A city of regional significance () in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

was a type of second-level

administrative division Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

, the other type being

raion A raion (also spelt rayon) is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet states. The term is used for both a type of subnational entity and a division of a city. The word is from the French (meaning 'honeycomb, department'), and is c ...

s (districts). In the first-level division of

oblast An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Historically, it was used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The term ''oblast'' is often translated i ...

s, they were referred to as ''cities of oblast significance''; in the first-level autonomous republic of

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

, they were ''cities of republican significance''. The designation was created with the introduction of oblasts in 1932. It was abolished in a 2020 reform that merged raions together and integrated the city municipalities into them. Such city municipality was complex and usually combined the city proper and adjacent populated places. The city of regional (oblast) significance was governed by a city council known as ''mis'krada'', which was chaired by a mayor. There were instances where a municipality might have included only the city alone (city proper), while in others instances a municipality might have consisted of its own subdivisions such as districts in city, similarly to the

cities with special status A city with special status (), formerly a "city of republican subordinance", is a type of first-level administrative division of Ukraine. Kyiv and Sevastopol are the only two such cities. Their administrative status is recognized in the Ukraini ...

or even other cities which carried the designation of cities of district significance.

Definition

Each region had at least one city of regional significance as its

administrative center An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...

. A city was usually granted the status for being an economic and cultural center that has a developed industry, utilities, a considerable amount of state provided housing, and a population of over 50,000, and if for further economic and social development of a city it was appropriate to establish a direct management by regional organizations. In some cases, a city with a population of less than 50,000 could be a city of regional significance if it had industrial, social-cultural, and historical significance, or a propensity for further economical and social development and population increase. These exceptions were usually granted on a decision of the

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

(the Supreme Council of Ukraine). The city could be divided into districts at the city's authorities' discretion. Along with the raions of a region, the cities of regional significance are the second level of administrative-territorial division of Ukraine. Beside having districts, the city can be divided into various municipal councils (''rada'', often considered its extended metropolitan area and suburbs) such as smaller city councils, town councils, or rural councils. A city of regional significance can simply be composed of one settlement itself. In 2012, there were 178 cities of regional significance across the different regions of Ukraine, ranging from the Donetsk Region, which has the highest number of cities at 28. On average there are seven cities in each oblast or Crimea.

List of cities by oblast

Population statistics are from the

2001 Ukrainian Census The 2001 Ukrainian census is to date the only census of the population of independent Ukraine. It was conducted by the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine on 5 December 2001, twelve years after the last Soviet Union census in 1989.Administrative divisions of Ukraine The administrative divisions of Ukraine ( ) are under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Ukraine, Ukrainian Constitution. Ukraine is a unitary state with three levels of administrative divisions: 27 regions (24 Oblasts of Ukraine, oblasts ...

City of district significance (Ukraine) A city of district significance (, ) was a special category of city municipalities within each of the rural raions (districts) of Ukraine's first-level of administrative divisions. These cities were subordinate to the raion authorities and der ...

, similar category for smaller cities *

Consolidated city-county In local government in the United States, United States local government, a consolidated city-county (#Terminology, see below for alternative terms) is formed when one or more city, cities and their surrounding County (United States), county (Lis ...

List of cities in Ukraine There are 463 populated places in Ukraine, populated places in Ukraine that have been officially granted city status () by the Verkhovna Rada, the country's parliament, as of 23 April 2025. Settlements with more than 10,000 people are eligible for ...

, sortable list of cities by region and population * List of places named after people (Ukraine)

External links

* * {{Cities in Ukraine Ukraine, Regional Cities

Regional In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

Administrative divisions of Ukraine