Kyiv Oblast

History

Kyiv Oblast was created as part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on February 27, 1932 among the first five original oblasts in Ukraine. It was established on territory that had been known as Ruthenian land.

Earlier historical administrative units that became the territory of the oblast include the Kiev Voivodeship under the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Kiev Viceroyalty and Kiev Governorate under the Russian Empire. The northern part of the oblast belongs to the historical region of Polesia (Polissia).

In Kyiv region, there was a specific folk icon-painting style much influenced by the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra painting school. Saints were depicted on the deep purple or black background, their clothes dark, their haloes dark blue, dark green or even black, outlined by thin white dotted contours. The Kyiv region's icons collection is the part of the exhibition of the Museum of Ukrainian home icons in the Historical and cultural complex "The Radomysl Castle".

The current borders of the oblast were set following the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. Administrative oversight of the new city of Slavutych, which was constructed as part of the Chernihiv Oblast, was then transferred to the Kyiv Oblast (see Chernobyl zone below).

On 24 February 2022, the Russian Armed Forces invaded Kyiv Oblast as part of its Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine launched a counter-offensive to retake the region in March 2022. The oblast was declared free of invaders on 2 April 2022 by the Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar. According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense its troops had retaken more than 30 towns and villages around Kyiv. However, on April 9, 2022 the Russians attacked the Oblast again, even destroying a railway station in Bucha.

Geography

Kyiv Oblast has a total area of 28100 km2 (approximately 35 times the area of Kyiv city) and is located in north-central Ukraine. On the west it borders the Zhytomyr Oblast, on the southwest – Vinnytsia Oblast, on the south – Cherkasy Oblast, on the southeast – Poltava Oblast, on the east and northeast – Chernihiv Oblast, and on the north – Homyel Voblasts of Belarus.

The oblast is equally split between both banks of the Dnieper River (Dnipro) north and south of Kyiv. Other significant rivers in the oblast are the Dnieper's tributaries: Pripyat (Prypiat) (R), Desna (L), Teteriv (R), Irpin' (R), Ros' (R) and Trubizh (L).

The length of the Dnipro River within the boundaries of the oblast totals 246 km. The oblast has a total number of 177 rivers intersecting the region; 13 reservoirs (the most notable ones being Kyiv Reservoir and the Kaniv Reservoir), over 2000 ponds, and approximately 750 small lakes.

Climate

The climate of Kyiv Oblast is characteristic of the Polesia area and other neighboring forested areas. The oblast has a moderately continental climate with relatively mild winters and warm summers. The temperatures range from -6.1 °C in January to 19.2 °C degrees in July.

Vegetation

Kyiv Oblast has small mountains and slopes on the right bank of the Dnieper River. This entire area is surrounded by a continuous belt by greenery and forests. The oblast's "green area" covers 436 km2, characterized by 250 different sorts of trees and bushes.

Demographics

According to the 2001 Ukrainian census, ethnic Ukrainians accounted for 92.5% of the population of Kyiv Oblast, and ethnic Russians for 6.0%.

The current estimated population (excluding Kyiv) is around 1.72 million (as of 2013). The population density is 63.01/km2.

The urban population, according to the 2001 Ukrainian Census data, accounted for 1,053,500 people, or 57.6%, and the rural population – for 774,400 people, or 42.4%.

According to the data, the number of men accounted for 845,900 people, or 46.3%, that of women – 982,000 people, or 53.7%.

Language

Due to the Russification of Ukraine during the Soviet era, the share of Ukrainian speakers in the population of Kyiv Oblast gradually decreased, while the share of Russian speakers increased. Native language of the population of Kyiv Oblast according to the results of population censuses:

Native language of the population of the raions, cities and city councils of Kyiv Oblast according to the 2001 Ukrainian census:

Ukrainian is the only official language on the whole territory of Kyiv Oblast.

According to a poll conducted by Rating from 16 November to 10 December 2018 as part of the project «Portraits of Regions», 68% of the residents of Kyiv Oblast believed that the Ukrainian language should be the only state language on the entire territory of Ukraine. 9% believed that Ukrainian should be the only state language, while Russian should be the second official language in some regions of the country. 19% believed that Russian should become the second state language of the country. 4% found it difficult to answer.

On 21 March 2023, Kyiv Oblast Council approved the «Programme for the Development and Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State Language in All Spheres of Public Life in the Kyiv Oblast for 2023—2025», the main objectives of which are to strengthen the positions of the Ukrainian language in various spheres of public life in the oblast and to Ukrainianize the refugees from other regions of Ukraine.

According to the research of the Content 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 of social media, 87.2% of posts from Kyiv Oblast were written in Ukrainian (83.6% in 2023, 75.9% in 2022, 29.3% in 2020), while 12.8% were written in Russian (16.4% in 2023, 24.1% in 2022, 70.7% in 2020).

After Ukraine declared independence in 1991, Kyiv Oblast, as well as Ukraine as a whole, experienced a gradual Ukrainization of the education system, which had been Russified during the Soviet era. Dynamics of the ratio of the languages of instruction in general secondary education institutions in Kyiv Oblast:

According to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, in the 2023—2024 school year, all 237,624 pupils in general secondary education institutions in Kyiv Oblast were studying in classes where Ukrainian was the language of instruction.

