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Administrative divisions of Ukraine
 
 
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Ukraine
Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south....
 is subdivided into 24 oblast
Oblast

Oblast is a type of administrative division in Slavic peoples countries and in some countries of the former Soviet Union. The word "oblast" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "zone", "province", or "region"....
s (provinces), one autonomous republic
Autonomous republic

An autonomous republic is a type of administrative division similar to a province. A significant number of autonomous republics can be found within the successor states of the Soviet Union, but the majority are located within Russia....
, and two "cities with special status".

Overview
The system of Ukrainian subdivisions reflects country's status as a unitary state
Unitary state

A unitary state is a country whose three organs of state are governed as one single unit. The political power of government in such states may well be transferred to lower levels, to national, regional or local elected assemblies, governors and mayors , but the central government retains the principal right to recall such delegated power ....
 (as stated in the country's constitution
Constitution of Ukraine

The Constitution of Ukraine is the supreme law of Ukraine. The constitution was adopted and ratified at the 5th session of the Verkhovna Rada of the second convocation on June 28, 1996....
) with unified legal and administrative
Local government

Local governments are administrative offices that are smaller than a state. The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government....
 regime for each unit. However, experts agree that the wide autonomy of Crimea
Crimea

Crimea or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea is an autonomous republic of Ukraine located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name....
, the cultural and historical differences between regions, combined with lack of clarity in separation of powers between the levels of government diminish the formal
Formal

The term formal has a number of uses, including:...
 unity of Ukraine significantly.






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Ukraine
Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south....
 is subdivided into 24 oblast
Oblast

Oblast is a type of administrative division in Slavic peoples countries and in some countries of the former Soviet Union. The word "oblast" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "zone", "province", or "region"....
s (provinces), one autonomous republic
Autonomous republic

An autonomous republic is a type of administrative division similar to a province. A significant number of autonomous republics can be found within the successor states of the Soviet Union, but the majority are located within Russia....
, and two "cities with special status".

Overview


The system of Ukrainian subdivisions reflects country's status as a unitary state
Unitary state

A unitary state is a country whose three organs of state are governed as one single unit. The political power of government in such states may well be transferred to lower levels, to national, regional or local elected assemblies, governors and mayors , but the central government retains the principal right to recall such delegated power ....
 (as stated in the country's constitution
Constitution of Ukraine

The Constitution of Ukraine is the supreme law of Ukraine. The constitution was adopted and ratified at the 5th session of the Verkhovna Rada of the second convocation on June 28, 1996....
) with unified legal and administrative
Local government

Local governments are administrative offices that are smaller than a state. The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government....
 regime for each unit. However, experts agree that the wide autonomy of Crimea
Crimea

Crimea or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea is an autonomous republic of Ukraine located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name....
, the cultural and historical differences between regions, combined with lack of clarity in separation of powers between the levels of government diminish the formal
Formal

The term formal has a number of uses, including:...
 unity of Ukraine significantly. This has the effect of slowing integration and causing local underdevelopment. The issue of administrative reform are routinely brought up and several projects were proposed but failed to get significant traction. Some of the proposed steps include the integration of a few small oblasts, the broadening of oblast and city
City

A city is an urban area with a high population density and a particular administrative, legal, or historical status.Large industrialized cities generally have advanced systems for sanitation, utilities, land usage, house, and transportation and more....
 authority, clarifying the authority and eliminating the competition between the locally elected and centrally appointed bodies.

For an understanding of the cultural and socioeconomic differences within the country, a knowledge of the Ukrainian historical regions is as crucial as studying its administrative structure.

General scheme of administrative subdivision


Those three types of national-level units are further subdivided into raion
Raion

A raion is a type of administrative unit of some post-Soviet states. The term, which is of French origin, describes both a type of a subnational entity and a division of a city, and is almost always translated as "district"....
s (districts). Urban-type settlement
Urban-type settlement

Urban-type settlement is an official designation for a certain type of urban localities used in some of the countries of the former Soviet Union....
s are subordinated to either the oblast, or raion, depending on their population and socio-economic importance (see also: List of cities in Ukraine
List of cities in Ukraine

As of January 1, 2008 there are 458 cities in Ukraine. Administrative centers of federal subjects are listed in bold text. Below is the list of all cities by population as of 2001 Ukrainian Census....
). The raions (district
District

Districts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipality, or subdivisions of municipalities....
s) are a constituent part of oblasts, but also of large urban settlements (i.e. cities and megacities
Megacity

A megacity is usually defined as a metropolitan area with a total population in excess of 10 million people. Some definitions also set a minimum level for population density ....
). The typical misto may be considered to be a city
City

A city is an urban area with a high population density and a particular administrative, legal, or historical status.Large industrialized cities generally have advanced systems for sanitation, utilities, land usage, house, and transportation and more....
, not a town
Town

A town is a type of human settlement ranging from a few to several thousand inhabitants, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas; the precise meaning varies between countries and is not always a matter of legal definition....
 (compare to City status in the United Kingdom
City status in the United Kingdom

City status in the United Kingdom is granted by the British monarchy to a select group of communities. The holding of city status gives a settlement no special rights other than that of calling itself a "city"....
). However, the city's subordination to either oblast or raion should be taken into account, especially in the political sense. There are also a few lowest-level administrative units, which may be generally called village
Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or Residential community, larger than a hamlet , but smaller than a town or city. Though generally located in rural areas, the term urban village may be applied to certain urban area neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New York City and the Saifi Village in Beirut, Lebanon....
s .

