Kharkiv Oblast

**Kharkiv Oblast** (, translit. *Kharkivs’ka oblast’*; an aa referred tae as  **[[Kharkiv Oblast#Nomenclatur|Kharkivshchyna]]** – **) is an oblast (province) in eastren Ukraine. The oblast borders Roushie tae the north, Luhansk Oblast tae the east, Donetsk Oblast tae the sootheast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast tae the soothwast, Poltava Oblast tae the wast an Sumy Oblast tae the northwast. The aurie o the oblast is 31,400&nbsp;km², correspondin tae 5.2% o the tot territory o Ukraine.

The oblast is the third maist muckle region o Ukraine, wi a population o 2,857,751 (2004), mair nor hauf (1.5 million) o whom live in the ceety o Kharkiv, the oblast's admeenistrative center. While the Roushie leid is primarily spoken in the ceeties o Kharkiv oblast, elsewhaur in the oblast maist indwallers speak Ukrainian.

## History

The territory o the Kharkiv oblast haes been permanently inhabitit syne at least the late Paleolithic period (10,000–12,000 year ago) but airchaeological evidence indicates a human (Neanderthal) presence as early as the Mousterian period some 80,000 year ago.

The territory wis relatively spairsely inhabitit till the 1630s, when muckle nummers o Ukrainians began tae settle thare afore an durin the Khmelnytsky Uprisin. Maist o the settlers wur migrants frae the Dnieper region, mony o whom wur fleein fechtin atween Cossacks, Poles an Tatars. Thay cried the newly settled region the *[[Sloboda Ukraine]]* or *Slobozhanshchina*, as the aurie is still whiles cried, an ruled it frae the newly established fortress-ceety o Kharkiv (foondit 1656). In 1654, the region wis incorporatit intae Muscovy (an subsequently the Roushie Empire) unner the terms o the Treaty o Pereyaslav.

Ower the next 340 year, the aurie became hivily Roushifee'd. Kharkiv itsel became ane o the cultural an admeenistrative centres o the Roushie Empire in the mid-18t century, an served as the caipital o the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic frae 1919 till 1934, when the Soviet authorities muivit the caipital back tae Kiev. The modren Kharkiv oblast is a relatively recent creation, haein been established on 27 Februar 1932. Durin the Holodomor the population o the Kharkiv Oblast thegither wi Kiev Oblast suffered the maist. The region saw major fechtin durin Warld War II in several Battles o Kharkov atween 1941 an 1943.

## Points o interest
The follaein steids wur nominatit for the Seiven Wonders o Ukraine.
* Derzhprom Biggin
* Pokrov monastery (Kharkiv)
* Skovoroda museum

## Demographics

Its population (as o 2001) is 2,895,800 million (1328900 males (45,9 %), 1566900 females (54,1%)).

As o the 2001 census, the ethnic groups athin the Kharkiv Oblast are:

* Ukrainians – 70.7%,
* Roushies – 25.6%,
* Belaroushies – 0.5%
* Jews – 0.4%,
* Armenians – 0.4%,
* Azeris – 0.2%,
* Georgians – 0.15%,
* Tatars – 0.14%,
* ithers – 2.1%,;

the groups bi native leid:

*Ukrainian 53.8%,
*Roushie 44.3%,
*ither leids 1.9%.

## Economy
The Kharkiv oblast haes a primarily industrially based economy, includin ingineerin, metallurgy, manufacturin, production o chemicals an fuid processin. It an aa haes an important agricultural sector wi 19,000 square kilometres o arable land (comprising 5.9% o the tot arable lands o Ukraine).

An aa in Kharkiv is the Airplane plant for space controllin seestems. It is a major centre for aw branches o ingineerin, frae muckle-scale manufactur tae microelectronics. An aa situatit in Kharkiv Oblast is a gas field, which is ane o the biggest in Ukraine.

## Subdiveesions

The Kharkiv Oblast is admeenistratively subdividit intae 27 raions (destricts), as well as 7 ceeties (municipalities) which are directly subordinate tae the oblast govrenment: Chuhuiv, Izium, Kupiansk, Liubotyn, Lozova, Pervomaiskyi, an the admeenistrative centre o the oblast, Kharkiv.

## Nomenclatur

Maist o Ukraine's oblasts are named efter thair caipital ceeties, offeecially referred tae as "oblast centers" (, translit. *oblasnyi tsentr*). The name o each oblast is a relative adjective, formed bi addin a feminine suffix tae the name o respective centre ceety: *Kharkiv* is the centre o  the *Kharkivs’ka oblast’* (Kharkiv Oblast). Maist oblasts are an aw whiles referred tae in a feminine noun form, follaein the convention o traditional regional place names, endin wi the suffix "-shchyna", as is the case wi the Kharkiv Oblast, *Kharkivshchyna*.

## Notes

## Freemit airtins
* Kharkiv Oblast Facts & Figures 
* Kharkiv Oblast statistics 
* Maps o Kharkiv oblast Ceeties, Touns an Veelages
* Aboot Kharkiv Oblast 
* Post codes directory o Kharkiv Oblast