative center cities, officially referred to as "oblast centers" (Ukrainian:обласний центр,translit.oblasnyi tsentr). The name of each oblast is arelativeadjective, formed by adding a femininesuffix to the name of respective center city:Khmelnytskyi is the center of theKhmelnyts’ka oblast’.
^Barbara A. Anderson and Brian D. Silver, "Equality, Efficiency, and Politics in Soviet Bilingual Education Policy, 1934-1980," American Political Science Review 78 (December 1984): 1019-1039.
^«Статистичний щорічник України за 1998 рік» — К., 1999."Джерело".pics.livejournal.com. Retrieved2024-12-26.
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