| Oblasts of Ukraine | |
|---|---|
| Category | First-level subdivision of aunitary state |
| Location |  Ukraine |
| Created |
|
| Number | 24 (as of 1991) |
| Populations | 897,000 (Chernivtsi) to 4,157,000 (Donetsk) |
| Areas | 8,100 km2 (3,126 sq mi) (Chernivtsi) to 33,300 km2 (12,860 sq mi) (Odesa) |
| Government |
|
| Subdivisions | |
Anoblast (Ukrainian:область,romanized: oblast,pronounced[ˈɔblɐsʲtʲ]ⓘ;pl. області,oblasti), sometimes translated asregion orprovince, is the main type of first-leveladministrative division ofUkraine. The country's territory is divided into 24 oblasts, as well as oneautonomous republic and twocities with special status.
As Ukraine is aunitary state, oblasts do not have much legal scope of competence other than that which is established in theUkrainian Constitution and devolved by law. Articles 140–146 ofChapter XI of the constitution deal directly with local authorities and their competence.
Oblasts are divided intoraions, with each oblast having between three and eight raions following theJuly 2020 reform.[1]
| Part ofa series on the |
| Subdivisions of Ukraine |
|---|
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| First level |
| Second level |
| Third level |
In Ukraine, the termoblast denotes a primaryadministrative division. Under theRussian Empire and into the 1920s, Ukraine was divided between severalgovernorates. The termoblast was introduced in 1932 bySoviet authorities when the Ukrainian SSR was divided into seven oblasts, replacing the previous subdivision system based onokruhas and encompassing 406 raions (districts).[2] The first oblasts wereVinnytsia Oblast,Kyiv Oblast,Odesa Oblast,Kharkiv Oblast, andDnipropetrovsk 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 1932Chernihiv Oblast was formed on the border of Kyiv and Kharkiv oblasts.
Between 1935 and 1938, there were several newly created and self-governed specialborder okrugs (okruhas) located along the western border of theSoviet Union in Ukraine and Belarus. Upon liquidation of the okruhas 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 beforeWorld War II, theDonetsk Oblast was split into Stalino Oblast andVoroshylovhrad Oblast and theKirovohrad Oblast was created out of portions of Kyiv, Mykolaiv and Odesa oblasts.
During World War II, Ukraine added eight more oblasts of theWest Ukraine andBessarabia. Upon the occupation of Ukraine byNazi Germany the territory was split betweenGeneral Government,Kingdom of Romania andReichskommissariat Ukraine and carried out a completely different administrative division, seeReichskommissariat 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, theCrimean Oblast wastransferred from theRussian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic to the Ukrainian SSR; parts of the surrounding oblasts were incorporated into theCherkasy Oblast, whileIzmail Oblast was absorbed byOdesa Oblast. In 1959,Drohobych Oblast was merged withLviv Oblast.
Most of Ukraine's oblasts are named after their respectiveadministrative centers, which are also the largest and most developed cities in the region. Oblast populations range from 904,000 inChernivtsi Oblast to 4.4 million in the easternDonetsk Oblast.
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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.
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.[3]
Executive power in each of the oblasts (as well as in other subdivisions of Ukraine) is exercised by local elected administrations.[4] The heads of local administrations are in turn appointed and dismissed by thePresident of Ukraine upon nomination by theCabinet of Ministers.[4][5] 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.[4] According to the Constitution the head of the heads of the local Oblast administrations should resign after anew President is elected.[6]
Legislative power in the oblast governments is exercised by their respective oblast councils, which in turn supervise the activities of local administrations.[4] 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 four years, the last of whichtook place in 2020.
The name of each oblast is arelativeadjective, formed by adding a femininesuffix to the name of respective center city. For example,Poltava is the administrative center ofPoltava 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", such as Poltava Oblast, which is also calledPoltavshchyna (Ukrainian:Полтавщина).
