Zakarpattia Oblast

Infobox Ukrainian oblast
Name = Zakarpattia Oblast
UkrainianName = Закарпатська область
TransliteratedName = Zakarpats’ka oblast’

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Nickname = Закарпаттяspaces|2(Ukrainian) "Zakarpattia"spaces|2(transliteration) "Transcarpathia"
Ukraine

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OfficialLang = Ukrainian, Hungariansmallsup|1
Administrative_center = Uzhhorod
Largest_cities = Uzhhorod, Mukachevo, Khust, Berehove, Vynohradiv
GovernorName = Oleh Havashi
GovernorParty = NU
ChairmanName = Mykhailo Kichkovskyi
ChairmanParty = NU
CouncilSeats = 90
DateEstablished = January 22, 1946
Raions = 13
CityRaions = 5
Cities = 11
CMTs = 19
Villages = 579
AreaRank = 23^rd
TotalArea = 12,777
LandArea = ?
WaterArea = ?
PercentWater = ?
PopulationYear = 2006
Population_rank = 17^th
Population = 1,241,887
Density = 98
Population_Growth = ?
SalaryYear = 2006
Salary_rank = 16^th
Salary = 1070.45
Salary_Growth =
PostalAbbreviation = 88-90xxx
PostalCodePrefix = List of postal codes#U-Z
ISOCode =
FIPSRegionCode =
PhoneCode = +380-31
LicencePlateNumber = РЕ, АО
Website = www.carpathia.gov.ua
VRSite = [http://gska2.rada.gov.ua:7777/pls/z7502/A005?rdat1=11.11.2006&rf7571=10949 www.rada.gov.ua]
Footnotes = smallsup|1 The Hungarian language has some official rights in 7 villages of the .

Zakarpattia Oblast ( _uk. Закарпатська область, translit. transl|uk|"Zakarpats’ka oblast’"; _ry. Подкарпатьска област, translit. transl|ry|"Podkarpat’ska oblast"; _hu. Kárpátontúli terület; _sk. Zakarpatská oblasť; also referred to as the Transcarpathian Oblast, Transcarpathia, Zakarpattya, or historically Subcarpathian Rus) is an administrative oblast (province) located in western Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Uzhhorod. Other major cities within the oblast include Mukachevo, Khust, Berehove and Chop which is home to railroad transport infrastructure.

Zakarpattia Oblast was formally established on January 22, 1946 after the annexation of Subcarpathian Rus lands to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. During the Ukrainian independence referendum held in 1991, Zakarpattia Oblast voters were given a separate option on whether or not they favored autonomy for the region. Although a large majority favored autonomy, it was not granted.

Situated in the Carpathian Mountains landscape of western Ukraine, Zakarpattia Oblast is the only Ukrainian administrative division which borders upon four countries: Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania. The Carpathian Mountains play a major part in the oblast's economy, making the region an important tourist and travel destination housing many ski and spa resorts.

The oblast is ranked 23rd by area and 17th by population. According to the 2001 Ukrainian Census, the population of Zakarpattia Oblast is 1,254,614. Excluding Ukrainians, this total includes people of many different nationalities of which Hungarians, Romanians and Rusyns constitute significant minorities in some of the province's cities, while in others, they form the majority of the population (as in the case of Berehove).

Geography

Zakarpattia Oblast has a total area of 12,800 km² and is located in the Carpathian Mountains region of western Ukraine.cite web|url=http://www.carpathia.gov.ua/ua/29.htm|title=Geography|accessdate=2007-11-18|work=Zakarpattia Oblast Council|language=Ukrainian] It is the only Ukrainian oblast to have boundaries with four countries: Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. On the West it borders the Prešov and Košice Regions of Slovakia and Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg Counties of Hungary, on the South—the Satu Mare and Maramureş Counties of Romania, on the East and Northeast—Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, and on the North—Lviv Oblast and the Subcarpathian Voivodeship of Poland.

Zakarpattia Oblast mostly consists of mountains and small hills covered with deciduous and coniferous forests, as well as alpine meadows. Mountains cover about 80% of the oblast's area, and cross from North-East to South-East.cite web|url=http://all.zakarpattya.net/eng/begin.html|title=Transcarpathia is my region|accessdate=2007-06-01|work=All Zakarpattya] The Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians, part of which are located within Zakarpattia Oblast, were recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007. [cite web|url=http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1133|title=Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians|accessdate=2007-07-04|work=UNESCO World Heritage Centre]

The largest rivers that flow through the oblast include the Tysa, Borzhava, and the Tereblia. The region's climate is moderate and continental with about 700-1000 millimetres of rainfall per year. The average temperature in summer is +21°С (70°F) and -4°С (25°F) in winter.

