Odessa Oblast

Odessa Oblast (also known as Odesa Oblast; Ukrainian: Одеська область, Odes’ka oblast’, Russian: Одесская область, Odesskaya oblast’, Bulgarian Одеска област) is an oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, located along the northern coast of the Black Sea. Its administrative center is the city of Odessa (Ukrainian: Одеса, romanized: Odesa).

Odessa Oblast Одеська область Odes’ka oblast’
Oblast
Flag Coat of arms
Country	Ukraine
Administrative center	Odessa
Government
• Governor	Maksym Kutsyi[1]
• Oblast council	84 seats
• Chairperson	Serhiy Paraschenko (Petro Poroshenko Bloc)
Area
• Total	33,310 km^2 (12,860 sq mi)
Area rank	Ranked 1st
Population  (2015[2])
• Total	2,396,442
• Rank	Ranked 6
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code	65000-68999
Area code	+380-48
ISO 3166 code	UA-51
Raions	26
Cities (total)	19
• Regional cities	7
Urban-type settlements	33
Villages	1138
FIPS 10-4	UP17
Website	www.odessa.gov.ua

The region, the largest in Ukraine by area, is approximately the size of Belgium.[3] The length of coastline (sea-coast and estuaries) reaches 300 km (190 mi), while the state border stretches for 1,200 km (750 mi).[3] The region has eight sea-ports, over 80,000 ha (200,000 acres) of vineyards, and five of the biggest lakes in Ukraine.[3] One of the largest, Yalpuh Lake, is as large as the city of Odessa itself.[3]

History

Evidence of the earliest inhabitants in this area comes from the settlements and burial grounds of the Neolithic Gumelniţa, Cucuteni-Trypillian and Usatovo cultures, as well as from the tumuli and hoards of the Bronze Age Proto-Indo-Europeans. In the 1st millennium B.C. Milesian Greeks founded colonies along the northern coast of the Black Sea, including the towns of Olbia, Tyras, Niconium, Panticapaeum, and Chersonesus. The Greeks left behind painted vessels, ceramics, sculptures, inscriptions, arts and crafts that indicate the prosperity of their ancient civilisation.

The culture of Scythian tribes inhabiting the Black Sea littoral steppes in the first millennium B.C. has left artefacts in settlements and burial grounds, including weapons, bronze cauldrons, other utensils, and adornments. By the beginning of the 1st millennium A.D. the Sarmatians displaced the Scythians. In the 3rd–4th centuries A.D. a tribal alliance, represented by the items of Chernyakhov culture, developed. From the middle of the first millennium the formation of the Slavic people began. In the 9th century the eastern Slavs united into a state with Kiev as its centre. The Khazars, Polovtsy and Pechenegs were the Slavs' neighbours during different times. Archeological evidence of the period of the 9th–14th centuries survives in materials from the settlements and cities of Kievan Rus': Belgorod, Caffa- Theodosia, and Berezan Island.

The Mongols took over the Black Sea littoral in the 13th century.

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania acquired the area at the beginning of the 15th century.

In 1593 the Ottoman Empire set up in the area what became known as its Dnieper Province (Özü Eyalet), unofficially known as the Khanate of Ukraine.[4] Russian historiography refers to the area from 1791 as the Ochakov Oblast.[5] The territory of the Odessa oblast passed to Russian control in 1791 in the course of the Russian southern expansion towards the Black Sea at the end of the 18th century.

After the February Revolution of 1917 in Russia the area became part of the Ukrainian People's Republic (1917-1918), but soon succumbed first to the Russian Volunteer Army (part of the White movement) and then to the Russian Bolshevik Red Army. By 1920 the Soviet authorities had secured the territory of Odessa Oblast, which became part of the Ukrainian SSR. The oblast was established on 27 February 1932 from five districts: Odessa Okruha, Pervomaisk Okruha, Kirovohrad Okruha, Mykolaiv Okruha, and Kherson Okruha.

In 1937 the Central Executive Committee of the USSR split off the eastern portions of the Odessa Oblast to form the Mykolaiv Oblast.

During World War II Axis forces conquered the area and Romania occupied the oblast and administered it as part of the Transnistria Governorate (1941-1944). After the war the Soviet administration reestablished the oblast with its pre-war borders.

Odessa Oblast expanded in 1954 to absorb Izmail Oblast (also known as the Budjak region of Bessarabia), formed in 1940 as a result of the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina (from Romania), when Northern and Southern parts of Bessarabia were given to the Ukrainian SSR.

During the 1991 referendum, 85.38% of votes in Odessa Oblast favored the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine. A survey conducted in December 2014 by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found that 2.3% of the oblast's population supported their region joining Russia, 91.5% did not support the idea, and the rest were undecided or did not respond.[6] A poll reported by Alexei Navalny and conducted in September 2014 found similar results.[7]

Geography

The country's largest oblast by area, it occupies an area of around 33,300 square kilometres (12,900 sq mi). It is characterised by largely flat steppes divided by the estuary of the Dniester river. Its Black Sea coast comprises numerous sandy beaches, estuaries and lagoons. The region's soils are renowned for their fertility, and intensive agriculture is the mainstay of the local economy. The southwest has many orchards and vineyards, while arable crops are grown throughout the region.

