Khmelnytskyi Oblast
Khmelnytskyi Oblast, also known as Khmelnychchyna, is an oblast in western Ukraine covering portions of the historical regions of western Podolia and southern Volhynia. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Khmelnytskyi. The current estimated population is around
Created in 1937 out of border okrugs of Vinnytsia Oblast, in 1941–44 it was under Nazi Germany occupation and part of the Reichskommissariat Ukraine. Following the Kamenets-Podolsky pocket in spring of 1944 as part of the Proskurov-Chernovtsy operation, Soviet troops removed the German occupation in the region. Until 4 February 1954 it was called Kamianets-Podilskyi Oblast and was centered in Kamianets-Podilsky until 1941. The region rebranding took place after the official renaming of the region's administrative center to Khmelnytskyi.
Geography
Khmelnytskyi Oblast has a total area of and is located between 48°27' and 50°37' north latitude and between 26°09' and 27°56' east longitude. It is long when measured from north to south, and is 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 Iziaslav, 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.
Elevations
The Podolian Upland occupies the central area of the Khmelnytskyi Oblast. The northwestern areas of the oblast are part of the Volyn highland, while to the north, the oblast claims a part of the historic region of Polissia. The southwestern territory of the Khmelnytskyi Oblast is crossed by the Tovtry range, which includes Mount Velyka Buhaikha, the highest point of the oblast at 409 m above sea-level. The extreme south of the oblast has a surface with canyon-like river valleys. The Dniester Reservoir located there is the lowest point of the oblast.Rivers and Lakes
There are 120 rivers with a length of or more in the Khmelnytskyi Oblast. The largest of these are the Dniester River, as well as its tributaries: Smotrych, Ushytsia, and the Zbruch — and the Southern Buh River, as well as its tributaries: Buzhok, Ikva, and Vovk. The rivers of the Dnieper River's basin — Horyn, Khmora, and Sluch Rivers also run through the oblast. The oblast's lakes are located mostly in basin of the Horyn River. The largest reservoir in the oblast is the Dniester Reservoir.There are 1858 ponds and/or reservoirs in the oblast. The largest of these include Shchedrivske, Novostavske, and Kuzmynske.
History
Historic administrative affiliation of the area:- 1937–1941: USSR, Ukrainian SSR
- 1944–1991: USSR, Ukrainian SSR
- since 1991: Ukraine: Khmelnytskyi 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, 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.
Administrative divisions
The oblast is subdivided into 3 raions. It consists of 13 cities, 24 towns, and more than 1,417 villages.The following data incorporates the number of each type of administrative divisions of Khmelnytskyi Oblast:
- Administrative Center – 1 ;
- Raions — 3;
- Hromadas — 60.
Demographics
According to the 2001 Ukrainian census, ethnic Ukrainians accounted for 93.9% of the population of Khmelnytskyi Oblast, ethnic Russians for 3.6%, and ethnic Poles for 1.6%.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. 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%.
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%.
