Lviv Oblast (Ukrainian: Льві́вська о́бласть, Ukrainian: [ˈlʲʋʲiu̯sʲkɐ ˈɔbɫɐsʲtʲ]; Polish: Obwód lwowski), also referred to as Lvivshchyna (Ukrainian: Льві́вщина, Ukrainian: [ˈlʲʋʲiu̯ʃt͡ʃɪnɐ]), is an oblast in western Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Lviv. The current population is
The region is named after the city of Lviv which was founded by Daniel of Galicia, the King of Ruthenia, in the 13th century, where it became the capital of Galicia-Volhynia. Daniel named the city after his son, Leo. During this time, the general region around Lviv was known as Red Ruthenia (Cherven' Rus').
The oblast's strategic position at the heart of central Europe and as the gateway to the Carpathians has caused it to change hands many times over the centuries. It was ruled variously by Great Moravia, Kievan Rus', Poland, was independent as the state of Galicia-Volhynia (circa 1200 to 1340), and then ruled by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1340 to 1772), the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1772 to 1918), West Ukrainian People's Republic and Poland (1919 to 1939), when it was part of the Lwów Voivodeship of the Second Republic of Poland. The region's historically dominant Ukrainian population declared the area to be a part of an independent West Ukrainian National Republic in November 1918 — June 1919, but this endured only briefly. Local autonomy was provided in international treaties but later on those were not honoured by the Polish government and the area experienced much ethnic tension between the Polish and Ukrainian population.
The oblast was created as part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on 4 December 1939 following the Soviet invasion of eastern Poland and annexation of Eastern Galicia and Volhynia.
It was occupied by Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1944 following the start of Operation Barbarossa, where most of the local Jewish population were killed. Following the end of World War II, the region remained in Soviet hands as was arranged in the Tehran and Yalta conferences. Local Poles were expelled and Ukrainians expelled from Poland arrived.
In 1959, Drohobych Oblast was incorporated into Lviv Oblast.
Given its historical development, Lviv Oblast is one of the least Russified and Sovietized parts of Ukraine, with much of its Polish and Habsburg heritage still visible today.
In Ukraine today, there are three provinces (oblasts) that formed the eastern part of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. Two of these, Lviv Oblast and Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast were entirely contained in the kingdom; the third oblast of Ternopil was mainly in the kingdom apart from four of its most northerly counties (raions). The counties of the Kingdom of Galicia remained largely unchanged when they were incorporated into successor states; with minor changes as detailed below, the current counties are almost co-extensive with those of the Kingdom.
During the 2014 Euromaidan protests, the region is also notable for having declared independence from the central government led by Viktor Yanukovych who started to use active military force against protestors.
The terrain of Lviv Oblast is highly varied. The southern part is occupied by the low Beskyd (Ukrainian: Бескиди) mountain chains running parallel to each other from northwest to southeast and covered with secondary coniferous forests as part of the Eastern Carpathians; the highest point is Pikuy (1408 m). North from there are the wide upper Dniester river valley and much smaller upper San River valley. These rivers have flat bottoms covered with alluvial deposits, and are susceptible to floods. Between these valleys and Beskyd lies the Precarpathian upland covered with deciduous forests, with well-known mineral spa resorts (see Truskavets, Morshyn). It's also the area of one of the earliest industrial petroleum and gas extraction. These deposits are all but depleted by now.
In the central part of the region lie Roztocze, Opillia, and part of the Podolia uplands. Rich sulphur deposits were mined here during the Soviet era. Roztocze is densely forested, while Opillia and Podolia (being covered with loess on which fertile soils develop) are densely populated and mostly covered by arable land. In the central-north part of the region lies the Small Polesia lowland, geographically isolated from the rest of Polesia but with similar terrain and landscapes (flat plains with sandy fluvioglacial deposits and pine forests). The far North of the region lies on the Volhynia upland, which is also covered with loess; coal is mined in this area.
Lviv Oblast was administratively subdivided into 20 raions (districts), as well as 9 city (municipalities) which are directly subordinate to the oblast government: Boryslav, Chervonohrad, Drohobych, Morshyn, Novyi Rozdil, Sambir, Stryi, Truskavets, and the administrative center of the oblast, Lviv.
