# Poltava Oblast

Poltava Oblast (Ukrainian: Полтавська область, romanized: Poltavska oblast), also referred to as Poltavshchyna (Ukrainian: Полтавщина), is an oblast (province) of central Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Poltava. Most of its territory was part of the southern regions of the Cossack Hetmanate. Population: 1,352,283 (2022 estimate).
Three other important cities in the oblast are Horishni Plavni, Kremenchuk, and Lubny.

## History

The Poltava Oblast was established on 22 September 1937 by a resolution of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union. It was based mostly on rayons (districts) that were part of Kharkiv Oblast, with some from Kyiv Oblast. The region approximately corresponds to the earlier Poltava Governorate (1802–1925).
During the Nazi Germany occupation in 1941–43, most of the region belonged to Kiew Generalbezirke (general district), while the rest was part of the German military rear area. After the withdrawal of German forces, the region was reinstated almost to the same borders. In the 1950s it lost some of its territories to Kyiv Oblast and the newly created Cherkasy Oblast. Some were submerged with the creation of the Kremenchuk Reservoir in 1959. In 2020, as part of a general Ukrainian administrative reform, Poltava Oblast reduced the number of its raions by increasing them in size.
During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the town of Myrhorod was bombed. However, there has been no ground fighting and the province remains completely under Ukrainian control.

## Geography

Poltava Oblast is situated in the central part of Ukraine. Located on the left bank of the Dnieper, the Poltava region was part of the Cossack Hetmanate. It has an area of 28,800 km$^2$. The oblast borders Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad, Cherkasy and Kyiv oblasts. The oblast does not contain any notable landforms apart from the Dnieper river, the land is gently undulating.

## Points of interest

The following historic-cultural sites were nominated for the Seven Wonders of Ukraine.
* Gogol Museum-Reserve
* Kotliarevsky Museum and Manor
* Saint Nicholas Church
* Poltava Regional Studies Museum
* Exaltation of the Holy Cross Monastery
Other points of interest include the Poltava Regional Zemstvo Building, the site of the Battle of Poltava, and the Bilsk hillfort.

## Demographics

As of 2018, its population was 1,400,000 and population density was 49 people per 1 km$^2$.

### Age structure

    0–14 years: 13.2% (male 99,444/female 93,949)
    15–64 years: 69.9% (male 483,389/female 530,911)
    65 years and over: 16.9% (male 81,435/female 164,861) (2013 official)

### Median age

    total: 41.4 years
    male: 38.0 years
    female: 44.7 years (2013 official)

## Economy
### Industry

The oblast is a center of Ukraine's oil and natural gas industry, with many wells and pipelines situated here. There is a major oil refinery plant in the city of Kremenchuk. Important iron ore processing facilities also present. In general, there are 374 large industrial organization and 618 small industrial organizations.

### Agriculture

In 1999 the gross grain yield was about 14,529 thousand tons, sugar beets – 1,002,900 tons, sunflower seeds – 166,200 tons, potatoes – 279,900 tons. The oblast also produced 120,500 tons of meat, 645,900 tons of milk and 423,200,00 eggs. At the beginning of 1999 there were 1,311 registered farms in the region.

## Administrative divisions

The oblast is divided into 4 districts and 60 hromadas.
The local administration of the oblast is controlled by the Poltava Oblast Rada. The governor of the oblast is the Poltava Oblast Rada speaker, appointed by the President of Ukraine.
The following data incorporates the number of each type of administrative divisions of the Poltava Oblast:
* Administrative centre – 1 (Poltava)
* Raions – 4
** Hromadas – 60
On 18 July 2020, the number of raions was reduced to four. These are:
* Kremenchuk Raion (Кременчуцький район), the center is in the city of Kremenchuk;
* Lubny Raion (Лубенський район), the center is in the city of Lubny;
* Myrhorod Raion (Миргородський район), the center is in the city of Myrhorod;
* Poltava Raion (Полтавський район), the center is in the city of Poltava.

