Odesa Oblast
Одеська область
Odeska oblast[1]
Flag of Odesa Oblast
Coat of arms of Odesa Oblast
Coordinates: 47°00′N 30°00′E / 47.000°N 30.000°E / 47.000; 30.000
Country Ukraine
Administrative centerOdesa
Government
  GovernorOleh Kiper[2]
  Oblast council84 seats
  ChairpersonSerhiy Paraschenko (Petro Poroshenko Bloc)
Area
  Total33,313.69 km2 (12,862.49 sq mi)
  RankRanked 1st
Population
 (2022)[3]
  TotalDecrease 2,351,392
  RankRanked 6
Gross Regional Product
  Total₴ 272 billion
(€7.034 billion)
  Per capita₴ 115,129
(€2,982)
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
  Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code
Area code+380-48
ISO 3166 codeUA-51
Raions26
Cities (total)19
 Regional cities7
Urban-type settlements33
Villages1138
FIPS 10-4UP17
Websiteoda.od.gov.ua

Odesa Oblast (Ukrainian: Одеська область, romanized: Odeska oblast), also referred to as Odeshchyna (Одещина), is an oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, located along the northern coast of the Black Sea. Its administrative centre is the city of Odesa. Population: 2,351,382 (2022 estimate).[3]

The length of coastline (sea-coast and estuaries) reaches 300 km (190 mi), while the state border stretches for 1,200 km (750 mi).[5] The region has eight seaports and five of the biggest lakes, including Yalpuh Lake, in Ukraine.[5] With over 80,000 ha (200,000 acres)[5] of vineyards, it is also the largest wine-growing region in Ukraine.

History

Evidence of the earliest inhabitants in this area comes from the settlements and burial grounds of the Neolithic Gumelnița, Cucuteni-Trypillia and Usatove cultures, as well as from the tumuli and hoards of the Bronze Age Proto-Indo-Europeans. In the 1st millennium B.C. Milesian Greeks founded colonies along the northern coast of the Black Sea, including the towns of Olbia, Tyras, Niconium, Panticapaeum, and Chersonesus. The Greeks left behind painted vessels, ceramics, sculptures, inscriptions, arts and crafts that indicate the prosperity of their ancient civilisation.

The culture of Scythian tribes inhabiting the Black Sea littoral steppes in the first millennium B.C. has left artefacts in settlements and burial grounds, including weapons, bronze cauldrons, other utensils, and adornments. By the beginning of the 1st millennium A.D. the Sarmatians displaced the Scythians. In the 3rd–4th centuries A.D. a tribal alliance, represented by the items of Chernyakhov culture, developed. From the middle of the first millennium the formation of the Slavic people began. In the 9th century the eastern Slavs united into a state with Kyiv as its centre. The Khazars, Polovtsy and Pechenegs were the Slavs' neighbours during different times. Archeological evidence of the period of the 9th–14th centuries survives in materials from the settlements and cities of Kievan Rus': Belgorod, Caffa-Theodosia, and Berezan Island.

The Mongols took over the Black Sea littoral in the 13th century.

From about 1290 parts of the region were territories of the Republic of Genoa, becoming a center of Genoese commercial activity until at least the middle of the 14th century.[6]

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania acquired the area at the beginning of the 15th century.

In 1593 the Ottoman Empire set up in the area what became known as its Dnieper Province (Özü Eyalet), unofficially known as the Khanate of Ukraine.[7] Russian historiography refers to the area from 1791 as the Ochakov Oblast.[8] The territory of the Odesa Oblast passed to Russian control in 1791 in the course of the Russian southern expansion towards the Black Sea at the end of the 18th century.

After the February Revolution of 1917 in Russia the area became part of the Ukrainian People's Republic (1917–1918), but soon succumbed first to the Russian Volunteer Army (part of the White movement) and then to the Russian Bolshevik Red Army. By 1920 the Soviet authorities had secured the territory of Odesa Oblast, which became part of the Ukrainian SSR. The oblast was established on 27 February 1932 from five districts: Odesa Okruha, Pervomaisk Okruha, Kirovohrad Okruha, Mykolaiv Okruha, and Kherson Okruha.

In 1937 the Central Executive Committee of the USSR split off the eastern portions of the Odesa Oblast to form the Mykolaiv Oblast.

During World War II Axis forces conquered the area and Romania occupied the oblast and administered it as part of the Transnistria Governorate (1941–1944). After the war the Soviet administration reestablished the oblast with its pre-war borders.

Odesa Oblast expanded in 1954 to absorb Izmail Oblast (also known as the Budjak region of Bessarabia), formed in 1940 as a result of the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina (from Romania), when Northern and Southern parts of Bessarabia were given to the Ukrainian SSR.