Age structure

: 0–14 years: 14.9% (male 132,559/female 123,816) : 15–64 years: 69.8% (male 576,559/female 621,753) : 65 years and over: 15.3% (male 84,026/female 177,360) (2013 official)

Median age

: total: 39.7 years : male: 36.3 years : female: 43.0 years (2013 official)

Age structure of Kyiv City

: 0–14 years: 14.1% (male 203,453/female 192,111) : 15–64 years: 73.3% (male 962,391/female 1,093,183) : 65 years and over: 12.6% (male 129,293/female 223,285) (2013 official)

Median age of Kyiv City

: total: 37.6 years : male: 35.4 years : female: 39.9 years (2013 official)

Points of interest

The following historic-cultural sites were nominated for the Seven Wonders of Ukraine.

• Pereiaslav museum of folk architecture
• Liutych platzdarm
• Ivan Kozlovsky villa
• Dobranychivka settlement
• Saint Pokrov Church (Parkhomivka)
• Museum-villa of Kateryna Bilokur
• Landscape garden Oleksandria

Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of Kyiv Oblast

The oblast is divided into 7 raions, which are further divided into 69 hromadas.

• The area of Vyshhorod Raion does not account for the Chernobyl exclusion zone (2,600 km2).

Before the July 2020 reform, the oblast was subdivided into 25 raions (administrative districts). It consisted of 26 cities, 30 towns, and more than 1,000 villages.

The following data incorporates the number of each type of administrative divisions of Kyiv Oblast:

• Administrative Center – 1 (Kyiv);
• Raions – 25;
• Settlements – 1183, including:
  • Villages – 1127;
  • Cities/Towns – 56, including:
    • Urban-type settlements – 30;
    • Cities – 25, including:
      • Cities of oblast subordinance – 13;
      • Cities of raion subordinance – 14;
• Rural councils – 605.

As with other oblasts of Ukraine, the head of the Kyiv Oblast State Administration (governor) is appointed by the President of Ukraine and subordinated to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Local self-government body is the popularly elected Kyiv Oblast Rada, chaired by a Speaker (elected from among the councilors).

The "exclaves"

The municipality of Slavutych is within the borders of the neighboring Chernihiv Oblast on the eastern bank of the Dnieper river and the municipality has no common border with the Kyiv Oblast. Still, Slavutych is administered by the Kyiv Oblast authorities (being a kind of administrative exclave).

Similarly, the town of Kotsiubynske, which is within the borders of Kyiv city (which is surrounded by the Kyiv Oblast), is administered by the Kotsiubynske Settlement Council.

Chernobyl zone

Main article: Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

The north-western end of the oblast is a part of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone due to the radioactive contamination caused by the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident. The largest cities within zone are Chernobyl and Prypiat, which are now abandoned. The city of Slavutych was built outside of the zone to host evacuated residents of Prypyat and personnel of the zone installations.

Important cities and towns

Important cities and towns of Kyiv Oblast include:

;Biggest settlements (population in thousands)

• Bila Tserkva – 200.1
• Brovary – 86.8
• Boryspil – 54.0 (not counting two subordinated villages)
• Fastiv – 52.0
• Irpin – 40.6 (not counting four subordinated towns)

Governors

1. Ivan Kapshtyk — as Presidential representative in Kyiv Oblast — 24 March 1992 — June 1994
2. Vasyl Sinko — 19 July 1995 — 21 September 1996
3. Anatoliy Zasukha — 22 September 1996 — 19 January 2005
4. Yevhen Zhovtyak — 4 February 2005 — 24 May 2006
5. acting Valeriy Kondruk — 24 May — 16 June 2006
6. Vira Ulianchenko — 16 June 2006 — 20 May 2009
7. acting Viktor Vakarsh — 20 May — 17 September 2009
8. Viktor Vakarsh — 17 September 2009 — 18 March 2010
9. Anatoliy Prysyazhnyuk — 18 March 2010 — 2 March 2014
10. Volodymyr Shandra — 2 March 2014 — 3 February 2016
11. Maksym Melnychuk — 3 February — 9 September 2016
12. Oleksandr Horhan — 28 October 2016 — 30 October 2018
13. Oleksandr Tereshchuk — 30 October 2018 — 11 June 2019
14. interim acting Vyacheslav Kucher — 11 June 2019 — 9 July 2019
15. Mykhailo Bno-Airiyan — з 10 July 2019 — 28 October 2019
16. Oleksiy Chernyshov — 28 October 2019 — 4 March 2020
17. Vasyl Volodin — 11 March 2020 — 8 February 2022
18. Oleksiy Kuleba — 8 February 2022 — 15 March 2022
19. Oleksandr Pavlyuk — 15 March — 21 May 2022
20. Oleksiy Kuleba — 21 May 2022 — 24 January 2023
21. interim acting Dmytro Nazarenko — 25 January 2023 — 10 April 2023

Economy

Industry

Kyiv Oblast's main industry's include: power production, food, chemical and petrochemical industries, mechanical engineering and metal-working. The national share of tire production for automobiles constitutes – 63%, excavators – 53%, paper and cardboard – 40%, hoisting cranes – 39%. In general, the oblast has 330 licensed industrial enterprises and 742 smaller industrial enterprises. The Boryspil Bus Plant in Prolisky produces 1,700 buses per year of various modifications, and several other auto-industry factories are also located in the oblast'.