Hromada (Громада) | Type | Center | Raion | Raion before 2020 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Belz | urban | Belz | Chervonohrad | Sokal |
Bibrka | urban | Bibrka | Lviv | Peremyshliany |
Biskovychi | rural | Biskovychi | Sambir | Sambir |
Borynia | settlement | Borynia | Sambir | Turka |
Boryslav | urban | Boryslav | Drohobych | Boryslav Municipality |
Brody | urban | Brody | Zolochiv | Brody |
Busk | urban | Busk | Zolochiv | Busk |
Chervonohrad | urban | Chervonohrad | Chervonohrad | Chervonohrad Municipality |
Davydiv | rural | Davydiv | Lviv | Pustomyty |
Dobromyl | urban | Dobromyl | Sambir | Staryi Sambir |
Dobrosyn-Maheriv | rural | Maheriv | Lviv | Zhovkva |
Dobrotvir | settlement | Dobrotvir | Chervonohrad | Kamianka-Buzka |
Drohobych | urban | Drohobych | Drohobych | Drohobych Municipality |
Hlyniany | urban | Hlyniany | Lviv | Zolochiv |
Hnizdychiv | settlement | Hnizdychiv | Stryi | Zhydachiv |
Horodok | urban | Horodok | Lviv | Horodok |
Hrabovets-Duliby | rural | Duliby | Stryi | Stryi |
Ivano-Frankove | settlement | Ivano-Frankove | Yavoriv | Yavoriv |
Kamianka-Buzka | urban | Kamianka-Buzka | Lviv | Kamianka-Buzka |
Khodoriv | urban | Khodoriv | Stryi | Zhydachiv |
Khyriv | urban | Khyriv | Sambir | Staryi Sambir |
Komarno | urban | Komarno | Lviv | Horodok |
Kozova | rural | Kozova | Stryi | Skole |
Krasne | settlement | Krasne | Zolochiv | Busk |
Kulykiv | settlement | Kulykiv | Lviv | Zhovkva |
Lopatyn | settlement | Lopatyn | Chervonohrad | Radekhiv |
Lviv | urban | Lviv | Lviv | Lviv Municipality |
Medenychi | settlement | Medenychi | Drohobych | Drohobych |
Morshyn | urban | Morshyn | Stryi | city of Morshyn |
Mostyska | urban | Mostyska | Yavoriv | Mostyska |
Murovane | rural | Murovane | Lviv | Pustomyty |
Mykolaiv | urban | Mykolaiv | Stryi | Mykolaiv |
Novoiavorivsk | urban | Novoiavorivsk | Yavoriv | Yavoriv |
Novyi Kalyniv | urban | Novyi Kalyniv | Sambir | Sambir |
Novyi Rozdil | urban | Novyi Rozdil | Stryi | city of Novyi Rozdil |
Obroshyne | rural | Obroshyne | Lviv | Pustomyty |
Peremyshliany | urban | Peremyshliany | Lviv | Peremyshliany |
Pidberiztsi | rural | Pidberiztsi | Lviv | Pustomyty |
Pidkamin | settlement | Pidkamin | Zolochiv | Brody |
Pomoriany | settlement | Pomoriany | Zolochiv | Zolochiv |
Pustomyty | urban | Pustomyty | Lviv | Pustomyty |
Radekhiv | urban | Radekhiv | Chervonohrad | Radekhiv |
Ralivka | rural | Ralivka | Sambir | Sambir |
Rava-Ruska | urban | Rava-Ruska | Lviv | Zhovkva |
Rozvadiv | rural | Rozvadiv | Stryi | Mykolaiv |
Rudky | urban | Rudky | Sambir | Sambir |
Sambir | urban | Sambir | Sambir | city of Sambir |
Shchyrets | settlement | Shchyrets | Lviv | Pustomyty |
Shehyni | rural | Shehyni | Yavoriv | Mostyska |
Skhidnytsia | settlement | Skhidnytsia | Drohobych | Boryslav Municipality |
Skole | urban | Skole | Stryi | Skole |
Slavske | settlement | Slavske | Stryi | Skole |
Sokal | urban | Sokal | Chervonohrad | Sokal |