Points of interest

Akkerman fortress

• Odessa Opera
• Akkerman fortress
• Potemkin Stairs

Economy

Rapeseed field in Odessa Oblast.

Significant branches of the oblast's economy are:

• oil refining and chemicals processing
• transportation (important sea and river ports, oil pipelines and railway);
• viticulture and other forms of agriculture, notably the growing of wheat, maize, barley, sunflowers and sugar beets.

The region's industrial capability is principally concentrated in and around Odessa.

Demographics

The oblast's population (as of 2004) is 2.4 million people, nearly 40% of whom live in the city of Odessa.

Significant Bulgarian (6.1%) and Romanian (5.0%) minorities reside in the province.[8] It has the highest proportion of Jews of any oblast in Ukraine (although smaller than the Autonomous City of Kiev) and there is a small Greek community in the city of Odessa.

Bulgarians and Romanians represent 21% and 13% respectively, of the population in the salient of Budjak, within Odessa oblast.

Year	Fertility	Birth
1990	1,8	33 166
1991	1,7	32 119
1992	1,6	30 155
1993	1,5	28 185
1994	1,4	26 197
1995	1,4	24 993
1996	1,3	23 666
1997	1,2	22 491
1998	1,2	21 273
1999	1,1	19 969
2000	1,1	20 042
2001	1,1	20 423
2002	1,2	21 227
2003	1,2	22 326
2004	1,3	23 343
2005	1,3	23 915
2006	1,4	25 113
2007	1,5	26 759
2008	1,6	28 780
2009	1,6	28 986
2010	1,6	28 690
2011	1,6	29 225
2012	1,7	30 384

Age structure

0-14 years: 15.5% (male 188,937/female 179,536)

15-64 years: 70.7% (male 812,411/female 867,706)

65 years and over: 14.0% (male 116,702/female 218,808) (2013 official)

Median age

total: 38.4 years

male: 35.4 years

female: 41.5 years (2013 official)

Religion

Religion in Odessa Oblast (2015)[9]

  Eastern Orthodoxy (84%)

  No religion (8%)

  Unaffiliated Christian (6%)

  Catholicism (0.5%)

  Protestantism (0.5%)

  Undecided (1%)

The dominant religion in Odessa Oblast is Eastern Orthodox Christianity, professed by 84% of the population. Another 8% declares to be non-religious and 6% are unaffiliated generic Christians. Adherents of Catholicism and Protestantism make up 0.5% of the population respectively.

The Orthodox community of Odessa Oblast is divided as follows:

• Non-denominational - 46%
• Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate - 31%
• Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate - 21%
• Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church - 1%
• Unknown - 1%

Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of Odessa Oblast

The Odessa Oblast is administratively subdivided into 26 raions (districts) and 7 municipalities which are directly subordinate to the oblast government - (Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Chornomorsk, Izmail, Podilsk, Teplodar, Yuzhne and the administrative center of the oblast, Odessa).

Detailed map of Odessa Oblast

Name	Ukrainian name	Area (km^2)	Population 2015[2]	Admin.center	Urban Population Only*[2]
Odessa	Одеса (місто)	139	1,010,490	Odessa (city)	1,010,490
Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi ^	Білгород-Дністровський (місто)	31	57,559	Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi (city)	57,559
Chornomorsk	Чорноморськ (місто)	25	72,553	Chornomorsk (city)	67,323
Izmail ^	Ізмаї́л (місто)	53	72,266	Izmail (city)	72,266
Podilsk	Подільськ (місто)	25	40,613	Podilsk (city)	40,613
Teplodar	Теплодар (місто)	3	10,277	Teplodar (city)	10,277
Yuzhne	Южне (місто)	9	32,149	Yuzhne (city)	32,149
Ananyiv Raion	Ананьївський (район)	1,050	26,999	Ananyiv	8,441
Artsyz Raion ^	Арцизький (район)	1,379	45,274	Artsyz	14,886
Balta Raion	Балтський (район)	1,317	41,666	Balta	18,940
Berezivka Raion	Березівський (район)	1,637	33,930	Berezivka	12,614
Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Raion ^	Білгород-Дністровський (район)	1,852	60,774	Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi (city)	N/A *
Bilyayivka Raion	Біляївський (район)	1,497	94,083	Biliaivka	14,334
Bolhrad Raion ^	Болградський (район)	1,364	69,148	Bolhrad	15,451
Ivanivka Raion	Іванівський (район)	1,162	26,604	Ivanivka	8,807
Izmail Raion ^	Ізмаїльський (район)	1,194	51,584	Izmail (city)	N/A *
Kiliya Raion ^	Кілійський (район)	1,358	52,400	Kiliya	28,434
Kodyma Raion	Кодимський (район)	818	29,586	Kodyma	11,195
Lyman Raion	Комінтернівський (район)	1,499	71,158	Dobroslav	14,028
Liubashivka Raion	Любашівський (район)	1,100	30,688	Liubashivka	10,954
Mykolaivka Raion	Миколаївський (район)	1,093	16,127	Mykolaivka	2,850
Ovidiopol Raion	Овідіопольський (район)	829	78,941	Ovidiopol	32,486
Okny Raion	Окнянський (район)	1,013	20,186	Okny	5,338
Podilsk Raion	Подільський (район)	1,037	27,091	Podilsk (city)	N/A *
Reni Raion ^	Ренійський (район)	861	58,352	Reni	25,527
Rozdilna Raion	Роздільнянський (район)	1,368	37,353	Rozdilna	19,003
Sarata Raion ^	Саратський (район)	1,474	45,057	Sarata	4,351
Savran Raion	Савранський (район)	617	19,083	Savran	6,420
Shyriaieve Raion	Ширяївський (район)	1,502	27,151	Shyriaieve	6,781
Tarutyne Raion ^	Тарутинський (район)	1,874	41,603	Tarutyne	12,932
Tatarbunary Raion ^	Татарбунарський (район)	1,748	38,825	Tatarbunary	10,988
Velyka Mykhailivka Raion	Великомихайлівський (район)	1,436	31,006	Velyka Mykhailivka	8,472
Zakharivka Raion	Захарівський (район)	956	20,233	Zakharivka	8,881

