| Ukraine |
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Constitution
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Divisions
Election
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Other countries · Atlas |
| Administrative divisions of Ukraine |
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| First level |
| Regions — Oblast |
| Second level |
| Districts — Raion |
| Third level |
| Urban settlements — District City |
| Fourth level |
| Rural settlements — Village |
Ukraine is subdivided into 27 regions: 24 oblasts, one autonomous republic, and two "cities with special status".
Contents |
The system of Ukrainian subdivisions reflects country's status as a unitary state (as stated in the country's constitution) with unified legal and administrative regime for each unit. In the post-World War II period in the country as a tradition has established 25 regions (locally oblasts) and two cities with a special status. The system of oblasts however was established in 1932, except for the West Ukraine where existed the Polish form of administrative division. Prior to that the Soviet Ukraine Ukraine from 1925 to 1932 was divided into 40 okruhas, replacing the Russian Imperial administrative division of guberniyas.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Crimea has obtained the status of autonomous republic with its own government instead of a regional state administration. Each region has at least one city with a special status as well; always the region's administrative center. Also each region is divided into various districts (locally raions) and may contain additional cities with a special status.
For an understanding of the cultural and socioeconomic differences within the country, a knowledge of the Ukrainian historical regions is crucial in studying the administrative structure. For example the West Ukraine has some influence of the countries from Central Europe, while the East Ukraine is heavily influenced by the Russian Federation.
The administrative division in Ukraine was directly inherited from the local republican administration of the Soviet Union, the Ukrainian SSR, and has not changed majorly since the middle of 20th century. It is somewhat complex as beside having couple of levels of a territorial subdivision, it also has its own classification for various settlements.
The following table is based on the 2001 Ukrainian Census.
| Degree of division | Territorial | Number | Cities/other settlements | Number | Total settlements |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (regions) | Crimea | 1 | - | - | - |
| oblast | 24 | special status city | 2 | 459 | |
| 2 (districts) | raion | 490 | region level city | 178 | |
| - | - | city district | 118 | ||
| 3 (urban) | - | - | district level city | 279 | |
| municipality, town/urban | 783 | other town/urban settlement | 102 | 885 | |
| 4 (rural) | municipality, rural | 10278 | village | 27190 | 28456 |
| - | - | rural settlement | 1266 |
There are three major administrative subdivisions: oblast (region), raion (district), and settlements: city, urban and rural settlements.
Regions, cities, districts are governed by a state administration, a chief of which is appointed by the president. Crimea has its own incomplete cabinet of ministers, however the state administration is represented by the office of the Presidential Representative of Ukraine. A basic and the lowest level of administrative division is a settlement that is governed by a local council (rada). Cities as a settlement always carry a special status within a region and have their own form of self-administration (municipality - vykonkom) and some may consist of their own city's districts (raions). City municipalities are governed by a mayor.
Cities may carry various status, some may be of national importance, another - of regional (oblast) importance, and the rest - of a district (raion) importance. For example, the cities of Kiev and of Sevastopol have the special status of a national importance (significance) and each is officially classified as a city with a special status, which administratively is equivalent to an oblast (region). Mayors of those cities, in general, as governors of oblasts are being appointed by the President of Ukraine. However, the status of the Mayor of Kiev city, in particular, is somewhat more complex, and for further information see Legal status and local government of Kiev. The status of the Sevastopol city is also unique.
At the oblast level almost each have at least one city of regional subordination (importance) which is the administrative center (capital) of that oblast. However, some other big cities within the oblast may have such status as well. The cities of oblast subordination have the same importance of a whole raion and often are the administrative centers of such. Note that beside the regular raions there are several cities in Ukraine usually of national (mentioned earlier) or oblast status that are subdivided into several city raions of their own. Those raions may sometimes include other cities, towns, and/or villages. In 2010 there were 23 such cities that have city raions.
A lot of raions also have city municipalities of its level of subordination (importance). Those are usually the administrative centers (capitals). Notice that not all raions (districts) have a city as their administrative center, however all the raion (district) centers are at least urban-like (urbanized). All administrative centers have their own form of self-administration. The municipalities of a raion subordination may administer several other adjacent to them local councils (municipalities), usually rural. If raion has several cities of raion (district) level, they may share an administrative power for the raion.
As it was mentioned above, beside city municipalities there are urban-like municipalities. The lowest form of self-administration are rural municipalities and villages. A rural municipality may consist of a single village, usually big, or combination of other rural villages or localities. Note that some villages also have some additional very small settlements. Those settlements together with the home village combine a local (rural) municipality (silrada). For simplicity sake, silrada (rural municipality) is usually referred to as a village and is the lowest level of administrative division. The status to any settlement is granted through the Verkhovna Rada.