Exceptions to this rule include two oblasts, Volyn and Zakarpattia, which retain the names of their respective historical regions,Volyn (Volhynia) andZakarpattia (Transcarpathia), whose respective capitals areLutsk andUzhhorod.[7]
The capital cities of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and Kirovohrad Oblast were renamed toDnipro andKropyvnytskyi in 2016 as part of aprocess 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 2024, the two oblasts still formally retain their Soviet-era names.[7]
According to the Ukrainian constitution, Ukraine is divided into 24 oblasts.[8] However, the majority of four oblasts are under Russian occupation.[9] These oblasts are written in theitalic typeface.
| Region | Area (km2) | Population (2022) | Pop. density | Administrative center | Raions | Hromadas | License plate prefix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cherkasy Oblast | 20,891 | 1,198,000 | 61.80 | Cherkasy | 4 | 66 | CA, IA |
 Chernihiv Oblast | 31,851.3 | 994,000 | 34.67 | Chernihiv | 5 | 57 | CB, IB |
 Chernivtsi Oblast | 8,093.6 | 897,000 | 111.67 | Chernivtsi | 3 | 52 | CE, IE |
 Dnipropetrovsk Oblast | 31,900.5 | 3,214,000 | 104.83 | Dnipro | 7 | 86 | AE, KE |
 Donetsk Oblast | 26,505.7 | 4,157,000 | 167.81 | Donetsk (Kramatorsk) | 8 | 66 | AH, KH |
 Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast | 13,894.0 | 1,382,000 | 99.38 | Ivano-Frankivsk | 6 | 62 | AT, KT |
 Kharkiv Oblast | 31,401.6 | 2,683,000 | 87.74 | Kharkiv | 7 | 56 | AX, KX |
 Kherson Oblast | 28,449 | 1,026,000 | 38.35 | Kherson | 5 | 49 | BT, HT |
 Khmelnytskyi Oblast | 20,636.2 | 1,274,000 | 64.52 | Khmelnytskyi | 3 | 60 | BX, HX |
 Kirovohrad Oblast | 24,577.5 | 958,000 | 41.29 | Kropyvnytskyi | 4 | 49 | BA, HA |
 Kyiv Oblast | 28,118.9 | 1,775,000 | 61.15 | Kyiv | 7 | 69 | AI, KI |
 Luhansk Oblast | 26,672.5 | 2,145,000 | 86.25 | Luhansk (Sievierodonetsk) | 8 | 37 | BB, HB |
 Lviv Oblast | 21,823.7 | 2,515,000 | 116.65 | Lviv | 7 | 73 | BC, HC |
 Mykolaiv Oblast | 24,587.4 | 1,126,000 | 48.25 | Mykolaiv | 4 | 52 | BE, HE |
 Odesa Oblast | 33,295.9 | 2,395,000 | 71.71 | Odesa | 7 | 91 | BH, HH |
 Poltava Oblast | 28,735.8 | 1,392,000 | 51.98 | Poltava | 4 | 60 | BI, HI |
 Rivne Oblast | 20,038.5 | 1,146,000 | 57.52 | Rivne | 4 | 64 | BK, HK |
 Sumy Oblast | 23,823.9 | 1,094,000 | 48.97 | Sumy | 5 | 51 | BM, HM |
 Ternopil Oblast | 13,817.1 | 1,035,000 | 78.65 | Ternopil | 3 | 55 | BO, HO |
 Vinnytsia Oblast | 26,501.6 | 1,566,000 | 62.12 | Vinnytsia | 6 | 63 | AB, KB |
 Volyn Oblast | 20,135.3 | 1,046,000 | 51.56 | Lutsk | 4 | 54 | AC, KC |
 Zakarpattia Oblast | 12,771.5 | 1,247,000 | 97.59 | Uzhhorod | 6 | 64 | AO, KO |
 Zaporizhzhia Oblast | 27,168.5 | 1,699,000 | 66.45 | Zaporizhzhia | 5 | 67 | AP, KP |
 Zhytomyr Oblast | 29,819.2 | 1,213,000 | 43.03 | Zhytomyr | 4 | 65 | AM, KM |
The Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and Kirovohrad Oblast are pending renaming following the renaming of their capital cities to Dnipro and Kropyvnytskyi.
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