Ukraine is subdivided into 24 'oblasts' (Ukrainian singular: область, ''oblast';'' plural області, ''oblasti''), one 'autonomous republic' (автономна республіка, ''avtonomna respublika''), and two "'cities with special status'" (singular місто зі спеціальним статусом, ''misto zi spetsial'nym statusom'').

Contents

Overview

General scheme of administrative subdivision

Oblasts

Autonomous Republic of Crimea

Municipalities

Raions

See also

External links

Overview

The system of Ukrainian subdivisions reflects country's status as a unitary state (as stated in the country's constitution) with unified legal and administrative regime for each unit. However, experts agree that the wide autonomy of Crimea, the cultural and historical differences between provinces, combined with a lack of local democracy and order, diminish the formal unity of Ukraine significantly. The territorial, demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of some oblasts (such as of Donetsk and Chernivtsi oblasts) also weaken Ukraine's unity. This has the effect of slowing integration and causing local underdevelopment.
So well-grounded reasons exist for reforming Ukraine's territorial structure, including: the integration of a few small oblasts, the broadening of oblast and city authority, and restricting the autonomy of the Crimean peninsula.
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 raions (Ukrainian singular: ''район, raion''). Urban settlements (Ukrainian singular: ''місто, misto'') are subordinated to either the central government, oblast, or raion, depending on their population and socio-economic importance (see also: List of cities in Ukraine). The raions (districts) are a constituent part of oblasts, but also of large urban settlements (i.e. cities and megacities). The typical ''misto'' may be considered to be a city, not a town (compare to City status in the United Kingdom). However, the misto'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 villages ().

Names of Ukraine's administrative units

Ukrainian	Romanized¹	English wide-spread	English recommended (formal use)	English recommended (informal use)
автономна республіка	avtonomna respublika	(autonomous) republic, autonomy	autonomous republic	autonomy
область	oblast'	region², province	oblast	province
район	raion	district, region³, area	raion	district
містo	misto	city	misto	city
містo зі спеціальним статусом	misto zi spetsial'nym statusom	municipality	municipality	municipality, city
містo областного значення	misto оblastnoho znachennia	city of oblast subordinance	misto оblastnoho znachennia	city of oblast subordinance
містo районного значення	misto raionnoho znachennia	city of raion subordinance	misto raionnoho znachennia	city of raion subordinance
селище міського типу	selysche mis'koho typu	town, urban-type settlement	selysche mis'koho typu	town, urban-type settlement
сільський населений пункт	sel'skyi naselenyi punkt	village, rural-type settlement	selo	village, rural-type settlement
селище	selysche	village	selysche	village
село	selo	village	selo	village

Notes
# Romanized using Ukrainian National standard. Details at Romanization of Ukrainian.
# ''Province'' is more precise because region may also refer to supranational geographic entity.
# ''Region'' is ambiguous since it usually refers to larger national-level units; ''area'' is inaccurate.

Oblasts

Most of Ukraine's oblasts (provinces) are named after their capital cities, officially called "centers" (Ukrainian singular: ''обласний центр, oblasnyi tsentr''). The name of each oblast is a relative adjective, formed by adding a feminine suffix 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) and ''Zakarpattia'' (Transcarpathia), whose respective capitals are Lutsk and Uzhhorod.

★ Kiev, which is a municipality independent of the surrounding Kiev Oblast, but also the center of that oblast (administrative bodies of the oblast are situated inside the city).
An oblast center in Ukraine is usually the largest and most developed city in given province.
See also list of subnational name etymologies: "Ukraine".