There are also some former military installation-settlements (viiskove mistechko). Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the secrecy of such settlements was "unveiled", however, those towns being subordinated directly to the Ministry of Defense and do not have their own civil administration. Such military installations are like ghost towns that are not even identified on a map. One of them is on the border of the Kiev and Zhytomyr Oblasts called Makarov-1.[1] Also there is a special territory which is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Emergencies. It is the territory which suffered the most from the Chernobyl Catastrophe, known as the Zone of alienation. Some restricted territories belong to the Ministry of Ecology (former Nature Environment) and are considered nature sanctuaries (preserves).
Currently there are three enclaves. The city of Slavutych is administratively subordinated directly to the Kiev region, while being completely surrounded by Belarus and Chernihiv region. Another enclave is a settlement Bile which is located on the Snake island and is fully surrounded by the Black Sea. Bile is part of the Vylkove city of Odessa region. Also a town of Kotsyubynske (Irpin municipality) which is part of the Kiev region is completely surrounded by the city of Kiev.
Other nomenclatures for local settlements that are now abandoned include khutir, workers' settlement etc.
| Status [1] | Status (in Ukrainian) |
Total Number (as of 2006) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| misto / city | місто | 457 | |
| municipality | місто зі спеціальним статусом | 2 | |
| misto оblastnoho znachennia | місто областного значення | 176 | |
| misto raionnoho znachennia | місто районного значення | 279 | |
| selyshche miskoho typu / town | селище міського типу | 886 | |
| selo / village | сільський населений пункт | 28,552 | |
| selysche | селище | 1,364 | |
| selo | село | 27,188 | |
There are two types of settlements: rural and urban.
Rural populated areas (сільський населений пункт) can be either a village (село, selo) or a rural settlement (селище).
Urban populated areas (міський населений пункт) can be either a city (містo) or an urbanized settlement (селище міського типу). Urbanized settlements for a brevity sake often are classified as towns in the English language.
The changes to a settlement status can be done only by the Verkhovna Rada. Please, note that the size of a settlement does not ultimately define its status although is a major factor. For example, the city of Prypiat in Ukraine still retains its status, while having a population of zero (0) residents due to its infrastructure: buildings, roads, utility networks, etc.
The typical Ukrainian misto ought to be considered a city, not a town (compare to City status in the United Kingdom). However, the city's subordination to either oblast or raion also should be taken into account, especially in the political sense. Some of urbanized settlements may be cities of raion subordination, although it could seem confusing, a type of settlement should be considered first as its status is given for administrative purposes.
| Ukrainian | Romanized¹ | English widespread | English recommended (formal use) | English recommended (informal use) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| автономна республіка | avtonomna respublika | (autonomous) republic | autonomous republic | autonomy |
| область | oblast' | region², province | oblast | province |
| район | raion | district, region³, area, county | raion | district |
| містo | misto | city, municipality | misto | city, municipality5 |
| містo зі спеціальним статусом | misto zi spetsial'nym statusom | special-status municipality, special-charter municipality4 | municipality | municipality, city |
| містo областного значення | misto оblastnoho znachennia | city of oblast subordinance | misto оblastnoho znachennia | city of oblast subordinance |
| містo районного значення | misto raionnoho znachennia | city of raion subordinance | misto raionnoho znachennia | city of raion subordinance |
| селище міського типу | selysche mis'koho typu | town, urban-type settlement | selysche mis'koho typu | town, urban-type settlement |
| сільський населений пункт | sil'skyi naselenyi punkt | village, rural-type settlement | selo | village, rural-type settlement |
| селище | selysche | village | selysche | village |
| село | selo | village | selo | village |
Notes
The Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Ukrainian: Автономна Республіка Крим, Avtonomna Respublika Krym, Crimean Tatar: Qırım Muhtar Cumhuriyeti), formerly Crimea Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR, is geographically the main part of Crimean peninsula in the south of Ukraine. Its capital is Simferopol.
Oblasts are the major and the most common administrative division in the country and often interchangeably is being used with another term of regions. Almost each oblast is named after its administrative center, while the one, that does not, are named after its historical region.
There are two cities that carry a special status. First it is the city of Kiev which is the capital and another one is the city of Sevastopol that carries exclusive rights that Ukraine handed over to Russia (Black Sea Fleet) in spite of the Constitution of Ukraine.
Raions are small territorial units of subdivision of Ukraine. There are 490 raions in 24 oblasts and Crimea autonomous republic of Ukraine. An average area of Ukrainian raion is 1,200 km2 (463 sq mi), an average population of raions is 52,000 people.
Ukraine has five major agglomerated metropolitan areas (conurbations).
Other minor metro areas are:
These conurbation areas are not officially recognized and remain to be administered according to official oblast-raion system of subdivision.
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