Agriculture

In addition to industry, the oblast also has a developed agriculture production. In 1999, the gross grain yield in the region was about 1,118,600 tons, sugar-beets – 1,570,900 tons, sunflower seeds – 18,1 thousand tons, potatoes – 669,200 tons. The region also produced 156,900 tons of meat, 738,500 tons of milk and 855,2 million eggs. At the beginning of 1999, there were 1,130 registered farms within the oblast.

Transportation

Kyiv Oblast has a highly developed rail transport system. The total length of the oblast's working railway lines is 88 km (as of 1985). Through the territory of the oblast pass the: Moscow—Kyiv—Lviv, Kyiv—Dnipro—Donetsk and other railway routes. In addition to inter-Ukraine and international rail routes, local Elektrychka lines also pass through the oblast: Kyiv—Fastiv—Koziatyn, Kyiv—Fastiv—Myronivka, Kyiv—Teteriv, Kyiv—Nizhyn, and Kyiv—Yahotyn.

The length of the oblast's roads totals 7,760 km, including 7,489 km of paved roads. The main roads passing thorough the oblast include:

• Saint Petersburg—Kyiv—Odesa (M-01/M-05 route)
• Kyiv-Kovel-Lublin (M-07 route)
• Voronezh—Kharkiv-Kyiv-Lviv-Kraków (E-40, M-06/M03 route)
• Luhansk-Dnipro-Kyiv (M-04 route)

The oblast's main airports include two international airports: the Boryspil Airport and the Hostomel (Antonov) Cargo Airport. Ukrainian military airbases are located in the cities of Bila Tserkva and Uzyn.

Strategic gas-pipelines in the oblast include Urengoy–Pomary–Uzhhorod pipeline, and Shebelynka—Poltava—Kyiv.

Education

Kyiv Oblast has 795 state-run schools of general education, 219 (27.5%) of which are situated in urban areas and 576 (72.5%) of which – in rural areas. These schools are attended by 232,260 students, 141,416 (60.6%) which attend urban schools, and 98,944 (39.4%) which attend rural area schools. In addition, there are 12 evening schools with an enrollment of over 6,000 students, 15 private institutions teaching about 7,000 students, 23 vocational schools teaching over 14,300 students, 22 higher schools with an enrollment of over 34,900 students), and 52 home-school institutions containing over 48,700 children. There are also 756 institutions of pre-school education attended by a total of 44,400 children, 52 home-school institutions, 22 vocational institutions, having an enrollment of 17,300 students.

Also, educational institutions for orphans, physically and mentally disabled children represent an important component of Kyiv Oblast's educational system.

In addition to general education schools, the oblast has educational institutions specifically for gifted children, including:

• Fastiv Regional Natural and Mathematic School
• Kyiv Regional Lyceum of Physical Education and Sports
• Stritiv Higher Pedagogical School of Kobza Music
• Brovary Higher School of Physical Education (training ground for several world- and Olympic champions).

Nomenclature

Most of Ukraine's oblasts are named after their capital cities, officially referred to as "oblast centers". The name of each oblast is a relative adjective, formed by adding a feminine suffix to the name of respective center city: Kyiv (in transliterated Ukrainian) is the center of the *Kyivs’ka oblast''' (Kyiv Oblast). Most oblasts are also sometimes referred to in a feminine noun form, following the convention of traditional regional place names, ending with the suffix "-shchyna", as is the case with the Kyiv Oblast, *Kyivshchyna''.

Notes

a. These neighboring settlements are practically merged into a conurbation

Gallery

File:Руїни і став Лазневий, дендропарк Олександрія, Біла Церква.jpg|Arboretum Oleksandriya, Bila Tserkva File:Honka in Mezhyhirya.jpg|Mezhyhirya Residence File:Площа Богдана Хмельницького Пер-Хм.jpg|Bohdan Khmelnytsky Square, Pereiaslav File:Ірпінь IMG 0024.jpg|Central square, Irpin File:Aerial of KBP.jpeg|Boryspil International Airport File:Церква Різдва Богородиці (дер.), село Тулинці 2.jpg|Church of the Nativity of Theotokos, Tulyntsi File:Artillery pillbox 554 Kiev fortified region front-view-01.jpg|Pillbox 554, a part of the Kiev Fortified Region File:Змієві вали біля села Іванковичі.jpg|Serpent's Wall File:Ржищівський заказник4.jpg|Rzhyshchiv Nature Reserve File:Pripyat- Hotel Polissya (38488529242).jpg|Hotel Polissia, Pripyat

References

• Information Card of the Region – Official site of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine

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