Language
Due to the Russification of Ukraine during the Soviet era, the share of Ukrainian speakers in the population of Khmelnytskyi Oblast gradually decreased between the 1970 and 1989 censuses, while the share of Russian speakers increased. Native language of the population of Khmelnytskyi Oblast according to the results of population censuses:| 1959 | 1970 | 1979 | 1989 | 2001 | |
| Ukrainian | 89.4% | 93.1% | 92.3% | 91.3% | 95.2% |
| Russian | 5.7% | 5.8% | 6.9% | 8.0% | 4.1% |
| Other | 4.9% | 1.1% | 0.8% | 0.7% | 0.7% |
Native language of the population of the raions and cities of Khmelnytskyi Oblast according to the 2001 Ukrainian census:
| Ukrainian | Russian | |
| Khmelnytskyi Oblast | 95.2% | 4.1% |
| City of Khmelnytskyi | 88.4% | 10.4% |
| City of Kamianets-Podilskyi | 91.2% | 7.1% |
| City of Netishyn | 87.7% | 11.4% |
| City of Slavuta | 92.3% | 7.2% |
| City of Shepetivka | 93.5% | 5.7% |
| City of Starokostiantyniv | 92.0% | 7.5% |
| Bilohiria Raion | 99.0% | 0.8% |
| Vinkivtsi Raion | 97.2% | 2.6% |
| Volochysk Raion | 98.5% | 1.3% |
| Horodok Raion | 98.5% | 1.0% |
| Derazhnia Raion | 98.2% | 1.4% |
| Dunaivtsi Raion | 98.4% | 1.3% |
| Iziaslav Raion | 97.0% | 2.8% |
| Kamianets-Podilskyi Raion | 98.6% | 1.2% |
| Krasyliv Raion | 98.4% | 1.4% |
| Letychiv Raion | 98.2% | 1.5% |
| Nova Ushytsia Raion | 96.5% | 3.3% |
| Polonne Raion | 98.4% | 1.4% |
| Slavuta Raion | 98.8% | 1.1% |
| Starokostiantyniv Raion | 98.6% | 1.1% |
| Stara Syniava Raion | 98.7% | 0.8% |
| Teofipol Raion | 98.9% | 0.8% |
| Khmelnytskyi Raion | 95.8% | 2.0% |
| Chemerivtsi Raion | 99.1% | 0.8% |
| Shepetivka Raion | 97.9% | 1.7% |
| Yarmolyntsi Raion | 98.1% | 1.5% |
Ukrainian is the only official language on the whole territory of Khmelnytskyi Oblast.
According to a poll conducted by Rating from 16 November to 10 December 2018 as part of the project «Portraits of Regions», 85% of the residents of Khmelnytskyi Oblast believed that the Ukrainian language should be the only state language on the entire territory of Ukraine. 8% believed that Ukrainian should be the only state language, while Russian should be the second official language in some regions of the country. 3% believed that Russian should become the second state language of the country. 4% found it difficult to answer.
On 15 June 2022, a moratorium on the public use of Russian-language cultural products was imposed in Khmelnytskyi Oblast by a decision of the Khmelnytskyi Oblast Council.
In 2023, Khmelnytskyi Oblast Military Administration approved the «Programme of development and functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language in all spheres of public life in Khmelnytskyi Oblast for 2023—2025», the main purpose of which is to strengthen the position of the Ukrainian language in various spheres of public life in the oblast.
According to the research of the Content Analysis Centre, conducted from 15 August to 15 September 2024, the topic of which was the ratio of Ukrainian and Russian languages in the Ukrainian segment of social media, 88.8% of posts from Khmelnytskyi Oblast were written in Ukrainian, while 11.2% were written in Russian.
After Ukraine declared independence in 1991, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, as well as Ukraine as a whole, experienced a gradual Ukrainization of the education system, which had been Russified during the Soviet era. Dynamics of the ratio of the languages of instruction in general secondary education institutions in Khmelnytskyi Oblast:
| Language of instruction, % of pupils | 1991— 1992 | 1992— 1993 | 1993— 1994 | 1994— 1995 | 1995— 1996 | 2000— 2001 | 2005— 2006 | 2007— 2008 | 2010— 2011 | 2012— 2013 | 2015— 2016 | 2018— 2019 | 2021— 2022 | 2022— 2023 |
| Ukrainian | 81.5% | 84.1% | 87.3% | 89.7% | 92.0% | 98.0% | 99.3% | 99.5% | 99.5% | 99.5% | 99.5% | 99.7% | 99.90% | 99.74% |
| Russian | 18.5% | 15.9% | 12.7% | 10.3% | 8.0% | 2.0% | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.1% | — | — |
According to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, in the 2023–2024 school year, of the 135,705 pupils in general secondary education institutions in Khmelnytskyi Oblast, 135,475 were studying in classes where Ukrainian was the language of instruction, while 230 were studying in classes where Polish was the language of instruction.