Khmelnytskyi Oblast ( uk, Хмельни́цька о́бласть, translit=Khmelnytska oblast; also referred to as Khmelnychchyna — uk, Хмельни́ччина) is an oblast (province) of western Ukraine covering portions of the historical regions of western Podolia and southern Volhynia. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Khmelnytskyi. The current estimated population is around . Created in 1937 out of border okrugs of Vinnytsia Oblast, in 1941–44 it was under Nazi Germany occupation and part of the Reichskommissariat Ukraine (Wolhynien und Podolien general district). Following the Kamenets-Podolsky pocket in spring of 1944 as part of the Proskurov-Chernovtsy operation, Soviet troops removed the German occupation in the region. Until 4 February 1954 it was called Kamianets-Podilsky Oblast () and was centered in

Kamianets-Podilsky Kamianets-Podilskyi ( uk, Ка́м'яне́ць-Поді́льський, russian: Каменец-Подольский, Kamenets-Podolskiy, pl, Kamieniec Podolski, ro, Camenița, yi, קאַמענעץ־פּאָדאָלסק / קאַמעניץ, ...

until 1941. The region rebranding took place after the official renaming of the region's administrative center to Khmelnytskyi.

Geography

Khmelnytskyi Oblast has a total area of (3.4% of the total area of Ukraine) and is located between 48°27' and 50°37' north latitude and between 26°09' and 27°56' east longitude. It is long when measured from north to south, and is in length when measured from east to west. It is associated with a historical region of Podolia, yet in reality its territory is split almost in half, the northern in Volhynia, and the southern in Podolia. Its Volhynian region contains smaller cities like Izyaslav, Starokostiantyniv, Shepetivka, while its Podolian portion more developed cities of Khmelnytskyi and Kamianets-Podilskyi. The oblast borders the Rivne Oblast to the northwest, the Zhytomyr Oblast to the northeast, the Vinnytsia Oblast to the east, the Chernivtsi Oblast to the south, and the Ternopil Oblast to the west.

Elevations

The Podolian Upland (270–370 meters above sea-level) occupies the central area of the Khmelnytska oblast. The northwestern areas of the oblast are part of the Volyn highland (highest point — 329 m above sea-level), while to the north, the oblast claims a part of the historic region of Polissia (highest point — 200–250 m above sea-level). The southwestern territory of the Khmelnytska oblast is crossed by the Tovtry range ( uk, Товтровий кряж,

translit. Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or ...

''Tovtryi kryazh''), which includes Mount Velyka Buhaikha ( uk, Велика Бугаїха), the highest point of the oblast at 409 m above sea-level. The extreme south of the oblast has a surface with canyon-like river valleys. The

Dneister Reservoir The Dniester, ; rus, Дне́стр, links=1, Dnéstr, ˈdⁿʲestr; ro, Nistru; grc, Τύρᾱς, Tyrās, ; la, Tyrās, la, Danaster, label=none, ) ( ,) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and th ...

located there is the lowest point of the oblast (121 m above sea-level) .

Rivers and Lakes

There are 120 rivers with a length of or more in the Khmelnytska oblast. The largest of these are the Dniester River (which flows for within the oblast), as well as its tributaries: Smotrych, Ushytsia, and the Zbruch — and the

Southern Buh , ''Pivdennyi Buh'' , name_etymology = , image = Sunset S Bug Vinnitsa 2007 G1.jpg , image_size = 270 , image_caption = Southern Bug River in the vicinity of Vinnytsia, Ukraine , map = PietinisBug ...

River (which flows for within the oblast), as well as its tributaries:

Buzhok Buzhok ( uk, Бужок) is a village (''selo'') in Zolochiv Raion, Lviv Oblast, in western Ukraine. It belongs to Zolochiv urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. The village is about 14.5 kilometers southeast of Zolochiv Zolochiv, ( ...

Ikva The Ikva ( uk, Іква) is a river in Ukraine and a right tributary of the Styr River that flows through Lviv Oblast, Ternopil Oblast and Rivne Oblast in the Volhynian Upland.Zabokrytska, M. Ikva (І́КВА)'. Encyclopedia of Modern Ukrain ...

, and Vovk. The rivers of the Dnieper River's basin —

Horyn The Horyn or Haryn ( uk, Горинь ; be, Гарынь ; russian: Горы́нь; pl, Horyń) is a tributary of the Pripyat, which flows through Ukraine and Belarus. The Horyn is long, and has a drainage basin of .Khmora, and Sluch Rivers also run through the oblast. The oblast's lakes are located mostly in basin of the Horyn River. The largest reservoir in the oblast is the Dniester Reservoir. There are 1858 ponds and/or reservoirs in the oblast. The largest of these include Shchedrivske (with a surface area of ), Novostavske (with a surface area of ), and Kuzmynske (with a surface area of ).

