Zaporizhia Oblast

Zaporizhzhia Oblast Запорізька область Zaporiz'ka oblast’
Oblast
Flag Coat of arms
Nickname(s): Запоріжжя (Zaporizhzhya)
Country	Ukraine
Administrative center	Zaporizhzhia
Government
• Oblast council	? seats
Area
• Total	27,183 km2 (10,495 sq mi)
Area rank	Ranked 9th
Population (2013)
• Total	1,785,243
• Rank	Ranked 9th
• Density	66/km2 (170/sq mi)
Demographics
• Official language(s)	Ukrainian Russian
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Postal code	?
Area code	+380-61
ISO 3166 code	UA-23
Raions	20
Cities (total) — Regional cities	14 5
Urban-type settlements	23
Villages	920
FIPS 10-4	UP26
Website	www.zoda.gov.ua

Zaporizhzhia Oblast (Ukrainian: Запорізька область, translit. Zaporiz'ka oblast’; also referred to as Zaporizhzhya – Ukrainian: Запоріжжя, Russian: Запорожская область) is an oblast (province) of southern Ukraine. Its capital is Zaporizhzhia. The oblast covers an area of 27,183 sq.kms, and its population was 1,785,243 (2013 est.) at a January 2013.

This oblast is an important part of Ukraine's industry and agriculture.

Geography

The area of the province is 27,183 km²; its population (estimated as at 1 January 2013) was 1,785,243.

Important cities include:

• Berdyansk
• Enerhodar – home of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant
• Melitopol
• Zaporizhzhia

History

The Zaporizhzhia Oblast was created as part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on 10 January 1939 out of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. During the 1991 referendum, 90.66% of votes in the oblast were in favor of the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine. The SBU thwarted an attempt to blow up a railway line in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast, and found that the suspects were carrying maps and explosives on 8 July 2014. A survey conducted in December 2014 by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found 2.1% of the oblast's population supported their region joining Russia, 80.7% did not support the idea, and the rest were undecided or did not respond.

Points of interest

The following sites were nominated for the Seven Wonders of Ukraine.

• Kamyana Mohyla, prehistoric "Stone Tomb" site (museum-preserve)
• Khortytsia
• Dniprostroy

Subdivisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of Zaporizhia Oblast

The Zaporizhzhia Oblast is administratively subdivided into 20 raions (districts) as well as 5 cities (municipalities) which are directly subordinate to the oblast government: Berdiansk, Enerhodar, Melitopol, Tokmak, and the administrative center of the oblast, Zaporizhzhia.

Detailed map of Zaporizhzhia Oblast

Name	Ukrainian name	Area (km2)	Population census 2015	Admin.center	Urban Population Only
Zaporizhzhia	Запорі́жжя (місто)	334	757,650	Zaporizhzhia (city)	757,650
Berdiansk	Бердя́нськ (місто)	83	117,492	Berdiansk (city)	114,401
Enerhodar	Енергода́р (місто)	64	54,397	Enerhodar (city)	54,397
Melitopol	Мелітополь (місто)	51	156,022	Melitopol (city)	156,022
Tokmak	Токмак (місто)	33	32,209	Tokmak (city)	32,209
Berdianskyi Raion	Бердянський район	1,776	25,533	Berdiansk (city)	N/A *
Chernihivskyi Raion	Чернігівський район	1,200	17,331	Chernihivka	5,994
Huliaipilskyi Raion	Гуляйпільський район	1,300	27,067	Huliaipole	15,116
Kamyansko-Dniprovskyi Raion	Кам'янсько-Дніпровський район	1,240	40,525	Kamyanka-Dniprovska	13,223
Kuibyshevskyi Raion	Куйбишевський район	1,300	22,500	Kuibysheve	9,423
Melitopolskyi Raion	Мелітопольський район	1,780	49,724	Melitopol (city)	N/A *
Mykhailivskyi Raion	Михайлівський район	1,067	29,250	Mykhailivka	15,609
Novomykolaivskyi Raion	Новомиколаївський район	915	16,206	Novomykolaivka	6,764
Orikhivskyi Raion	Оріхівський район	1,590	46,239	Orikhiv	20,358
Polohivskyi Raion	Пологівський район	1,340	40,576	Polohy	19,552
Pryazovskyi Raion	Приазовський район	1,947	27,636	Pryazovske	9,106
Prymorskyi Raion	Приморський район	1,400	30,334	Prymorsk	12,085
Rozivskyi Raion	Розівський район	610	8,960	Rozivka	3,289
Tokmatskyi Raion	Токмацький район	1,442	22,705	Tokmak (city)	N/A *
Vasylivskyi Raion	Василівський район	1,620	64,131	Vasylivka	37,232
Velykobilozerskyi Raion	Великобілозерський район	470	8,064	Velyka Bilozerka	6,124
Veselivskyi Raion	Веселівський район	1,128	21,756	Vesele	10,042
Vilnianskyi Raion	Вільнянський район	1,280	47,572	Vilniansk	16,795
Yakymivskyi Raion	Якимівський район	1,850	33,942	Yakymivka	15,386
Zaporizkyi Raion	Запорізький район	1,462	57,842	Zaporizhzhia (city)	N/A *

Note: Asterisks (*) Though the administrative center of the rayon is housed in the city/town that its named after, cities do not answer to the rayon authorities only towns do; instead they are directly subordinated to the oblast government and therefore are not counted as part of rayon statistics.

