Sumy Oblast

Sumy Oblast (Ukrainian: Сумська область, translit. Sums’ka oblast’; also referred to as Sumshchyna – Ukrainian: Сумщина) is an oblast (province) in the northeastern part of Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Sumy.

Other important cities within the oblast include Konotop, Okhtyrka, Romny, and Shostka.

As of 1 May 2004, the population is 1,255,866, which includes 886,100 city/town-dwellers, and 483,700 villagers.

Geography

The Sumy Oblast is situated in the northeastern part of Ukraine. The area of the oblast' (23,800 km²), comprises about 3,95% of the total area of the country.

The obalst' borders the Bryansk Oblast (Russia) on the northeast, the Kursk Oblast (Russia) on the east, the Poltava on the southwest, the Kharkiv Oblasts on the south, and the Chernihiv Oblast on the west.

Points of interest

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

• Monument to mamonth (Kulishivka)
• Kruhliy dvir
• Sofroniiv monastery

Administrative divisions

The Sumy Oblast was established on 10 December 1939. Today it comprises 18 raions (districts), 15 cities, 7 city municipalities, 20 Urban-type settlements, 384 village councils, and 1500 villages.

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

• Administrative Center – 1 (Sumy)
• Raions – 18;
• City raions – 2;
• Settlements – 1526, including:
  • Villages – 1491;
  • Cities/Towns – 35, including:
    • Urban-type settlement – 20;
    • Cities – 15, including:
      • Cities of oblast' subordinance – 7;
      • Cities of raion subordinance – 8;
• Selsovets – 384.

The local administration of the oblast' is controlled by the Sumy Oblast Rada. The governor of the oblast' is the Sumy Oblast Rada speaker, appointed by the President of Ukraine.

Environment

The Sumy Oblast contains 168 objects and territories of natural reserve. The oblast' is rich in picturesque banks of numerous rivers, and sources of mineral waters. Major environmental problems are: soil erosion, pesticide pollution, air and water pollution. City has a problem of garbage utilization. The only place for pesticide utilization in Ukraine is Shostka, Sumy region.

Economy

Industry

The main industrial activities of the oblast' are: chemical mechanical engineering, pumping and energy mechanical engineering, agricultural machine-construction, instrument-making industry and radio electronics, technical equipment production for processing fields of agro-industrial complexes, mining and iron ore production industry, polygraph industry and medicine production, oil and gas processing, chemical production, film and photo material production (See: Svema), and chemical fertilizer production. In general, there are 273 large industry enterprises and 327 small industry enterprises.

Agriculture

In 1999, the gross grain yield was about 446,000 tons, sugar beets – 664,000 tons, sunflower seeds – 27,700 tons, potatoes – 343,600 tons. The region also produced 108,700 tons of meat, 517,800 tons of milk and 295,300,000 eggs. At the beginning of 1999, there were 781 registered farms in the oblast'.

Famous people from Sumy Oblast

• Viktor Yushchenko – 3rd President of Ukraine (2005–2010); Khoruzhivka village
• Sydir Kovpak – a prominent Soviet partisan leader in Ukraine
• Natalia Ivanovna Sedova – Wife of Leon Trotsky, born Romny 1882
• Oleh Husyev – Footballer
• Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub – WW2 ace and air marshal of the Soviet Union.
• Oleksi Berest – one of the soldiers who hoisted the Victory Banner in Berlin and a posthumous Hero of Ukraine.
• Dmitry Chechulin – architect; born Shostka 1901

Nomenclature

Most of Ukraine's oblasts are named after their capital cities, officially referred to as "oblast centers" (Ukrainian: обласний центр, 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: Sumy is the center of the Sums’ka oblast’ (Sumy 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 Sumy Oblast, Sumshchyna.

See also

• Subdivisions of Ukraine

References

External links

• State Administration of Sumy Oblast – official site (Ukrainian)
• Information Card of the Region – official site of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
• Independent regional Web-portal – news, features, entertainment & tourism info (Ukrainian)