Sokilnyky | rural | Sokilnyky | Lviv | Pustomyty |
Solonka | rural | Solonka | Lviv | Pustomyty |
Staryi Sambir | urban | Staryi Sambir | Sambir | Staryi Sambir |
Strilky | rural | Strilky | Sambir | Staryi Sambir |
Stryi | urban | Stryi | Stryi | city of Stryi |
Sudova Vyshnia | urban | Sudova Vyshnia | Yavoriv | Mostyska |
Trostianets | rural | Trostianets | Stryi | Mykolaiv |
Truskavets | urban | Truskavets | Drohobych | city of Truskavets |
Turka | urban | Turka | Sambir | Turka |
Velyki Mosty | urban | Velyki Mosty | Chervonohrad | Sokal |
Velykyi Liubin | settlement | Velykyi Liubin | Lviv | Horodok |
Yarychiv | settlement | Novyi Yarychiv | Lviv | Kamianka-Buzka |
Yavoriv | urban | Yavoriv | Yavoriv | Yavoriv |
Zabolottsi | rural | Zabolottsi | Zolochiv | Brody |
Zhovkva | urban | Zhovkva | Lviv | Zhovkva |
Zhovtantsi | rural | Zhovtantsi | Lviv | Kamianka-Buzka |
Zhuravne | settlement | Zhuravne | Stryi | Zhydachiv |
Zhydachiv | urban | Zhydachiv | Stryi | Zhydachiv |
Zolochiv | urban | Zolochiv | Zolochiv | Zolochiv |
Zymna Voda | rural | Zymna Voda | Lviv | Pustomyty |
In English | In Ukrainian | Administrative Center | |
---|---|---|---|
Brody Raion | Бродівський район Brodivs'kyi raion | Brody (City) | |
Busk Raion | Буський район Bus'kyi raion | Busk (City) | |
Drohobych Raion | Дрогобицький район Drohobyts'kyi raion | Drohobych (City) | |
Horodok Raion | Городоцький район Horodots'kyi raion | Horodok (City) | |
Kamianka-Buzka Raion | Кам'янка-Бузький район Kamyanka-Buz'kyi raion | Kamianka-Buzka (City) | |
Mostyska Raion | Мостиський район Mostys'kyi raion | Mostyska (City) | |
Mykolaiv Raion | Миколаївський район Mykolayivs'kyi raion | Mykolaiv (City) | |
Peremyshliany Raion | Перемишлянський район Peremyshlians'kyi raion | Peremyshliany (City) | |
Pustomyty Raion | Пустомитівський район Pustomytivs'kyi raion | Pustomyty (City) | |
Radekhiv Raion | Радехівський район Radekhivs'kyi raion | Radekhiv (City) | |
Sambir Raion | Самбірський район Sambirs'kyi raion | Sambir (City) | |
Skole Raion | Сколівський район Skolivs'kyi raion | Skole (City) | |
Sokal Raion | Сокальський район Sokal's'kyi raion | Sokal (City) | |
Staryi Sambir Raion | Старосамбірський район Starosambirs'kyi raion | Staryi Sambir (City) | |
Stryi Raion | Стрийський район Stryis'kyi raion | Stryi (City) | |
Turka Raion | Турківський район Turkivs'kyi raion | Turka (City) | |
Yavoriv Raion | Яворівський район Yavorivs'kyi raion | Yavoriv (City) | |
Zhovkva Raion | Жовківський район Zhovkivs'kyi raion | Zhovkva (City) | |
Zhydachiv Raion | Жидачівський район Zhydachivs'kyi raion | Zhydachiv (City) | |
Zolochiv Raion | Золочівський район Zolochivs'kyi raion | Zolochiv (City) |
0-14 years: 15.7% (male 202,923/female 193,000)
15-64 years: 70.0% (male 867,699/female 897,788)
65 years and over: 14.3% (male 122,906/female 238,016) (2013 official)
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