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Cherkasy Oblast (, translit. Cherkas’ka oblast’; also referred to as Cherkashchyna - ) is an oblast (province) of central Ukraine located along the Dnieper River. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Cherkasy).

Geography

With 20,900 km², the Cherkasy oblast is the 18th largest oblast of Ukraine, comprising about 3.5% of the area of the country. The south flowing Dnieper River with the hilly western bank and the plain eastern bank divides the oblast into two unequal parts. The larger western part belongs to the Dnieper Upland. The low-lying eastern part of the oblast' used to be subject to the frequent Dnieper flooding before the flow of the river became controlled by multiple dams of Hydroelectric Power Plants constructed along the river in the 20th century.

The oblast extends for 245km from south-west to north-east, and for 150km from north to south. The northern-most point of the oblast is located is near the village of Kononivka in the Drabivsky Raion (district), the southern-most point near the village of Kolodyste in the Talnivsky Raion, the western-most point near the village of Korytnya in the Zhashkivsky Raion, and the eastern-most point near the village of Stetsivka in the Chyhyrynsky Raion. The geometric centre of the oblast is located near the village Zhuravky of the Horodyshchensky Raion. The oblast borders the Kiev Oblast to the north, the Kirovohrad Oblast to the south, the Poltava Oblast to the east, and the Vinnytsya Oblast to the south.

The oblast has 14 large cities, 19 towns (selysche mis'koho typu), and 838 villages.

History

The Cherkasy Oblast was created as part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on January 7, 1954. The oblast's territory was comprised of the major cities of Cherkasy, Smila and Uman, their correspoding raions (districts), as well as 30 former raions of the Vinnytsia, Kiev, Kirovohrad and Poltava Oblasts.

Population

The current estimated population is 1,367,685 (as of 2005).

According to the 2001 Ukrainian census, the oblast's population is almost equally divided between the urban and rural areas (53.7% and 46.3%, respectively)The demographic situation in this largely agricultural territory is somewhat complicated by population ageing[http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/results/general/age/cherkasy/.

By ethnic composition, Ukrainians represent the overwhelming majority of the oblast's population (93.6%)*. Ethnic Russians are the distant second group of population (5.4%), and are concentrated mainly in the city of Cherkasy.

The oblast is primarily Ukrainophone.

Economy

The economy of the Cherkasy Oblast is largely dominated by agriculture. While the winter wheat and sugar beets are the main products grown in the oblast, barley, corn, tobacco and hemp are also grown. Cattle breeding is also important.

The industry is mainly concentrated in Cherkasy, the oblast's capital and the largest city. A chemical industry was developed in the city in late 1960s in addition to machine building, furniture making and agricultural processing.

Tourism

Subdivisions

The Cherkasy Oblast is subdivided into 21 raions (administrative districts), and 6 of its cities are designated as separate raions within the oblast.

The districts of the Cherkasy oblast include:

Nomenclature

Most of Ukraine's oblasts are named after their capital cities, officially referred to as "oblast centers" (, translit. oblasnyi tsentr). The name of each oblast is a relative adjective, formed by adding a feminine suffix to the name of respective center city: Cherkasy is the center of the Cherkas’ka oblast’ (Cherkasy 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 Cherkasy Oblast, Cherkashchyna.

See also

References

  • (1972) Icтopia мicт i ciл Укpaїнcькoї CCP - Черкаськa область (History of Towns and Villages of the Ukrainian SSR - Cherkasy Oblast), Kyiv.

Subdivisions of Ukraine

Черкаска област | Província de Txerkasi | Oblast Tscherkassy | Tšerkassõ oblast | Oblast de Cherkasy | Oblasto Ĉerkasa | 체르카시 주 | Oblast di Cherkasy | Obwód czerkaski | Óblast de Cherkasy | Черкасская область | Tšerkasyn alue | Черкаська область

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Cherkasy Oblast".

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