Zaporizhzhia Oblast

Not to be confused with Zaporizhzhia (region).

Zaporizhzhia Oblast Запорізька область
Oblast
Zaporizka oblast
Flag Coat of arms
Nickname:  Запоріжжя (Zaporizhzhia)
Country	Ukraine
Administrative center	Zaporizhzhia
Government
• Governor	Oleksandr Starukh
• Oblast council	84 seats
• Chairperson	Hryhoriy Samardak
Area
• Total	27,183 km2 (10,495 sq mi)
• Rank	Ranked 9th
Population  (2021)
• Total	1,666,515
• Rank	Ranked 9th
Demographics
• Official language(s)	Ukrainian
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code	69-72
Area code	+380-61
ISO 3166 code	UA-23
Raions	20
Cities (total)	14
• Regional cities	5
Urban-type settlements	23
Villages	920
FIPS 10-4	UP26
Website	www.zoda.gov.ua

Zaporizhzhia Oblast (Template:Lang-uk), also referred to as Zaporizhzhia (Template:Lang-uk), is an oblast (province) of southeast Ukraine. Its capital is Zaporizhzhia. The oblast covers an area of 27,183 km² (10,495 sq mi), and its population is 1,666,515 (2021 est.).

This oblast is an important part of Ukraine's industry and agriculture.

Geography

The area of the oblast is 27,183 km²; its population (estimated as of 1 January 2013) was 1,785,243.

Important cities include:

• Berdyansk (Occupied by Russia)
• Enerhodar – home of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (Occupied by Russia)
• Melitopol (Occupied by Russia)
• Zaporizhzhia

Relief

Zaporizhzhia Oblast is characterized by a flat landscape. Soils are mostly chernozem. Knowledge of the relief of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast today is especially important because of the problem of land reclamation and its more intensive use.

The territory of Zaporizhzhia Oblast as a whole has a flat topography, but there are markedly elevated and depressed areas, which differ in shape, origin, and age.

The highest central-eastern part of the oblast is the Azov Upland. It extends to the east and to the territory of Donetsk Oblast, where it meets the Donetsk ridge. In the south, between the Azov Upland and the Sea of Azov, is the western part of the Azov coastal plain, which flows into the Black Sea west of the Molochna River. The north-eastern end of the coastal plain merges with the Zaporizhzhia inner plain, which borders on the south-eastern outskirts of the Dnieper Upland. Thus, the territory of Zaporizhia Oblast consists of two distinct geomorphological parts: the outskirts of the Azov and Dnipro uplands, which structurally correspond to the southeastern part of the Ukrainian crystalline massif and the outskirts of the coastal Priazov and Black Sea plains, which are located within the Black Sea basin.

History

The area corresponding approximately to the modern Zaporizhzhia Oblast — according to Herodotus — was called in antiquity as the land of Gerrhos. This area was the burial place of the kings of the "Royal Scythians".

The modern Zaporizhzhia Oblast was created as part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on 10 January 1939 out of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

During the 1991 Ukrainian independence referendum, 90.66% of votes in the oblast were in favor of the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine.

The SBU thwarted an attempt to blow up a railway line in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast and found that the suspects were carrying maps and explosives on 8 July 2014. A survey conducted in December 2014 by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found 2.1% of the oblast's population supported their oblast joining Russia, 80.7% did not support the idea, and the rest were undecided or did not respond.

Points of interest

The following sites were nominated for the Seven Wonders of Ukraine.

• Kamyana Mohyla, prehistoric "Stone Tomb" site (museum-preserve)
• Khortytsia
• Dniprostroy

Subdivisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of Zaporizhzhia Oblast

Until the major administrative reforms of 2020, the Zaporizhzhia Oblast was administratively subdivided into 20 raions (districts) as well as 5 cities (municipalities) that are directly subordinate to the oblast government: Berdiansk, Enerhodar, Melitopol, Tokmak, and the administrative center of the oblast, Zaporizhzhia.

