Odesa Oblast (Ukrainian:Одеська область,romanized: Odeska oblast), also referred to asOdeshchyna (Одещина), is anoblast (province) of southwesternUkraine, located along the northern coast of theBlack Sea. Itsadministrative centre is the city ofOdesa. Population:2,351,382 (2022 estimate).[3]
The length of coastline (sea-coast and estuaries) reaches 300 km (190 mi), while the state border stretches for 1,200 km (750 mi).[6] The region has eight seaports and five of the biggest lakes, includingYalpuh Lake, in Ukraine.[6] With over 80,000 ha (200,000 acres)[6] of vineyards, it is also thelargest wine-growing region in Ukraine.
TyrasNBU commemorative coin dedicated to Odessa region85 years of Odessa region (coin)
Evidence of the earliest inhabitants in this area comes from the settlements and burial grounds of theNeolithicGumelnița,Cucuteni-Trypillia andUsatove cultures, as well as from thetumuli andhoards of theBronze AgeProto-Indo-Europeans. In the 1st millennium B.C.Milesian Greeks founded colonies along the northern coast of the Black Sea, including the towns ofTyras andNiconium in the modern Odesa Oblast. The Greeks left behind painted vessels, ceramics, sculptures, inscriptions, arts and crafts that indicate the prosperity of their ancient civilisation.
The culture ofScythian tribes inhabiting the Black Sea littoral steppes in the first millennium B.C. has left artefacts in settlements and burial grounds, including weapons, bronze cauldrons, other utensils, and adornments. By the beginning of the 1st millennium A.D. theSarmatians displaced theScythians. In the 3rd–4th centuries A.D. a tribal alliance, represented by the items ofChernyakhov culture, developed. From the middle of the first millennium the formation of theSlavic people began. In the 9th century the eastern Slavs united into a state withKyiv as its centre. TheKhazars,Polovtsy andPechenegs were the Slavs' neighbours during different times. Archeological evidence of the period of the 9th–14th centuries survives in materials from the settlements and cities ofKievan Rus': Belgorod, Caffa-Theodosia, andBerezan Island.
TheMongols took over the Black Sea littoral in the 13th century.
From about 1290 parts of the region were territories of theRepublic of Genoa, becoming a center of Genoese commercial activity until at least the middle of the14th century.[7]
In 1593 theOttoman Empire set up in the area what became known as its Dnieper Province (Özü Eyalet), unofficially known as theKhanate of Ukraine.[8] The northern outskirts of the current oblast, forming part ofPodolia, remained within Lithuania, and then passed to theKingdom of Poland in 1569, within which they were located in Bracław County in theBracław Voivodeship in theLesser Poland Province.Savran,Kodyma andJózefgród were Polishprivate towns,[9] the two latter founded by theLubomirski family. The bulk of the territory of the Odesa Oblast passed to Russian control in 1791 in the course of the Russian southern expansion towards theBlack Sea at the end of the 18th century, whereas the northern outskirts were annexed by Russia in theSecond Partition of Poland in 1793. Russian historiography refers to the annexed area from 1791 as the Ochakov Oblast.[10]
Odesa at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries
After theFebruary Revolution of 1917 in Russia the area became part of theUkrainian People's Republic (1917–1918), but soon succumbed first to the RussianVolunteer Army (part of theWhite movement) and then to the Russian BolshevikRed Army. By 1920 theSoviet authorities had secured the territory of Odesa Oblast, which became part of theUkrainian SSR. The oblast was established on 27 February 1932 from five districts: Odesa Okruha, Pervomaisk Okruha, Kirovohrad Okruha, Mykolaiv Okruha, and Kherson Okruha. It was the scene of Soviet genocidal crimes, including theHolodomor of 1932–1933 andPolish Operation of the NKVD of 1937.[11]
DuringWorld War IIAxis forces conquered the area andRomania occupied the oblast and administered it as part of theTransnistria Governorate (1941–1944). After the war the Soviet administration reestablished the oblast with its pre-war borders.
Odesa Oblast expanded in 1954 to absorbIzmail Oblast (also known as theBudjak region ofBessarabia), formed in 1940 as a result of theSoviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina (fromRomania), when Northern and Southern parts of Bessarabia were given to the Ukrainian SSR. In June 1941, 3,767 people were deported by the Soviet authorities from the Izmail Oblast to Siberia and Kazakhstan.[12] Only 1,136 of those deported from the Izmail oblast (30.16%) were still alive in 1951.[13]
During the1991 referendum, 85.38% of votes in Odesa Oblast favored theDeclaration of Independence of Ukraine. A survey conducted in December 2014 by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found that 2.3% of the oblast's population supported their region joining Russia, 91.5% did not support the idea, and the rest were undecided or did not respond.[14] A poll reported byAlexei Navalny and conducted in September 2014 found similar results.[15]
On 4–5 July 2022 during international Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC 2022) in Lugano Switzerland pledged to support the rebuilding of Odesa region.[16]
Anearthquake occurred in the Odessa region on 11 May 2025.[17]
Ukraine's largest oblast by area, the Odesa Oblast occupies an area of around 33,314 square kilometres (12,863 sq mi). It is characterised by largely flatsteppes – part of theBlack Sea Lowland – divided bythe estuary of theDniester river, and bordered to the south by theDanube. ItsBlack Sea coast has numerous sandy beaches, estuaries and lagoons. The region's soils (especiallychernozems) have a reputation for fertility, and intensiveagriculture is the mainstay of the local rural economy. The southwest has many orchards and vineyards, while arable crops grow throughout the region.