History

Historic administrative affiliation of the area: * 1937-1941: USSR, Ukrainian SSR * 1944-1991: USSR, Ukrainian SSR * since 1991: Ukraine: Khmelnytskyi region Khmelnytskyi Oblast was created on September 22, 1937 as the Kamianets-Podilskyi Oblast ( uk, Кам’янець-Подільськa область,

, ''Kamyanets-Podil'ska oblast’'') out of border okrugs (Prokuriv and Kamianets-Podilskyi) of the Vinnytsia Oblast. In March 1941 the administrative center of the oblast was moved from Kamianets-Podilskyi to the city of Proskuriv. During the World War II the territory was part of another administrative division (General District Wolhynien und Podolien, see Reichskommissariat Ukraine), but after liberation from the Nazi Germany, Khmelnytskyi Oblast was reinstated in its original borders. In 1954, Proskuriv was renamed Khmelnytskyi, and soon afterward, the oblast was renamed to Khmelnytskyi Oblast ( uk, Хмельницька область,

, ''Khmel'nytska oblast’'').

Administrative divisions

The oblast is subdivided into 3 raions (''administrative districts''). It consists of 6 municipalities, 13 cities, 24 towns, and more than 1,417 villages. The following data incorporates the number of each type of administrative divisions of Kyiv Oblast: * Administrative Center – 1 ( Khmelnytskyi) * Raions — 3; * City raions — 0; * Settlements — 1452, including: ** Villages — 1415; ** Cities/Towns — 37, including: *** Urban-type settlement — 24; *** Cities — 13, including: **** Cities of oblast' subordinance — 6; **** Cities of raion subordinance — 7; * Selsovets — 568. The local administration of the oblast' is controlled by the Khmelnytska oblast Rada. The governor of the oblast' is the Khmelnytska oblast Rada speaker, appointed by the President of Ukraine. Khmelnitsky, Proskurivska St, beginning, 2005 08 10

Khmelnitsky, Proskurivska St, beginning, 2005 08 10

Demographics

Khmelnytskyi Oblast's population is 1,401,140 as of January 1, 2004. As of 2002, the oblast ranks 13th by population in Ukraine. The population density is 69.5/km². Pensioners make up 453,800 thousand people or 31,7% of population. The birth rate per 1,000 residents is 8.3, and the death rate — per 1000 residents – 16.1.Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine – Khmelnytsky Region
URL accessed on November 26, 2006 The urban population, according to the 2001 Ukrainian Census data, accounted for 729,600 people, or 51%, and the rural population — for 701,200 people, or 49%.Ukrcensus.gov.ua – Khmel'nyts'kyi region region
URL accessed on January 11, 2007 According to the data, the number of men accounted for 659,900 people, or 46.1%, that of women — 770,900 people, or 53.9%.

Age structure

: ''0-14 years:'' 15.1% (male 101,597/female 95,783) : ''15-64 years:'' 68.5% (male 435,464/female 463,058) : ''65 years and over:'' 16.4% (male 69,479/female 145,420) (2013 official)

Median age

: ''total:'' 40.4 years : ''male:'' 37.1 years : ''female:'' 43.6 years (2013 official)

Economy

The economy of the oblast mostly deals with the

energy industry The energy industry is the totality of all of the industries involved in the production and sale of energy, including fuel extraction, manufacturing, refining and distribution. Modern society consumes large amounts of fuel, and the energy indu ...

, transport and agriculture. The oblast is situated at a historical crossroad of the railway and highway routes connecting Central Europe to Black Sea coast and Russia (with the city of Shepetivka being the most important railway junction). The ''Khmelnyts’ka'' nuclear power plant in the city of

Netishyn Netishyn ( uk, Нетішин, russian: Нетешин, pl, Niecieszyn) is a city in Shepetivka Raion of Khmelnytskyi Oblast ( province), in the west of Ukraine. It is located on the Horyn River. Netishyn hosts the administration of Netishyn u ...

is the most important industrial company of the oblast. Notable

machinery A machine is a physical system using power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromolecule ...

, armament and chemical industries are also present.

Attractions

* Kamianets National historical-architectural preserve * Medzhybizh National historical-cultural preserve * Samchyky State historical-cultural preserve

Nomenclature

Most of Ukraine's oblasts are named after their administrative center cities, officially referred to as "oblast centers" ( uk, обласний центр,

''oblasnyi tsentr''). The name of each oblast is a

relative Relative may refer to: General use *Kinship and family, the principle binding the most basic social units society. If two people are connected by circumstances of birth, they are said to be ''relatives'' Philosophy *Relativism, the concept that ...

adjective, formed by adding a feminine

suffix In linguistics, 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, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...

to the name of respective center city: ''Khmelnytskyi'' is the center of the ''Khmelnyts’ka oblast’'' (Khmelnytska oblast).

References

:Inline
Information Card of the Region
– Official site of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine

External links

adm-km.gov.ua
– Official website of Khmelnytska oblast Administration
Khmelnytsky
– Site of Khmelnytskyi {{Authority control Oblasts of Ukraine States and territories established in 1937 1937 establishments in Ukraine