Khmelnytskyi Oblast

Khmelnytskyi Oblast has a total area of 20,600 km² (7,953.70 sq mi) (3.4% of the total area of Ukraine) and is located between 48°27' and 50°37' north latitude and between 26°09' and 27°56' east longitude. It is 220 km (136.70 mi) long when measured from north to south, and is 120 km (74.56 mi) in length when measured from east to west. It is associated with a historical region of Podolia, yet in reality its territory is split almost in half, the northern in Volhynia, and the southern in Podolia. Its Volhynian region contains smaller cities like Izyaslav, Starokostiantyniv, Shepetivka, while its Podolian portion more developed cities of Khmelnytskyi and Kamianets-Podilskyi.

The oblast borders the Rivne Oblast to the northwest, the Zhytomyr Oblast to the northeast, the Vinnytsia Oblast to the east, the Chernivtsi Oblast to the south, and the Ternopil Oblast to the west.

Historic administrative affiliation of the area:

• 1937-1941: USSR, Ukrainian SSR
• 1944-1991: USSR, Ukrainian SSR
• since 1991: Ukraine: Khmelnytskyi region

Khmelnytskyi Oblast was created on September 22, 1937 as the Kamianets-Podilskyi Oblast (Ukrainian: Кам’янець-Подільськa область, translit., Kamyanets-Podil'ska oblast’) out of border okrugs (Prokuriv and Kamianets-Podilskyi) of the Vinnytsia Oblast.

In March 1941 the administrative center of the oblast was moved from Kamianets-Podilskyi to the city of Proskuriv. During the World War II the territory was part of another administrative division (General District Wolhynien und Podolien, see Reichskommissariat Ukraine), but after liberation from the Nazi Germany, Khmelnytskyi Oblast was reinstated in its original borders. In 1954, Proskuriv was renamed Khmelnytskyi, and soon afterward, the oblast was renamed to Khmelnytskyi Oblast (Ukrainian: Хмельницька область, translit., Khmel'nytska oblast’).

The oblast is subdivided into 20 raions (administrative districts). It consists of 6 municipalities, 13 cities, 24 towns, and more than 1,417 villages.

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

• Administrative Center – 1 (Khmelnytskyi)
• Raions — 20;
• City raions — 0;
• Settlements — 1452, including:
  • Villages — 1415;
  • Cities/Towns — 37, including:
    • Urban-type settlement — 24;
    • Cities — 13, including:
      • Cities of oblast' subordinance — 6;
      • Cities of raion subordinance — 7;
• Selsovets — 568.

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

The beginning of city's main street, Proskurivska street in Khmelnytskyi

The Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle. The bastion on the right was guarding the bridgehead leading to the fortress. In the far right the "New Castle" is visible.

Medieval fortress in Letychiv

Khmelnytskyi Oblast's population is 1,401,140 as of January 1, 2004. As of 2002, the oblast ranks 13th by population in Ukraine. The population density is 69.5/km².

Pensioners make up 453,800 thousand people or 31,7% of population. The birth rate per 1,000 residents is 8.3, and the death rate — per 1000 residents – 16.1.[4] The urban population, according to the 2001 Ukrainian Census data, accounted for 729,600 people, or 51%, and the rural population — for 701,200 people, or 49%.[5]

According to the data, the number of men accounted for 659,900 people, or 46.1%, that of women — 770,900 people, or 53.9%.

The economy of the oblast mostly deals with the energy industry, transport and agriculture. The oblast is situated at a historical crossroad of the railway and highway routes connecting Central Europe to Black Sea coast and Russia (with the city of Shepetivka being the most important railway junction). The Khmelnyts’ka nuclear power plant in the city of Netishyn is the most important industrial company of the oblast. Notable machinery, armament and chemical industries are also present.

• Kamyanets National historical-architectural preserve
• Medjybizh National historical-cultural preserve
• Samchyky State historical-cultural preserve

Most of Ukraine's oblasts are named after their administrative center 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 respective center city: Khmelnytskyi is the center of the Khmelnyts’ka oblast’ (Khmelnytska oblast).

• List of villages in Khmelnytskyi Oblast
• Subdivisions of Ukraine
• Volhynia
• Podolia