Notes
  1. Romanized using Ukrainian National standard. Details at Romanization of Ukrainian
    Romanization of Ukrainian

    The romanization or Latinization of Ukrainian is the representation of the Ukrainian language using Latin alphabet. Ukrainian is natively written in its own Ukrainian alphabet, a variation of Cyrillic alphabet....
    .
  2. Province is more precise because region may also refer to supranational geographic entity.
  3. Region is ambiguous since it usually refers to larger national-level units; area is inaccurate.


Oblasts


Most of Ukraine's oblast
Oblast

Oblast is a type of administrative division in Slavic peoples countries and in some countries of the former Soviet Union. The word "oblast" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "zone", "province", or "region"....
s (provinces) are named after their capital cities, officially called "centers" (Ukrainian
Ukrainian language

Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic languages of the Slavic languages. It is the official language of Ukraine. In some areas of Russia there are dialects, Balachka or Surzhyk, which are the Ukrainianized versions of the Russian language....
 singular: ???????? ?????, oblasnyi tsentr). The name of each oblast is a relative
Relative

Relative can refer to:*Kinship, the principle binding the most basic social units society. If two people are connected by circumstances of birth, they are said to be relatives...
 adjective
Adjective

In grammar, an adjective is a word whose main syntax role is to grammatical modifier a noun or pronoun, giving more information about the noun or pronoun's definition....
, formed by adding a feminine suffix
Suffix

In grammar, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns or adjectives, and verb endings, which form the grammatical conjugation of verbs....
 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
    Volhynia

    File:Luchesk.JPGVolhynia, Volynia, or Volyn is a historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Pripyat River and Western Bug, to the north of Galicia and Podolia....
    ) and Zakarpattia (Transcarpathia
    Transcarpathia

    Transcarpathia may refer to:* Carpathian Ruthenia, a historic region* Zakarpattia Oblast, an administrative unit of Ukraine...
    ), whose respective capitals are Lutsk
    Lutsk

    Lutsk is a city located by the Styr River in north-western Ukraine. It is the Capital city of the Volyn Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Lutsky Raion within the oblast....
     and Uzhhorod
    Uzhhorod

    Uzhhorod is a city located in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. It is the Capital of the Zakarpattia Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Uzhhorodskyi Raion within the oblast....
    .


  • Kiev
    Kiev

    Kiev, also known as Kyiv , is the Capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River....
    , which is a municipality independent of the surrounding Kiev Oblast
    Kiev Oblast

    Kiev Oblast, also written as Kyiv Oblast is an Administrative_divisions_of_Ukraine in central Ukraine.The Capital of the oblast is the city of Kiev , also being the capital of Ukraine....
    , but also the center of that oblast (administrative bodies of the oblast are situated inside the city).


An oblast center in Ukraine
Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south....
 is usually the largest and most developed city in given province.

See also List of etymologies of country subdivision names: "Ukraine".


Autonomous Republic of Crimea


The Autonomous Republic of Crimea (), formerly Crimea Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR
Ukrainian SSR

The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or the Ukrainian SSR was one of the founders of the USSR and a republic that made up the former Soviet Union from its formation in 1922 to its abolishment in 1991....
, is geographically the main part of Crimean peninsula in the south of Ukraine
Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south....
. Its capital is Simferopol
Simferopol

Simferopol is the Capital of the Crimea in southern Ukraine. As the capital of Crimea, Simferopol is an important political, economic, and transport center of the peninsula....
.

Municipalities


Municipalities, (i.e. cities with special status, subordinated to Ukraine's central government) include Kiev
Kiev

Kiev, also known as Kyiv , is the Capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River....
 (the capital of the country) and Sevastopol
Sevastopol

Sevastopol is a port in Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . The city, formerly the home of the Soviet Union Black Sea Fleet, is now a Ukrainian naval base mutually used by the Ukrainian Navy and Russian Navy....
. They retain their status from the administrative subdivision of Ukrainian SSR
Ukrainian SSR

The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or the Ukrainian SSR was one of the founders of the USSR and a republic that made up the former Soviet Union from its formation in 1922 to its abolishment in 1991....
. The exact legal status of each city is determined by special law
LAW

LAW may refer to:* Anti-tank warfare, e.g. the US Army M72 LAW or the British Army LAW 80*Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights ...
s.

Raions


Raions
Raions of Ukraine

Raions of Ukraine are small territorial subdivisions of Ukraine. There are 490 raions in 24 oblasts and the Crimea autonomous republic of Ukraine....
 are small territorial units of subdivision of Ukraine. There are 490 raions in 24 oblasts and Crimea autonomous republic of Ukraine. An average area of Ukrainian raion is 1,200 kmē., an average population of raions is 52,000 people.

See also

  • Historical regions of Central Europe
    Historical regions of Central Europe

    There are many historical regions of Central Europe. For the purpose of this list, Central Europe is defined as the area contained roughly within the south coast of the Baltic Sea, the Elbe River, the Alps, the Danube River, the Black Sea and the Dnepr River....
  • Autonomous region


External links

  • Verhovna Rada site
  • sub-subdivisions of