During the 1991 referendum, 85.38% of votes in Odesa Oblast favored the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine. A survey conducted in December 2014 by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found that 2.3% of the oblast's population supported their region joining Russia, 91.5% did not support the idea, and the rest were undecided or did not respond.[9] A poll reported by Alexei Navalny and conducted in September 2014 found similar results.[10]

On 4-5 July 2022 during international Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC 2022) in Lugano Switzerland pledged to support the rebuilding of Odesa region.[11]

Geography

Ukraine's largest oblast by area, the Odesa Oblast occupies an area of around 33,314 square kilometres (12,863 sq mi). It is characterised by largely flat steppes – part of the Black Sea Lowland – divided by the estuary of the Dniester river, and bordered to the south by the Danube. Its Black Sea coast has numerous sandy beaches, estuaries and lagoons. The region's soils (especially chernozems) have a reputation for fertility, and intensive agriculture is the mainstay of the local rural economy. The southwest has many orchards and vineyards, while arable crops grow throughout the region.

Points of interest

Akkerman fortress

Economy

Rapeseed field in Odesa Oblast

Significant branches of the oblast's economy are:

The region's industrial capability is principally concentrated in and around Odesa.

Demographics

The oblast's population (as at the start of 2021) was 2,368,107 people, nearly 43% of whom lived in the city of Odesa.

Significant Bulgarian (6.1%) and Romanian (5.0%) minorities reside in the province.[12] It has the highest proportion of Jews of any oblast in Ukraine (although smaller than the Autonomous City of Kyiv) and there is a small Greek community in the city of Odesa.

Bulgarians and Romanians represent 21% and 13% respectively, of the population in the salient of Budjak, within Odesa Oblast.

YearFertilityBirth
19901,833 166
19911,732 119
19921,630 155
19931,528 185
19941,426 197
19951,424 993
19961,323 666
19971,222 491
19981,221 273
19991,119 969
20001,120 042
20011,120 423
20021,221 227
20031,222 326
20041,323 343
20051,323 915
20061,425 113
20071,526 759
20081,628 780
20091,628 986
20101,628 690
20111,629 225
20121,730 384

Language

Native language in Odesa Oblast (2022)[13]

  Ukrainian (57.8%)
  Russian (28.8%)
  Other (5.4%)
  Undecided (7.9%)

According to the 2001 Ukrainian census, Ukrainian was the mother tongue of 46.3% of the population, for 42.0% it was Russian, for 4.9% — Bulgarian, and for 3.8% — Moldovan.

According to a sociological survey conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation from 21 to 27 October 2022, 57.8% of respondents in Odesa Oblast named Ukrainian as their native language, 28.8% — Russian, 5.4% — another language, 7.9% said they found it difficult to say which language they considered their native language or refused to answer.[14]

According to a sociological survey conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation from 10 to 21 July 2023 in Odesa Oblast, the share of respondents who speak Ukrainian at home has increased to 42% (from 26% in 2021), while the share of those who speak Russian at home has dropped to 54%. To the question "How do you feel about the mandatory use of Ukrainian in the service sector (shops, cafes, barber shops, entertainment venues)?" 59% answered "Positive", 13% — "Negative", 17% — "I don't care", 12% — "Hard to say". To the question "Do you think it is acceptable to perform songs in Russian in the public space of your village/city, for example, performances by street musicians, listening to such songs in cafes/restaurants or supermarkets, etc.?" 30% answered "No", 37% — "Yes", 20% — "I don't care", 12% — "I find it difficult to answer".[15]

Age structure

0–14 years: 15.5% Increase (male 188,937/female 179,536)
15–64 years: 70.7% Decrease (male 812,411/female 867,706)
65 years and over: 14.0% Decrease (male 116,702/female 218,808) (2013 official)

Median age

total: 38.4 years Steady
male: 35.4 years Steady
female: 41.5 years Increase (2013 official)

Religion

Religion in Odesa Oblast (2015)[16]

  No religion (8%)
  Unaffiliated Christian (6%)
  Catholicism (0.5%)
  Protestantism (0.5%)
  Undecided (1%)

The dominant religion in Odesa Oblast is Eastern Orthodox Christianity, professed by 84% of the population. Another 8% declares to be non-religious and 6% are unaffiliated generic Christians. Adherents of Catholicism and Protestantism make up 0.5% of the population respectively.

The Orthodox community of Odesa Oblast is divided as follows:

Administrative divisions

Until 2020, the Odesa Oblast was administratively subdivided into 26 raions (districts) and 7 municipalities which were directly subordinate to the oblast government – (Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Chornomorsk, Izmail, Podilsk, Teplodar, Yuzhne and the administrative centre of the oblast, Odesa).