Former map of Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

Name	Ukrainian name	Area (km²)	Population census 2015	Admin. center	Urban population only
Zaporizhzhia	Запоріжжя (місто)	334	757,650	Zaporizhzhia (city)	757,650
Berdiansk	Бердянськ (місто)	83	117,492	Berdiansk (city)	114,401
Enerhodar	Енергодар (місто)	64	54,397	Enerhodar (city)	54,397
Melitopol	Мелітополь (місто)	51	156,022	Melitopol (city)	156,022
Tokmak	Токмак (місто)	33	32,209	Tokmak (city)	32,209
Berdiansk Raion	Бердянський район	1,776	25,533	Berdiansk (city)	N/A *
Bilmak Raion	Більмацький район	1,300	22,500	Bilmak	9,423
Chernihivka Raion	Чернігівський район	1,200	17,331	Chernihivka	5,994
Huliaipole Raion	Гуляйпільський район	1,300	27,067	Huliaipole	15,116
Kamianka-Dniprovska Raion	Кам'янсько-Дніпровський район	1,240	40,525	Kamianka-Dniprovska	13,223
Melitopol Raion	Мелітопольський район	1,780	49,724	Melitopol (city)	N/A *
Mykhailivka Raion	Михайлівський район	1,067	29,250	Mykhailivka	15,609
Novomykolaivka Raion	Новомиколаївський район	915	16,206	Novomykolaivka	6,764
Orikhiv Raion	Оріхівський район	1,590	46,239	Orikhiv	20,358
Polohy Raion	Пологівський район	1,340	40,576	Polohy	19,552
Pryazovske Raion	Приазовський район	1,947	27,636	Pryazovske	9,106
Prymorsk Raion	Приморський район	1,400	30,334	Prymorsk	12,085
Rozivka Raion	Розівський район	610	8,960	Rozivka	3,289
Tokmak Raion	Токмацький район	1,442	22,705	Tokmak (city)	N/A *
Vasylivka Raion	Василівський район	1,620	64,131	Vasylivka	37,232
Velyka Bilozerka Raion	Великобілозерський район	470	8,064	Velyka Bilozerka	6,124
Vesele Raion	Веселівський район	1,128	21,756	Vesele	10,042
Vilniansk Raion	Вільнянський район	1,280	47,572	Vilniansk	16,795
Yakymivka Raion	Якимівський район	1,850	33,942	Yakymivka	15,386
Zaporizkyi Raion	Запорізький район	1,462	57,842	Zaporizhzhia (city)	N/A *

Note: Asterisks (*) Although the administrative center of the raion is in the city/town that it is named after, cities do not answer to the raion authorities (only towns do), but are directly subordinated to the oblast government and therefore are not counted as part of raion statistics.

Following the reforms of 2020, the oblast is divided into just five new raions, which incorporate the 5 former city (municipalities) that were directly subordinate to the oblast government:

Name	Ukrainian name	Area (km²)	Population census 2001	Population estimate 2021	Admin. center
Berdjans'kyj Raion	Бердянський район	4,456	214,062	179,118	Berdyansk
Melitopols'kyj Raion	Мелітопольський район	6,962	318,353	280,816	Melitopol
Polohivs'kyj Raion	Пологівський район	6,767	216,933	167,060	Polohy
Vasylivs'kyj Raion	Василівський район	4,295	217,018	184,224	Vasylivka
Zaporiz'kyj Raion	Запорізький район	4,693	962,805	855,297	Zaporizhzhia

Demographics

According to the 2001 Ukrainian Census, the population of the oblast was 1,929,171. Some 70.8% considered themselves Ukrainians, while 24.7% were Russians, the rest were of assorted nationalities including Bulgarians (1.4%), Belarusians (0.7%), and others (1.6%). Just under half the population (48.2%) considered the Russian language to be their native tongue, while a majority (50.2%) considered the Ukrainian language to be their native tongue.

Age structure

0-14 years: 13.5% (male 124,285/female 116,613)

15-64 years: 70.7% (male 598,849/female 662,838)

65 years and over: 15.8% (male 91,051/female 190,818) (2013 official)

Median age

total: 41.2 years

male: 37.5 years

female: 44.8 years (2013 official)

Fertility

Year	Fertility	Birth	Year	Fertility	Birth	Year	Fertility	Birth
1990	1,7	25 960	2000	1,0	13 900	2010	1,3	18 018
1991	1,7	24 739	2001	1,0	14 010	2011	1,4	18 198
1992	1,5	22 624	2002	1,1	14 865
1993	1,4	20 881	2003	1,1	15 301
1994	1,3	19 265	2004	1,1	16 091
1995	1,2	17 820	2005	1,2	15 862
1996	1,2	16 764	2006	1,2	17 241
1997	1,1	16 234	2007	1,3	17 591
1998	1,1	14 968	2008	1,4	18 901
1999	1,0	13 880	2009	1,4	18 409

Education

679 daytime and 11 evening state schools plus 6 daytime schools that are non-budget supported secondary schools involved 271,400 pupils in 2001. 22 classical schools, 8 lyceums, a Sichovy collegium and 54 education-breeding complex bodies aren't out of reach to gifted children. New style 38 complex kindergarten-schools work too.