The oblast is located in the historic regions ofYedisan (central and eastern parts),Budjak (south-western part) andPodolia (northern outskirts).
According to theUkrainian national census in 2001, ethnicUkrainians are by far the largest ethnic group, accounting for 62.8% of the population. They are the dominant ethnic group in the northern, central and southeastern part of the province, as well as in the regional capital ofOdesa. Making up 20.7% of the population,Russians are the second-largest group in the region and are mostly concentrated in urban areas, yet they only constitute a relative majority in the southern port city ofIzmail.SignificantBulgarian (6.1%) andMoldovan (5.0%) minorities reside in the province, who mostly live in the southeastern part of the region.[18] It has the highest proportion ofJews of any oblast in Ukraine (although smaller than the Autonomous City ofKyiv) and there is a smallGreek community in the city of Odesa.
According to a sociological survey conducted by theIlko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation [uk] from 21 to 27 October 2022, 57.8% of respondents in Odesa Oblast named Ukrainian as their native language, 28.8% Russian, 5.4% another language, 7.9% said they found it difficult to say which language they considered their native language or refused to answer.[19]
According to a sociological survey conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation from 10 to 21 July 2023 in Odesa Oblast, the share of respondents who speak Ukrainian at home has increased to 42% (from 26% in 2021), while the share of those who speak Russian at home has dropped to 54%. To the question "How do you feel about the mandatory use of Ukrainian in the service sector (shops, cafes, barber shops, entertainment venues)?" 59% answered "Positive", 13% "Negative", 17% "I don't care", 12% "Hard to say". To the question "Do you think it is acceptable to perform songs in Russian in the public space of your village/city, for example, performances by street musicians, listening to such songs in cafes/restaurants or supermarkets, etc.?" 30% answered "No", 37% "Yes", 20% "I don't care", 12% "I find it difficult to answer".[21]
Note: A caret (^) indicates the two municipalities and nine raions which previously constitutedIzmail Oblast until that former oblast's merger with Odesa Oblast on 15 February 1954; these areas lie to the west of theDniester River, and formerly constituted the territory known as theBudjak (southern Bessarabia). In the 18 July 2020 reorganisation, these nine raions were reduced to three, which also incorporated the two former independent cities.
Note: Asterisks (*) 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.
Detailed map of Odesa Oblast
On 18 July 2020, the number of districts (raions) was reduced to seven, now also incorporating the formerly independent cities.[24][25] (see map). They are now divided into 91 municipalities (hromadas).
One of the most famous Odesits isSergei Utochkin who was a universal sportsman excelling in cycling, boxing, swimming and played football for theOdesa British Athletic Club.[6] Utochkin had challenged a steam-powered tram while running, on a bicycle he beat a galloping horse, while on roller skates he was passing a bicyclist.[6] The next stage for him was to conquest skies.[6] Utochkin managed to buy an airplane from a local banker and completed dozens of exhibition flights.[6] Eventually, he managed to assemble his ownFarman-type airplane.[6] In Kyiv, Utochkin was demonstrating his piloting skills in front of some 50,000 people, among which was a future creator of helicoptersIgor Sikorsky.[6]
^Krykun, Mykola (2012).Воєводства Правобережної України у XVI-XVIII століттях: Статті і матеріали (in Ukrainian and Polish). Ukraïns'kij katolickij unìversitet. pp. 525,531–532.ISBN978-617-607-240-9.
^Friesen, Leonard G. (2008).Rural Revolutions in Southern Ukraine: Peasants, Nobles, and Colonists, 1774–1905. Harvard series in Ukrainian studies. Vol. 59. Harvard University Press. p. 40.ISBN9781932650006. Retrieved2014-09-19.[...] the war with the Ottoman Empire [...] ended with the Treaty of Eternal Peace in December 1791, whereby the so-called Ochakiv (Ochakov) oblast was brought into the empire.
^Deportacje ludności polskiej do Kazachstanu w 1936 roku. Zarys historyczny (in Polish). Warszawa: KancelariaSenatu. 2016. p. 37.
^Nikolai Bougai, The Deportation of Peoples in the Soviet Union (New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc., 1996), p. 153.