• Note: An asterisk (^) indicates the two municipalities and nine raions which previously constituted Izmail Oblast until that former oblast's merger with Odessa Oblast on 15 February 1954; these areas lie to the west of the Dniester River, and formerly constituted the territory known as the Budjak (southern Bessarabia).
• Note: Asterisks (*) Though the administrative center of the rayon is housed in the city/town that it is named after, cities do not answer to the rayon authorities only towns do; instead they are directly subordinated to the oblast government and therefore are not counted as part of rayon statistics.

Notable people

One of the most famous Odessits is Sergei Utochkin who was a universal sportsman excelling in cycling, boxing, swimming and played football for the Odessa British Athletic Club.[3] Utochkin had challenged a steam-powered tram while running, on a bicycle he beat a galloping horse, while on roller skates he was passing a bicyclist.[3] The next stage for him was to conquest skies.[3] Utochkin managed to buy an airplane from a local banker and completed dozens of exhibition flights.[3] Eventually, he managed to assemble his own Farman-type airplane.[3] In Kiev, Utochkin was demonstrating his piloting skills in front of some 50,000 people, among which was a future creator of helicopters Igor Sikorsky.[3]

In the Southern Palmyra were also born a poet Anna Akhmatova, former NASA scientist Nicholas E. Golovin who worked with the Apollo program, as well as the founder of jazz in the Soviet Union Leonid Utyosov.[3]

See also

• Subdivisions of Ukraine
• Kherson Governorate
• Budjak
• Transnistria
• Gagauzia
• Bessarabia
• Moldova
• Romania
• Ukraine
• Black Sea
• USSR

References

1. "President introduced new Odesa RSA Head Maksym Kutsyi". Office of the President of Ukraine. October 11, 2019. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
2. "Населення та міграція, Чисельність населення на 1 грудня 2015 року та середня за січень-листопад 2015 року" [Population and migration, Population as of December 1, 2015 and average for January-November 2015]. UkrStat (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 7 January 2016.
3. Tell about Ukraine. Odessa Oblast. 24 Kanal (youtube).
4. Secrieru, Mihaela. "Republic of Moldavia – an Intermezzo on the Signing and the Ratification of the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages" (PDF). Iași: "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University of Iaşi. p. 2. Retrieved 2014-09-19. On the left shore of the River Nistru [Dniester] there was the Khanate of Ukraine and of the properties of the Polish Crown, and their inhabitants, until the end of the 18th century, were the Moldavians[.]
5. Friesen, Leonard G. (2008). Rural Revolutions in Southern Ukraine: Peasants, Nobles, and Colonists, 1774-1905. Harvard series in Ukrainian studies. 59. Harvard University Press. p. 40. ISBN 9781932650006. Retrieved 2014-09-19. [...] the war with the Ottoman Empire [...] ended with the Treaty of Eternal Peace in December 1791, whereby the so-called Ochakiv (Ochakov) oblast was brought into the empire.
6. Лише 3% українців хочуть приєднання їх області до Росії [Only 3% of Ukrainians want their region to become part of Russia]. Dzerkalo Tyzhnia (in Ukrainian). 3 January 2015.
7. Navalny, Alexei (23 September 2014). Соцопрос ФБК по Харьковской и Одесской областям. Европа, Россия, Новороссия [Survey of Kharkov and Odessa Oblasts] (in Russian). navalny.com. Archived from the original on 23 September 2014.
8. Results of the 2001 All-Ukrainian population census for the Odessa oblast
9. "Religious preferences of the population of Ukraine". Sociology poll by Razumkov Centre, SOCIS, Rating and KIIS about the religious situation in Ukraine (2015)

External links

• Odessa regional administration homepage
• Maps of Odessa oblast Cities, Towns and Villages