A raion (; ), often translated as district, is the 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 ...

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 ...

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 were created in a 1922 administrative reform of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, to which Ukraine, as the

Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

, belonged. On 17 July 2020, 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 ...

(Ukraine's parliament) approved an administrative reform to merge most of the 490 raions, along with the " cities of regional significance", which were previously outside the raions, into just 136 reformed raions. Most tasks of the raions (education, healthcare, sport facilities, culture, and social welfare) were taken over by new

hromada In Ukraine, a hromada () is the main type of municipality and the third level Administrative divisions of Ukraine, local self-government in Ukraine. The current hromadas were established by the Cabinet of ministers of Ukraine, Government of Uk ...

s, the subdivisions of raions.Where did 354 districts disappear to? Anatomy of loud reform
Glavcom (7 August 2020) The 136 new districts include ten in Crimea, which have been ''de facto'' outside Ukrainian control since the start of the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

in 2014.

Terminology

Districts of cities

Some cities of oblast significance, along with the two cities of national significance (Kyiv and

Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...

), are also divided in ''city raions'', also called ''urban raions''. City raions have their own local administration and are subordinated directly to a city. They may contain other cities, towns, and villages.

July 2020 reform

On 17 July 2020, the number of raions in Ukraine was reduced to 136 (incl. 10 in Crimea) from the previous 490.

List

Note: the Russian Republic of Crimea continues to use the same administrative divisions. Raions located in the occupied Donbas territories (see below in grey) are currently only ''de jure''.

Number of raions by region

Excluding the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

Autonomous Republic of Crimea

In 2014, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea was annexed by Russia as the Republic of Crimea. The populations in the table are from the census of 2001. ;Changes * Nyzhnohirskyi Raion merged into Bilohirsk Raion. * Yevpatoria Raion (new) created from Saky Raion, Chornomorske Raion, and

Yevpatoria Yevpatoria (; ; ; ) is a city in western Crimea, north of Kalamita Bay. Yevpatoria serves as the administrative center of Yevpatoria Municipality, one of the districts (''raions'') into which Crimea is divided. It had a population of His ...

. * Kerch Raion (new) created from Kerch and Lenine Raion. * Perekop Raion (new) created from Krasnoperekopsk, Armiansk, Krasnoperekopsk Raion, and Rozdolne Raion. * Dzhankoi Raion included the city of Dzhankoi. * Simferopol Raion included the city of

Simferopol Simferopol ( ), also known as Aqmescit, is the second-largest city on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, but controlled by Russia. It is considered the cap ...

. * Feodosia (new) created from Sovietskyi Raion, Kirovske Raion, Feodosia, and Sudak. * Yalta Raion (new) created from

Yalta Yalta (: ) is a resort town, resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Crime ...

and

Alushta Alushta (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and Russian language, Russian: ; ; ) is a city of regional significance on the southern coast of the Crimean peninsula which is within the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, a region internationally recognised as ...

Other oblasts

Former names

As a result of decommunization and

derussification Derussification (or derussianization) is a process or public policy in different states of the former Russian Empire and the Soviet Union or certain parts of them, aimed at restoring national identity of indigenous peoples: their language, culture ...

efforts, many toponyms have been renamed, including some raions. * Dnipropetrovsk Raion → Dnipro Raion * Dniprodzerzhynsk Raion → Kamianske Raion * Novomoskovsk Raion → Samar Raion * Artemivsk Raion → Bakhmut Raion * Krasnoarmiisk Raion → Pokrovsk Raion * Komsomolske Raion → Kalmiuske Raion * Krasnohrad Raion → Berestyn Raion * Severodonetsk Raion → Siverskodonetsk Raion * Sverdlovsk Raion → Dovzhansk Raion * Chervonohrad Raion → Sheptytskyi Raion * Kotovsk Raion →

Podilsk Raion Podilsk Raion (; ), known until 2015 as Kotovsk Raion (), is a raion (district) in Odesa Oblast of Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Podilsk. Population: On 18 July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, the numb ...

* Kuznetsovsk Raion → Varash Raion * Volodymyr-Volynskyi Raion → Volodymyr Raion * Novohrad-Volynskyi Raion → Zviahel Raion

Former Raions

* Dzhuryn Raion 1923-1959 * Liubar Raion 1923-2020 * Bazalia Raion 1923-1931, 1935-1959 * Berezdiv Raion 1923-1924, 1935-1959 * Dashiv Raion 1923-1931, 1935-1959 * Turbiv Raion * Vovkovyntsi Raion 1935-37

Notes

References

External links

2001 Ukrainian census, Population Structure

Regions of Ukraine and its composition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raions Of Ukraine Administrative divisions of Ukraine Ukraine 2 Raions