NameUkrainian nameArea
(km2)
Population
2015[17]
Admin. centreUrban
Population Only*[17]
OdesaОдеса (місто)1391,010,490Odesa (city)1,010,490
Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi ^Білгород-Дністровський (місто)3157,559Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi (city)57,559
ChornomorskЧорноморськ (місто)2572,553Chornomorsk (city)67,323
Izmail ^Ізмаї́л (місто)5372,266Izmail (city)72,266
PodilskПодільськ (місто)2540,613Podilsk (city)40,613
TeplodarТеплодар (місто)310,277Teplodar (city)10,277
YuzhneЮжне (місто)932,149Yuzhne (city)32,149
Ananiv RaionАнаньївський (район)1,05026,999Ananiv8,441
Artsyz Raion ^Арцизький (район)1,37945,274Artsyz14,886
Balta RaionБалтський (район)1,31741,666Balta18,940
Berezivka RaionБерезівський (район)1,63733,930Berezivka12,614
Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Raion ^Білгород-Дністровський (район)1,85260,774Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi (city)N/A *
Biliaivka RaionБіляївський (район)1,49794,083Biliaivka14,334
Bolhrad Raion ^Болградський (район)1,36469,148Bolhrad15,451
Ivanivka RaionІванівський (район)1,16226,604Ivanivka8,807
Izmail Raion ^Ізмаїльський (район)1,19451,584Izmail (city)N/A *
Kiliia Raion ^Кілійський (район)1,35852,400Kiliia28,434
Kodyma RaionКодимський (район)81829,586Kodyma11,195
Lyman RaionКомінтернівський (район)1,49971,158Dobroslav14,028
Liubashivka RaionЛюбашівський (район)1,10030,688Liubashivka10,954
Mykolaivka RaionМиколаївський (район)1,09316,127Mykolaivka2,850
Ovidiopol RaionОвідіопольський (район)82978,941Ovidiopol32,486
Okny RaionОкнянський (район)1,01320,186Okny5,338
Podilsk RaionПодільський (район)1,03727,091Podilsk (city)N/A *
Reni Raion ^Ренійський (район)86158,352Reni25,527
Rozdilna RaionРоздільнянський (район)1,36837,353Rozdilna19,003
Sarata Raion ^Саратський (район)1,47445,057Sarata4,351
Savran RaionСавранський (район)61719,083Savran6,420
Shyriaieve RaionШиряївський (район)1,50227,151Shyriaieve6,781
Tarutyne Raion ^Тарутинський (район)1,87441,603Tarutyne12,932
Tatarbunary Raion ^Татарбунарський (район)1,74838,825Tatarbunary10,988
Velyka Mykhailivka RaionВеликомихайлівський (район)1,43631,006Velyka Mykhailivka8,472
Zakharivka RaionЗахарівський (район)95620,233Zakharivka8,881
  • Note: A caret (^) indicates the two municipalities and nine raions which previously constituted Izmail Oblast until that former oblast's merger with Odesa Oblast on 15 February 1954; these areas lie to the west of the Dniester River, and formerly constituted the territory known as the Budjak (southern Bessarabia). In the 18 July 2020 reorganisation, these nine raions were reduced to three, which also incorporated the two former independent cities.
  • Note: Asterisks (*) Though the administrative center of the raion is housed in the city/town 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.
Detailed map of Odesa Oblast

On 18 July 2020, the number of districts (raions) was reduced to seven, now also incorporating the formerly independent cities.[18][19] (see map). They are now divided into 91 municipalities (hromadas).

NameUkrainian nameArea
(km2)
Population
2001 Census[20]
Admin. centrePopulation
2021 Estimate
Number of
hromadas
Berezivka RaionБерезівський (район)5,546121,518Berezivka106,49016
Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Raion ^Білгород-Дністровський (район)5,177214,211Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi (city)198,68216
Bolhrad Raion ^Болградський (район)4,477167,464Bolhrad146,42410
Izmail Raion ^Ізмаїльський (район)3,505239,096Izmail (city)207,3336
Odesa RaionОвідіопольський (район)3,9461,353,314Ovidiopol1,382,54122
Podilsk RaionПодільський (район)7,048266,948Podilsk (city)224,16312
Rozdilna RaionРоздільнянський (район)3,568106,506Rozdilna102,5849

