Kirovohrad Oblast

Kirovohrad Oblast
Кіровоградська область
Oblast
Kirovohradska oblast[1]
Flag of Kirovohrad Oblast
Flag
Coat of arms of Kirovohrad Oblast
Coat of arms
Nickname: 
Кіровоградщина (Kirovohradshchyna)
Coordinates: 48°28′N 32°16′E / 48.46°N 32.27°E / 48.46; 32.27
Country Ukraine
Established10 January 1939
Administrative centerKropyvnytskyi
Government
 • GovernorAndriy Raykovych
 • Oblast council64 seats
 • ChairpersonYuriy Drozd (Servant of the People)
Area
 • Total24,588 km2 (9,493 sq mi)
 • RankRanked 15th
Population
 (2022)[2]
 • TotalDecrease 903,712
 • RankRanked 25th
GDP
[3]
 • Total₴ 100 billion
(€2.579 billion)
 • Per capita₴ 109,183
(€2,828)
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code
25000-27999
Area code+380-52
ISO 3166 codeUA-35
Vehicle registrationВA
Raions4
Cities (total)12
• Regional cities0
Urban-type settlements26
Villages1015
FIPS 10-4UP10
Websitekr-admin.gov.ua

Kirovohrad Oblast (Ukrainian: Кіровоградська область, romanized: Kirovohradska oblast), also known as Kirovohradshchyna (Ukrainian: Кіровоградщина), is an oblast (region) in central Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Kropyvnytskyi. Its population is 903,712 (2022 estimate).[2] It is Ukraine's second least populated oblast, behind Chernivtsi.

In 2019, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine approved the change of the oblast's name to Kropyvnytskyi Oblast (Ukrainian: Кропивницька область, romanized: Kropyvnytska oblast, unofficially Kropyvnychchyna (Ukrainian: Кропивниччина)).[4] The change is not yet implemented. The largest cities of the region are Kropyvnytskyi, Oleksandriia, Znamianka and Svitlovodsk.

Geography[edit]

The area of the province is 24,600 square kilometres (9,500 sq mi).

The city of Dobrovelychkivka is the geographical center of Ukraine.

History[edit]

See also: Kherson Governorate

In the 1800s, majority of the landed was owned by the noble Skarzynski family.[5] They played a large role in the development of the region. An emphasis was placed on the development of its agriculture and the Skarzynskis opened a school in Migeya dedicated to this.[6]

The oblast was created as part of the Ukrainian SSR on January 10, 1939 out of the northern raions of Mykolaiv Oblast. Before establishment, its territory was part of Kherson Governorate (most of it) and Podolia Governorate (smaller portion) until 1925. Earlier before occupation of Ukraine in 1920s, in 1918 there were plans to introduce own Ukrainian administrative territorial division with territory of modern Kirovohrad Oblast being split between lands of Nyz (Lower land), Pobozhia (Boh land), and Cherkasy.

In 1954, the oblast lost some raions to the newly created Cherkasy Oblast, but later that year received its western raions from the Odesa Oblast.

Between 1939 and 2016, the oblast administrative center, Kropyvnytskyi, was called Kirovohrad and was named after the First Secretary of the Leningrad City Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) Sergei Kirov.[7] Due to decommunization laws (on 14 July 2016) the name of the city was changed to Kropyvnytskyi.[7] Kirovohrad Oblast was not renamed because as such it is mentioned in the Constitution of Ukraine, and the Oblast can only be renamed by a constitutional amendment by the Verkhovna Rada.[8]

On 20 June 2018, the Committee on State Building, Regional Policy and Local Self-Government of the Ukrainian parliament backed the proposal to rename Kirovohrad Oblast to Kropyvnytskyi Oblast.[9] In February 2019, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine declared constitutional the bill on renaming Kirovohrad Oblast to Kropyvnytskyi Oblast.[10][11] The renaming was supported by the local Oblast Council in March 2021.[12][13] The process then stalled in the parliament, with the oblast council asking the Verkhovna Rada to speed up the process in September 2022.[14]

Points of interest[edit]

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

Administrative divisions[edit]

Raions of Kirovohrad Oblast as of August 2020.
Main article: Administrative divisions of Kirovohrad Oblast
Kirovohrad Oblast
As of January 1, 2022
Number of districts (райони) 4
Number of hromadas (громади) 49
Raions
No. Name Coat of arms Population,
(2020). 		Area,
km² 		Density,
per km² 		Administrative
center 		Map Subdivisions
1 Holovanivsk 122,952 4,244 28.97 Holovanivsk 10 hromadas
2 Kropyvnytskyi 442,997 9,709 45.62 Kropyvnytskyi 17 hromadas
3 Novoukrainka 140,539 5,196 27 Novoukrainka 13 hromadas
4 Oleksandriya 226,721 5,405 41.94 Oleksandriya 9 hromadas

Before the July 2020 reform, Kirovohrad Oblast was administratively subdivided into 21 raions (districts) as well as 4 cities (municipalities) which were directly subordinate to the oblast government: Oleksandriia, Svitlovodsk, Znamianka, and the administrative center of the oblast, Kropyvnytskyi.

