Cherkasy Oblast · Lablypedia

Geography

Spanning 20,900 square kilometres (8,100 sq mi), 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 245 km from south-west to north-east, and for 150 km from north to south. The northernmost point of the oblast is located is near the village of Kononivka in Zolotonosha Raion (district), the southernmost point near the village of Kolodyste in Zvenyhorodka Raion, the westernmost point near the village of Korytnya in Uman Raion, and the easternmost point near the village of Stetsivka in Cherkasy Raion. The geometric centre of the oblast is located near the village Zhuravky of Horodyshche Raion. The oblast borders Kyiv Oblast to the north, Kirovohrad Oblast to the south, Poltava Oblast to the east, and Vinnytsia Oblast to the west.

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History

Cherkasy Oblast was created as part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on 7 January 1954 by the ukase of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. On 26 April 1954 the ukase was approved by the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union.

The oblast's territory was the major cities of Cherkasy, Smila and Uman, their corresponding raions (districts), as well as 30 former raions of the Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Kirovohrad and Poltava Oblasts.

Archaeological discoveries have shown that people have inhabited the valley of the Dnieper River since time immemorial. The oldest objects excavated on the territory of the region date back to the Stone Age – the Palaeolithic period.

Demographics

The current estimated population is 1,335,064 (as of 2006).

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.

According to the 2001 Ukrainian census, ethnic Ukrainians accounted for 93.1% of the population of Cherkasy Oblast, and ethnic Russians for 5.4%.

Language

Due to the Russification of Ukraine during the Soviet era, the share of Ukrainian speakers in the population of Cherkasy Oblast gradually decreased, while the share of Russian speakers increased. Native language of the population of Cherkasy Oblast according to the results of population censuses:

Native language of the population of the raions, cities and city councils of Cherkasy Oblast according to the 2001 Ukrainian census:

Ukrainian is the only official language on the whole territory of Cherkasy Oblast.

According to a poll conducted by Rating from 16 November to 10 December 2018 as part of the project «Portraits of Regions», 85% of the residents of Cherkasy Oblast believed that the Ukrainian language should be the only state language on the entire territory of Ukraine. 8% believed that Ukrainian should be the only state language, while Russian should be the second official language in some regions of the country. 4% believed that Russian should become the second state language of the country. 3% found it difficult to answer.

On 4 June 2021, Cherkasy Oblast Council approved the «Comprehensive Programme for the Development and Functioning of the Ukrainian Language in All Spheres of Public Life in Cherkasy Oblast for 2021—2025», the main objective of which is to strengthen the positions of the Ukrainian language in various spheres of public life in the oblast.

According to the research of the Content Analysis Centre, conducted from 15 August to 15 September 2024, the topic of which was the ratio of Ukrainian and Russian languages in the Ukrainian segment of social media, 84.3% of posts from Cherkasy Oblast were written in Ukrainian (80.3% in 2023, 75.9% in 2022, 26.7% in 2020), while 15.7% were written in Russian (19.7% in 2023, 24.1% in 2022, 73.3% in 2020).

After Ukraine declared independence in 1991, Cherkasy Oblast, as well as Ukraine as a whole, experienced a gradual Ukrainization of the education system, which had been Russified during the Soviet era. Dynamics of the ratio of the languages of instruction in general secondary education institutions in Cherkasy Oblast:

According to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, in the 2023—2024 school year, all 114,960 pupils in general secondary education institutions in Cherkasy Oblast were studying in classes where Ukrainian was the language of instruction.

Age structure

0-14 years: 13.4% (male 87,557/female 82,340)

15-64 years: 69.1% (male 417,426/female 457,390)

65 years and over: 17.5% (male 72,835/female 147,711) (2013 official)

Median age

total: 41.7 years

male: 38.4 years

female: 45.0 years (2013 official)

Administrative divisions

Since July 2020, Cherkasy Oblast is administratively subdivided into 4 raions (districts). These are further divided into 66 hromadas (communities).

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

Administrative Center — 1 (Cherkasy)
Raions — 4
Hromadas — 66, including:
- Urban hromadas — 16
- Settlement hromadas — 10
- Rural hromadas — 40

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

Since July 2020, Cherkasy Oblast consists of four raions:

The region has 16 populated places designated as cities (towns). The only one with the population over 100 thousand is Cherkasy. Uman and Smila are in the range between 80 and 90 thousands, and all others are below 30 thousands.

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.

Nomenclature

Most of Ukraine's oblasts are named after their capital cities, officially referred to as "oblast centers" (Ukrainian: обласний центр, romanized: 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 Cherkaska 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.

Education

There are 5 universities in the region:

The Bohdan Khmelnytsky National University of Cherkasy
Cherkasy State Technological University
Uman National University Of Horticulture
Pavlo Tychyna Uman State Pedagogical University
East European University of Economics and Management (private)

Attractions

Sofiivka
Fatherland of Taras Shevchenko
Trypillian culture
Shevchenko National preserve
Martynivka Treasure housed in Kyiv