Notable people

One of the most famous Odesits is Sergei Utochkin who was a universal sportsman excelling in cycling, boxing, swimming and played football for the Odesa British Athletic Club.[5] Utochkin had challenged a steam-powered tram while running, on a bicycle he beat a galloping horse, while on roller skates he was passing a bicyclist.[5] The next stage for him was to conquest skies.[5] Utochkin managed to buy an airplane from a local banker and completed dozens of exhibition flights.[5] Eventually, he managed to assemble his own Farman-type airplane.[5] In Kyiv, Utochkin was demonstrating his piloting skills in front of some 50,000 people, among which was a future creator of helicopters Igor Sikorsky.[5]

A number of other notable people were born in Odesa, including the poet Anna Akhmatova, former NASA scientist Nicholas E. Golovin who worked with the Apollo program, composer Tamara Maliukova Sidorenko, and the founder of jazz in the Soviet Union Leonid Utyosov.[5]

See also

References

  1. Syvak, Nina; Ponomarenko, Valerii; Khodzinska, Olha; Lakeichuk, Iryna (2011). Veklych, Lesia (ed.). Toponymic Guidelines for Map and Other Editors for International Use (PDF). scientific consultant Iryna Rudenko; reviewed by Nataliia Kizilowa; translated by Olha Khodzinska. Kyiv: DerzhHeoKadastr and Kartographia. p. 20. ISBN 978-966-475-839-7. Retrieved 2020-10-06 via United Nations Statistics Division.
  2. "Zelensky appoints controversial official as governor of Odesa Oblast". The Kyiv Independent. 31 May 2023. Wikidata Q118917482. Archived from the original on 31 May 2023.
  3. 1 2 Чисельність наявного населення України на 1 січня 2022 [Number of Present Population of Ukraine, as of January 1, 2022] (PDF) (in Ukrainian and English). Kyiv: State Statistics Service of Ukraine. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 July 2022.
  4. "Валовии регіональнии продукт".
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Tell about Ukraine. Odesa Oblast. 24 Kanal (youtube).
  6. Browning, Robert (1991). "Asprokastron". In Kazhdan, Alexander (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. p. 212. ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6.
  7. Secrieru, Mihaela. "Republic of Moldavia – an Intermezzo on the Signing and the Ratification of the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages" (PDF). Iași: "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University of Iaşi. p. 2. Retrieved 2014-09-19. On the left shore of the River Nistru [Dniester] there was the Khanate of Ukraine and of the properties of the Polish Crown, and their inhabitants, until the end of the 18th century, were the Moldavians[.]
  8. Friesen, Leonard G. (2008). Rural Revolutions in Southern Ukraine: Peasants, Nobles, and Colonists, 1774–1905. Harvard series in Ukrainian studies. Vol. 59. Harvard University Press. p. 40. ISBN 9781932650006. Retrieved 2014-09-19. [...] the war with the Ottoman Empire [...] ended with the Treaty of Eternal Peace in December 1791, whereby the so-called Ochakiv (Ochakov) oblast was brought into the empire.
  9. Лише 3% українців хочуть приєднання їх області до Росії [Only 3% of Ukrainians want their region to become part of Russia]. Dzerkalo Tyzhnia (in Ukrainian). 3 January 2015.
  10. Navalny, Alexei (23 September 2014). Соцопрос ФБК по Харьковской и Одесской областям. Европа, Россия, Новороссия [Survey of Kharkiv and Odesa Oblasts] (in Russian). navalny.com. Archived from the original on 23 September 2014.
  11. "Провідні країни Європи відбудовуватимуть Україну, – Гайдай". LB.ua. Retrieved 2022-07-11.
  12. Results of the 2001 All-Ukrainian population census for the Odesa Region
  13. https://suspilne.media/415236-bilse-polovini-ziteliv-odesini-vvazaut-ukrainsku-movu-ridnou-doslidzenna/
  14. https://suspilne.media/415236-bilse-polovini-ziteliv-odesini-vvazaut-ukrainsku-movu-ridnou-doslidzenna/
  15. https://dif.org.ua/article/demokratiya-bezpeka-ta-sotsialne-stanovishche-dumka-respondentiv-v-odeskiy-oblasti-u-2023-rotsi#_Toc150261406
  16. "Religious preferences of the population of Ukraine". Sociology poll by Razumkov Centre, SOCIS, Rating and KIIS about the religious situation in Ukraine (2015)
  17. 1 2 "Населення та міграція, Чисельність населення на 1 грудня 2015 року та середня за січень-листопад 2015 року" [Population and migration, Population as of December 1, 2015 and average for January–November 2015]. UkrStat (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  18. "Про утворення та ліквідацію районів. Постанова Верховної Ради України № 807-ІХ". Голос України (in Ukrainian). 2020-07-18. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  19. "Нові райони: карти + склад" (in Ukrainian). Міністерство розвитку громад та територій України.
  20. State Statistics Committee of Ukraine (web).
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