Over 60,000 children develop their talents through out-of-school institutions. They attend 30 creative centres, 6 science-technical stations and four young naturalists' stations, five tourist clubs, three training flotillas, 11 children's sports clubs and 20 sports schools. The extra-scholastic education system has such a unique body as the Small Academy of Science. Boys and girls work there in six main disciplines: physics-mathematics, chemistry-biology, history-geography, philology, industrial and information technologies. The Small Academy young members maintain close friendly relations with scientists of big institutes and universities. 26 youngsters became winners of the All-Ukrainian Academy contest, so the Zaporizhzhia oblast team gained the 1st place.

325 secondary schools, five classical schools, a collegium, and three comprehensive schools use the Ukrainian language. Nevertheless, the minorities have a free choice — 193 schools are Russian, a large Jewish school «Alef» works in Zaporizhzhia and smaller ones exist in other points, a Ukrainian-Bulgarian Lyceum is in Primorsky district. The Greek, Czech, Bulgarian languages are very popular in Yakimivsky, Berdyansky, Priazovsky and Melitopole rural districts. One may learn Hebrew, Yiddish, German, Polish, Tatar and other languages attending option courses anywhere.

Specialists keep on looking for an adaptive school model. 26 institutions develop the humanization process using new teaching technologies. The Khortitsky multi-profile teaching-rehabilitation centre has worked out methods for complete support of sanatorium-boarding-schools' children. Berdiansk is the town where a regional boarding school for orphans works out active socialization programs.

42 institutions provide vocational education. This system distributes well-trained workers to regional industry and business. The list of specialties includes over 100 names. Vocational schools give courses for improving qualification in cooperation with unemployment centres. More than 1,500 jobless persons get new professions every year due it.

The higher education system is the most flexible and advanced. Today 25 state-controlled technical colleges have I-II class rank and 8 higher institutions have III-IV class certificates. These are the University and the Zaporizhzhia Politechnic, the Medical University and the Institute of Law with Ministry of Internal Affairs in Zaporizhzhia City, the Pedagogical University, the Agricultural Academy in Melitopol and the Pedagogical Institute in Berdiansk. There are also five higher-education private bodies — the Institute of Economics and Information Technologies, the State and Municipal Government Institute and the others. Over 65,000 people are students in this oblast. There are 212 Doctors of Science and 1,420 Candidates of Science among their lecturers. The city of Zaporizhzhia is one of the biggest centres for foreigners' education in Ukraine.

The International Astronomical Union named two minor planets 5936 Khadzhinov and 19082 Vikchernov in honor of Ukrainians from Zaporizhizhia Oblast who made a significant contribution in science and education.

Economics

Gross oblast product (GRP)

The volume of the gross regional product of the oblast in 2016 amounted to 104,323 million UAH (9th place among the regions). The total contribution of the oblast to the GRP of Ukraine was 4.4%.

The index of the physical volume of gross regional product in the previous year's prices was 99.7%.

The amount of gross value added (GVA) in 2016 amounted to 82,054 million UAH (9th place among the oblasts).

The total contribution of the oblast to the GVA of Ukraine amounted to 4.1% in 2016.

The index of physical volume of gross value added in previous year's prices was 99.8%.

The main types of economic activity that form the GVA of the oblast are:

• industry (including the supply of electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning) - 41%;
• agriculture, forestry, and fisheries - 13.9%;
• wholesale and retail trade - 10.4%;
• real estate transactions - 6%.

Further reading

• (in Ukrainian) Запорізька область: Ілюстрована енциклопедія. [Т.2]: Архітектура і містобудування. Культура. Економіка. Райони області / К.С. Карафін, О. І. Красюк. -Запоріжжя : Дике Поле, 2004. - 293 с.

External links

• Specialized investment portal – official website (in English)
• Zaporozhye Regional Tourist Information Centre – official website (in English)
• Zaporizhzhia Oblast Administration – official website (in Ukrainian)
• Zaporizhzhia Oblast Rada – official website (in Ukrainian)