List of Ukraine's oblasts

Oblast	Ukrainian	Traditional	Centre city
Cherkasy Oblast	Черкаська область ''Cherkas'ka oblast'	Черкащина ''Cherkashchyna''	Cherkasy
Chernihiv Oblast	Чернігівська область ''Chernihivs'ka oblast'	Чернігівщина ''Chernihivshchyna''	Chernihiv
Chernivtsi Oblast	Черніветська область ''Chernivets'ka oblast'	Чернівеччина ''Chernivechchyna'' or Буковина ''Bukovyna''	Chernivtsi
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast	Дніпропетровська область ''Dnipropetrovs'ka oblast'	Дніпропетровщина ''Dnipropetrovshchyna''	Dnipropetrovsk
Donetsk Oblast	Донецька область ''Donets'ka oblast'	Донеччина ''Donechchyna''	Donetsk
Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast	Івано-Франківська область ''Ivano-Frankivs'ka oblast'	Івано-Франківщина ''Ivano-Frankivshchyna''	Ivano-Frankivsk
Kharkiv Oblast	Харківська область ''Kharkivs'ka oblast'	Харківщина ''Kharkivshchyna'', or Слобожанщина ''Slobozhanshchyna''	Kharkiv
Kherson Oblast	Херсонська область ''Khersons'ka oblast'	Херсонщина ''Khersonshchyna''	Kherson
Khmelnytskyi Oblast	Хмельнитська область ''Khmel'nyts'ka oblast'	Хмельниччина ''Khmel'nychchyna''	Khmelnytskyi
Kiev Oblast	Київська область ''Kyivs'ka oblast'	Київщина ''Kyivshchyna''	Kiev
Kirovohrad Oblast	Кіровоградська область ''Kirovohrads'ka oblast'	Кіровоградщина ''Kirovohradshchyna''	Kirovohrad
Luhansk Oblast	Луганська область ''Luhans'ka oblast'	Луганщина or Лугань ''Luhanshchyna''; ''Lugan'''	Luhansk
Lviv Oblast	Львівська область ''L'vivs'ka oblast'	Львівщина ''L'vivshchyna''	Lviv
Mykolaiv Oblast	Миколаївська область ''Mykolaivs'ka oblast'	Миколаївщина ''Mykolaivshchyna''	Mykolaiv
Odessa Oblast	Одеська область ''Odes'ka oblast'	Одещина ''Odeshchyna''	Odessa
Poltava Oblast	Полтавська область ''Poltavs'ka oblast'	Полтавщина ''Poltavshchyna''	Poltava
Rivne Oblast	Рівненська область ''Rivnens'ka oblast'	Рівненщина ''Rivnenshchyna''	Rivne
Sumy Oblast	Сумська область ''Sums'ka oblast'	Сумщина ''Sumshchyna''	Sumy
Ternopil Oblast	Тернопільська область ''Ternopil's'ka oblast'	Тернопільщина ''Ternopil'shchyna''	Ternopil
Vinnytsia Oblast	Вінницька область ''Vinnyts'ka oblast'	Вінниччина ''Vinnychchyna''	Vinnytsia
Volyn Oblast or Volhynia Oblast	Волинська область ''Volyns'ka oblast'	Волинь ''Volyn'	Lutsk
Zakarpattia Oblast or Transcarpathian Oblast	Закарпатська область ''Zakarpats'ka oblast'	Закарпаттіа ''Zakarpattia''	Uzhhorod
Zaporizhia Oblast	Запорізька область ''Zaporiz'ka oblast'	Запоріжжжя ''Zaporizhzhia''	Zaporizhzhia
Zhytomyr Oblast	Житомирська область ''Zhytomyrs'ka oblast'	Житомирщина ''Zhytomyrshchyna''	Zhytomyr

Autonomous Republic of Crimea

The Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Ukrainian: ''Автономна Республіка Крим, Avtonomna Respublika Krym''), formerly Crimea Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR, is geographically the main part of Crimean peninsula in the south of Ukraine. Its capital is Simferopol.

Municipalities

Municipalities, (i.e. cities with special status, subordinated to Ukraine's central government) include Kiev (the capital of the country) and Sevastopol. They retain their status from the administrative subdivision of Ukrainian SSR. The exact legal status of each city is determined by special laws.

Settlements by Status

Status [1]		Status (in Ukrainian)	Total Number (as of 2006)
'misto / city'		місто	'457'
	municipality	місто зі спеціальним статусом	2
	misto оblastnoho znachennia	місто областного значення	176
	misto raionnoho znachennia	місто районного значення	279
'selysche miskoho typu / town'		селище міського типу	'886'
'selo / village'		сільський населений пункт	'28,552'
	selysche	селище	1,364
	selo	село	27,188

Raions

Raions 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 km²., an average population of raions is 52,000 people.

See also

★ Historical regions of Central Europe

★ Autonomous region

External links

★ Subdivisions of Ukraine - Verhovna Rada site

★ Ukraine cities and oblasts guide

★ List of raions - sub-subdivisions of oblasts

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