Ukraine is subdivided into 24 oblasts (Ukrainian singular: область, oblast'; plural області, oblasti), 1 autonomous republic (автономна республіка, avtonomna respublika), and 2 "cities with special status" (singular місто зі спеціальним статусом, misto zi spetsial'nym statusom).

General Scheme of Administrative Subdivision

Those 3 types of national-level units are further subdivided into raions (Ukrainian singular: район, raion). Urban settlements (Ukrainian singular: місто, misto) are subordinated to either the central government, oblast' or raion, depending on their population size and socioeconomic importance (see also: List of cities in Ukraine). The raions (districts) are a constituent part of oblasts, but also of large urban settlements (i.e. cities and megacities). The typical misto may be considered to be a city, not a town (compare to City status in the United Kingdom). However, the misto's subordination to either oblast' or raion should be taken into account, especially in the political sense. There are also a few lowest-level administrative units, which may be generally called villages.

Notes

1. Romanized using Ukrainian National standard. Details at Romanization of Ukrainian.
2. Province is more precise because region may also refer to supranational geographic entity.
3. Region is ambiguous since it usually refers to larger national-level units; area is inaccurate.

Oblasts

Most of Ukraine's oblast's (provinces) are named after their capital cities, officially called "centers" (Ukrainian singular: обласний центр, oblasnyi tsentr). The name of each oblast' is a relative adjective, formed by adding a feminine suffix to the name of respective center city. E.g. Poltava is a center of Poltavs'ka oblast'.

Exceptions to this rule include:

• Two oblasts, Volyns'ka and Zakarpats'ka, which retain the names of their respective historical regions (see Volyn and Transcarpathia), while their capitals are Luts'k and Uzhhorod, respectively.

• Kyiv,which is a municipality independent of the surrounding Kyivs'ka oblast', but also the center of that oblast' (administrative bodies of the oblast' are situated inside the city).

Unlike state capitals in the United States or other similar cities, the oblast' center in Ukraine is usually the largest and most developed city in given province.

Autonomous Republic of Crimea

The Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Ukrainian: Автономна Республіка Крим, Avtonomna Respublika Krym), formerly termed the Kryms'ka oblast' of the Ukrainian SSR, is, geographically, a Crimean peninsula in the south of Ukraine. Its capital is Simferopol.

Municipalities

Municipalities, (i.e. cities with special status, subordinated to Ukraine's central government) include Kyiv (the capital of the country) and Sevastopol. They retain their status from the administrative subdivision of Ukrainian SSR. The exact legal status of each city is determined by special laws.

Administrative subdivision: Overview

The above-mentioned system reflects Ukraine's status as a unitary state (as stated in the country's constitution) with unified legal and administrative regime for each unit. However, experts agree that the wide autonomy of Crimea, the cultural and historical differences between provinces, combined with a lack of local democracy and order, diminish the formal unity of Ukraine significantly. The territorial, demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of some oblasts (such as of Donets'ka and Chernivets'ka) also weaken Ukraines's unity. This has the effect of slowing integration and causing local underdevelopment. So well-grounded reasons exist for reforming Ukraine's territorial structure, including: the integration of a few small oblast's, the broadening of oblast' and city authority, and restricting the autonomy of the Crimean peninisula.

For an understanding of the cultural and socioeconomic differences within the country, a knowledge of the Ukrainian historical regions is as crucial as studying its administrative structure.

See also

• List of cities in Ukraine
• History of Ukraine
• Geography of Ukraine
• Culture of Ukraine
• Government of Ukraine
• Politics of Ukraine
• Economy of Ukraine
• Demographics of Ukraine
• Transportation in Ukraine
• Tourism in Ukraine
• Historical regions of Central Europe
• Autonomous region

External link

• List of raions - sub-subdivisions of oblasts