Chernihiv Oblast
Chernihiv Oblast (; also referred to as Chernihivshchyna, ) is an oblast (province) of northern Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Chernihiv. Within the Oblast are 1,511 settlements of various sizes ranging from large cities to very small villages. Population: Geography. The total area of the province is around 31,900 km². The oblast is bordered on the west by the Kyiv Reservoir of the Dnieper River and Kyiv Oblast, Kyiv Oblast has a enclave known as Slavutych, which was created from the Chernihiv oblast for the inhabitants of Chernobyl following the Chernobyl disaster. by the  Sumy Oblast to the east, and the Poltava Oblast to the south. The northern border of the oblast is part of Ukraine's international border abutting Belarus's Homyel Voblast in the north-west and the Russian Bryansk Oblast in the north-east, respectively. The oblast is bisected into northern and southern sections by the Desna River, which enters the Dnieper just north of the Kyiv city limits. History. Chernihiv Oblast was created as part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on 15 October 1932. The capital city of Chernihiv has known human settlement for over 2,000 years, according to  archaeological excavations. The Chernihiv Oblast comprises a very important historical region, notable as early as the Kievan Rus' period, when the cities of Chernihiv and Novhorod-Siverskyi were frequently mentioned. The city of Chernihiv was the second most important Ukrainian city during the Rus' period of Ukrainian history, often serving as a major regional capital. Danylo of Chernihiv wrote of his pilgrimage to Jerusalem during this era. The numerous architectural monuments of the city bear witness to the invasions suffered, including those by the Tatars/Mongols, Lithuanians, Poles, Nazis and the Russians. On the territory of the region took place  numerous tragic events such as Battle of Kruty, Tragedy of Koryukivka, and many others. During the 2022 invasion of Ukraine the Chernihiv Oblast was one of the first regions where Russian and Ukrainian forces clashed. On 4 April 2022 Governor of Chernihiv Oblast Vyacheslav Chaus stated that the Russian military has left Chernihiv Oblast, but that it had planted mines in many areas. On 4 and 5 April 2022 units of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine retook control of their border crossing in Chernihiv Oblast. The oblast is located in the historic region of Polesia (, translit. "Polissia"). Administrative  subdivisions. Since July 2020, Cherkasy Oblast is administratively subdivided into 5 "raions" (districts). The following data incorporates the number of each type of administrative divisions of the Chernihiv Oblast: The local administration of the oblast is controlled by the Chernihiv Oblast Rada. The governor of the oblast is the Chernihiv Oblast Rada speaker, appointed by the President of Ukraine. Raions. The five raions ("districts") of the Chernihiv Oblast are: The Slavutych municipality is located in Chernihiv Oblast on the eastern bank of the Dnieper, but officially belongs to Kyiv Oblast (being an administrative exclave). Demographics. The current estimated population of  the oblast is around 1,055,673 (as of 2015). The population of the oblast is predominantly Ukrainian, with minority Belarusian and Russian populations concentrated in the northern districts. The province has experienced long-term population decline. The population has fallen 23% from the 1959 figure of 1,554,000, the steepest decline of any Ukrainian oblast. It has the lowest population density in the country. Economy. Industry. The economy of the Chernihiv Oblast mostly deals with petroleum and natural gas extraction, transport, machinery, tobacco and textile industry. A major tobacco factory is situated in Pryluky. Cities of Bakhmach and Nizhyn are the important  railway junctions on the route from Russia and Belarus to South-Eastern Europe. There are notable machinery and electronics industries in Chernihiv. Chernihiv also has a beer brewery producing beer under the name "Chernihivske". Religion. The religion among believers in the oblast is overwhelmingly Eastern Orthodox. A substantial percentage of the population is atheist. Small minorities of Ukrainian Catholics, Roman Catholics (including the descendants of earlier Polish colonists), and recent converts to Protestantism are also present. Culture and tourist attractions. There are a few outstanding historical Orthodox churches and buildings in Chernihiv, Novhorod-Siverskyi, Liubech, Nizhyn (Nezhyn) and Koselets' (a  city of Ancient Rus', older than Kyiv). Nizhyn is an historical cossack city and home to a university. Chernihiv region was famous for its specific style of folk icon-painting. Brightness and realistic depictions of the saints were typical for it, with red and hot yellow paints used. The icons were decorated by flowers which reminded of Slavonic pre-Christian traditions. The icons from Chernihiv region were spread outside its territory. Many of them are preserved in the Museum of Ukrainian home icons of the Radomysl Castle. Nomenclature. Most of Ukraine's oblasts are named after their capital cities, officially  referred to as "oblast centers" (, translit. "oblasnyi tsentr"). The name of each oblast is a relative adjective, formed by adding a feminine suffix to the name of respective centre city: "Chernihiv" is the centre of the "Chernihivs’ka oblast’" (Chernihiv 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 Chernihiv Oblast, "Chernihivshchyna".