Demographics[edit]

Language[edit]

According to the 2001 Ukrainian census, Ukrainian was the mother tongue of 88.9% of the population, for 10.0% it was Russian, and for 1.1% it was another language.

According to a survey "Is the language (ir)relevant?" (Ukrainian: "Мова (не) на часі?"), which took place in Kirovohrad Oblast from 12 to 22 October 2023, 96.7% of respondents named Ukrainian as their mother tongue, while 2.6% named Russian as their mother tongue. In everyday life, 66.4% of respondents spoke Ukrainian, 29.4% spoke Surzhyk, and 3.4% spoke Russian.[15]

Age structure[edit]

0-14 years: 14.3% Increase (male 72,646/female 68,970)
15-64 years: 68.7% Decrease (male 324,698/female 355,058)
65 years and over: 17.0% Steady (male 55,718/female 111,666) (2013 official)

Median age[edit]

total: 41.2 years Increase
male: 37.7 years Increase
female: 44.5 years Increase (2013 official)

Nomenclature[edit]

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 the respective center city: Kirovohrad was the former name of the center of the Kirovohrads’ka oblast’ (Kirovohrad 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 Kirovohrad Oblast, Kirovohradshchyna.

See also: Romanization of Ukrainian

Gallery[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Syvak, Nina; Ponomarenko, Valerii; Khodzinska, Olha; Lakeichuk, Iryna (2011). Veklych, Lesia (ed.). Toponymic Guidelines for Map and Other Editors for International Use (PDF). scientific consultant Iryna Rudenko; reviewed by Nataliia Kizilowa; translated by Olha Khodzinska. Kyiv: DerzhHeoKadastr and Kartographia. p. 20. ISBN 978-966-475-839-7. Retrieved 2020-10-06. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  2. ^ a b Чисельність наявного населення України на 1 січня 2022 [Number of Present Population of Ukraine, as of January 1, 2022] (PDF) (in Ukrainian and English). Kyiv: State Statistics Service of Ukraine. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 July 2022.
  3. ^ "Валовии регіональнии продукт".
  4. ^ "The Opinion of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in the case of renaming the Kirovohrad oblast is given". Українське право - інформаційно-правовий портал. 5 February 2019.
  5. ^ "Скаржинские". 21 February 2011.
  6. ^ "Ольгинская сельскохозяйственная школа /Ольгинско-Скаржинская сельскохозяйственная школа, Ольгинско-Скаржинское сельскохозяйственное училище/". 31 October 2012.
  7. ^ a b Goodbye, Lenin: Ukraine moves to ban communist symbols, BBC News (14 April 2015)
    (in Ukrainian) Verkhovna Rada renamed Kirovograd, Ukrayinska Pravda (14 July 2016)
  8. ^ Ukraine, The World Factbook
  9. ^ Ukraine's parliament committee backs renaming of Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad regions, UNIAN (20 June 2018)
  10. ^ "Надано Висновок Конституційного Суду України в справі щодо перейменування Кіровоградської області | Конституційний Суд України". www.ccu.gov.ua. Retrieved 2019-06-13.
  11. ^ "Constitutional Court Declares Bill Renaming Kirovohrad Region As Kropyvnytskyi Region Constitutional". ukranews.com. 2019-02-06. Retrieved 2019-06-13.
  12. ^ "Перейменування Кіровоградської області - звернення до ВРУ". Suspilne (in Ukrainian). 2021-03-30.
  13. ^ Купюр, Без (2021-04-22). "Верховна Рада відреагувала на звернення про перейменування Кіровоградщини формально | Без Купюр - Новини Кропивницького і Кіровоградщини". Без Купюр (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2023-02-04.
  14. ^ "Кіровоградська облрада закликала Верховну Раду пришвидшити перейменування області". hromadske.ua (in Ukrainian). 2022-09-21. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
  15. ^ https://suspilne.media/603693-za-cas-vijni-stavlenna-ukrainciv-do-derzavnoi-movi-pomitno-zminilosa-dani-opituvanna-sodo-movi-na-kirovogradsini/ [bare URL]

External links[edit]

  • "Main". Official web-site of the Kirovohrad Oblast State Administration (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 13 August 2006. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
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