Demographics

According to the 2001 Ukrainian Census the population of the oblast was 1,929,171. Some 70.8% considered themselves Ukrainians, while 24.7% were Russians, the rest were of assorted nationalities including Bulgarians (1.4%), Belarusians (0.7%), and others (1.6%). Just under half the population (48.2%) considered the Russian language to be their native tongue, while a majority (50.2%) considered the Ukrainian language to be their native tongue.

Age structure

0-14 years: 13.5% (male 124,285/female 116,613)

15-64 years: 70.7% (male 598,849/female 662,838)

65 years and over: 15.8% (male 91,051/female 190,818) (2013 official)

Median age

total: 41.2 years

male: 37.5 years

female: 44.8 years (2013 official)

Fertility

Year	Fertility	Birth	Year	Fertility	Birth	Year	Fertility	Birth
1990	1,7	25 960	2000	1,0	13 900	2010	1,3	18 018
1991	1,7	24 739	2001	1,0	14 010	2011	1,4	18 198
1992	1,5	22 624	2002	1,1	14 865
1993	1,4	20 881	2003	1,1	15 301
1994	1,3	19 265	2004	1,1	16 091
1995	1,2	17 820	2005	1,2	15 862
1996	1,2	16 764	2006	1,2	17 241
1997	1,1	16 234	2007	1,3	17 591
1998	1,1	14 968	2008	1,4	18 901
1999	1,0	13 880	2009	1,4	18 409

Education

679 daytime and 11 evening state schools plus 6 daytime schools that are non-budget supported secondary schools involved 271400 pupils in 2001. 22 classical schools, 8 Lyceums, a Sichovy Collegium and 54 education-breeding complex bodies aren't out of reach to gifted children. New style 38 complex kindergarten-schools work too.

Over 60,000 children develop their talents through out-of-school institutions. They attend 30 creative centres, 6 science-technical stations and four young naturalists stations, five tourists clubs, three training flotillas, 11 children's sport clubs and 20 sport schools. Extra-scholastic education system has such a unique body as the Small Academy of Science. Boys and girls work there in six main disciplines: physics-mathematics, chemistry-biology, history-geography, philology, industrial and information technologies. The Small Academy young members maintain close friendship relations with scientists of big institutes and universities. 26 youngsters became winners of the All-Ukrainian Academy contest, so Zaporizhzhia regional team gained the 1-st place.

325 secondary schools, five classical schools, a Collegium and three complex-schools use the Ukrainian language. Nevertheless, the minorities have a free choice — 193 schools are Russian, a large Jewish school «Alef» works in Zaporizhzhia and smaller ones exist in other points, a Ukrainian-Bulgarian Lyceum is in Primorsky district. The Greek, Czech, Bulgarian languages are very popular in Yakimivsky, Berdyansky, Priazovsky and Melitopole rural districts. One may learn Hebrew, Yiddish, German, Polish, Tatar and other languages attending option courses anywhere.

Specialists keep on looking for an adaptive school model. 26 institutions develop the humanization process using new teaching technologies. The Khortitsky multi-profile teaching-rehabilitation centre has worked out methods for complete support of sanatorium-boarding-schools' children. Berdyansk is the town where a Regional boarding school for orphans works out active socialization programs.

42 institutions provide vocational education. This system distribute well-trained workers to regional industry and business. The list of specialities includes over 100 names. Vocational schools give courses for improving qualification in cooperation with unemployment centres. More than 1500 jobless persons get new professions every year due it.

The higher education system is the most flexible and advanced. Today 25 state-controlled technical colleges have I-II class rank and 8 higher institutions have III-IV class certificates. These are University and the Technical University, the Medical University, the Engineering Academy and the Institute of Law with Ministry of Internal Affairs in Zaporizhzhia City, the Pedagogical University, the Agricultural Academy in Melitopole and the Pedagogical Institute in Berdyansk. There are also five higher education private bodies — the Institute of Economics and Information Technologies, the State and Municipal Government Institute and the others. Over 65000 people are the students in this region. There are 212 Doctors of Science and 1420 Candidates of Science among their lecturers. Zaporizhzhia City is one of the biggest centres for foreigners' education in Ukraine.

The International Astronomical Union named two minor planets «Khadzhinov» and «Vikchemov» in honour of our countrymen who made a significant contribution in science and education.

Further reading

• (Ukrainian) Запорізька область: Ілюстрована енциклопедія. [Т.2]: Архітектура і містобудування. Культура. Економіка. Райони області / К.С. Карафін, О. І. Красюк. -Запоріжжя : Дике Поле, 2004. - 293 с.

External links

• Specialized investment portal – official website (English)
• Zaporozhye Regional Tourist Information Centre – official website (English)
• Zaporizhzhia Oblast Administration – official website (Ukrainian)
• Zaporizhzhia Oblast Rada – official website (Ukrainian)