### Until 2020

| Name | Ukrainian name | Area (km$^2$) | Population census 2015 | Admin. center | Urban population |
| Poltava | Полта́ва (місто) | 103 | 293,945 | Poltava (city) | 293,945 |
| Horishni Plavni | Горішні Плавні (місто) | 34 | 54,701 | Horishni Plavni (city) | 52,144 |
| Kremenchuk | Кременчу́к (місто) | 96 | 223,942 | Kremenchuk (city) | 223,942 |
| Lubny | Лубни (місто) | 46 | 46,820 | Lubny (city) | 46,820 |
| Myrhorod | Миргород (місто) | 20 | 40,440 | Myrhorod (city) | 40,440 |
| Chornukhy Raion | Чорнухинський район | 682 | 11,485 | Chornukhy | 2,581 |
| Chutove Raion | Чутівський район | 861 | 22,976 | Chutove | 9,468 |
| Dykanka Raion | Диканський район | 679 | 18,993 | Dykanka | 7,804 |
| Hadiach Raion | Гадяцький район | 1,595 | 29,767 | Hadiach | 24,005 |
| Hlobyne Raion | Глобинський район | 2,500 | 44,007 | Hlobyne | 16,182 |
| Hrebinka Raion | Гребінківський район | 595 | 22,589 | Hrebinka | 10,926 |
| Karlivka Raion | Карлівський район | 854 | 34,121 | Karlivka | 14,997 |
| Khorol Raion | Хорольський район | 1,062 | 34,670 | Khorol | 13,304 |
| Kobeliaky Raion | Кобеляцький район | 1,823 | 42,419 | Kobeliaky | 14,982 |
| Kotelva Raion | Котелевський район | 800 | 19,674 | Kotelva | 12,406 |
| Kozelshchyna Raion | Козельщинський район | 930 | 19,575 | Kozelshchyna | 5,981 |
| Kremenchuk Raion | Кременчуцький район | 1,200 | 39,699 | Kremenchuk (city) | N/A * |
| Lokhvytsia Raion | Лохвицький район | 1,300 | 43,274 | Lokhvytsia | 20,187 |
| Lubny Raion | Лубенський район | 1,378 | 31,983 | Lubny (city) | N/A * |
| Mashivka Raion | Машівський район | 889 | 19,609 | Mashivka | 3,815 |
| Myrhorod Raion | Миргородський район | 1,540 | 32,115 | Myrhorod (city) | N/A * |
| Novi Sanzhary Raion | Новосанжарський район | 1,300 | 34,620 | Novi Sanzhary | 8,375 |
| Orzhytsia Raion | Оржицький район | 1,000 | 24228 | Orzhytsia | 5,369 |
| Poltava Raion | Полтавський район | 1,259 | 67,095 | Poltava (city) | N/A * |
| Pyriatyn Raion | Пирятинський район | 864 | 31,809 | Pyriatyn | 15,796 |
| Reshetylivka Raion | Решетилівський район | 1,009 | 26,399 | Reshetylivka | 9,340 |
| Semenivka Raion | Семенівський район | 1,300 | 25,456 | Semenivka | 6,244 |
| Shyshaky Raion | Шишацький район | 790 | 20,423 | Shyshaky | 4,545 |
| Velyka Bahachka Raion | Великобагачанський район | 1,000 | 25,145 | Velyka Bahachka | 8,350 |
| Zinkiv Raion | Зіньківський район | 1,360 | 34,700 | Zinkiv | 15,179 |
Note: Asterisks (*) Though the administrative center of the raion is housed in the city that it is named after, cities do not answer to the raion authorities only towns do; instead they are directly subordinated to the oblast government and therefore are not counted as part of raion statistics.

## Nomenclature

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 respective center city: Poltava is the center of the Poltavs'ka oblast' (Poltava 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 Poltava Oblast, Poltavshchyna.

## Gallery

* Corpus garden
* Kremenchuk
* Lubny
* Myrhorod
* Hadiach
* Karlivka
* Khorol
* Kotelva
* Railway station in Kremenchuk
* Monument to those killed in the Second World War
* Detail of Diorama of Battle of Poltava
* Deivka