Zakarpattia is one of the most magnificent regions of Ukraine which stand out by its eventful history and unique cultural heritage. High mountainous valleys and Hutzul Alps, castles and wooden churches, Sinevir Lake and the valley of narcissus, the museum of folk architecture of rural life style will ingrain deeply into the memory of every visitor. The four of the oblast's historical-cultural sites were nominated for the Seven Wonders of Ukraine competition in 2007: Palanok Castle, Museum upon the Chorna River, Mykhailiv Orthodox Church, and the Nevytsky Castle.

With a total height of convert|2061|m|ft|lk=on, Hoverla, part of the Chornohora mountain range, is the tallest point in the oblast. The lowest point, 101 metres above sea level, is located in the village of Ruski Heyevtsi in the Uzhhorodskyi Raion.

History

Zakarpattia was part of Kingdom of Hungary, later Austria-Hungary until the latter's demise at the end of World War I. This region was briefly part of the short-lived West Ukrainian National Republic in 1918 and occupied by Romania at end of that year. It was later recaptured by Hungary in the summer of 1919. Finally, it joined the newly formed Czechoslovakia as "Subcarpathian Rus", of which it formed one of the four main regions, the others being Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia. [cite book|title=Ukraine: A History|author=Subtelny, Orest |publisher=University of Toronto Press|year=2000|id=ISBN 0-8020-8390-0|pages=448]

During the World War II German occupation of Czechoslovakia, the southern part of the region was awarded to Hungary under the First Vienna Award in 1938. The remaining portion was constituted as an autonomous region of the short-lived Second Czecho-Slovak Republic. After the occupation of Bohemia and Moravia on March 15, 1939 and the Slovak declaration of an independent state, Ruthenia declared its independence (Republic of Carpatho-Ukraine) but it was immediately occupied and later annexed by Hungary. [Subtelny, p. 458]

During the German occupation of Hungary in 1944, almost the entire Jewish population was deported; few survived the Holocaust.cite web|url=http://all.zakarpattya.net/eng/begin.html|title=History of the region|accessdate=2007-06-01|work=All Zakarpattya] When the Soviet Army crossed the pre-1938 borders of Czechoslovakia in 1944, Soviet authorities refused to allow Czechoslovak governmental officials to resume control over the region, and in June 1945, President Edvard Beneš formally signed a treaty ceding the area to the Soviet Union. It was then incorporated into the Ukrainian SSR. After the break-up of the Soviet Union, it became part of independent Ukraine as "Zakarpattia Oblast".

The province has a unique footnote in history as the only region in the former Soviet Union to have had an American governor: its first governor was Gregory Zatkovich, an American citizen who had earlier emigrated from the region and represented the Rusyn community in the U.S. Zatkovich was appointed governor by Czechoslovakia's first president, Tomáš Masaryk, in 1920 and served for about one year until he resigned over differences regarding the region's autonomy.

After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine held an independence referendum in which the residents of Zakarpattia were asked about the Zakarpattia Oblast Council's proposal for self rule.cite book |title=Ukraine: An Illustrated History|last=Magocsi|first=Paul Robert|year=2007|publisher=University of Washington Press|location=Seattle|isbn=0295987235] About 78% of the oblast's population voted in favor of autonomy, however, it was not granted. There were also propositions of separating from Ukraine to rejoin Czechoslovakia, [Subtelny, p. 578] but after Czechoslovakia's dissolution into the Czech Republic and Slovakia on January 1, 1993, these ideas have been rendered largely moot.

Politics

Zakarpattia Oblast's local administration is controlled by the Zakarpattia Oblast Council ("rada"). The Chairman of the Council is Mykhailo Kichkovskyi, elected from the People's Union "Our Ukraine" party. Kichkovsky holds this position since his election in April 2006.cite news|title=Mikhail Kichkovsky is elected Chairman of the Zakarpattia oblast council|url=http://www.podrobnosti.ua/power/local/2006/04/18/306404.html|work=Podrobnosti|date=April 18, 2006|accessdate=2008-04-13|language=Russian]

The Zakarpattia Oblast Rada consists of a total of 90 deputies. Based on the March 26, 2006 regional election results, the distribution of the council's mandates is as follows: 30 mandates for the People's Union "Our Ukraine;" 25 for the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc; 7 for the Lytvyn People's Bloc; 5 for the Party of Hungarians of Ukraine "KMKS;" 4 for the Democratic Party of Hungarians of Ukraine; and 4 for the Socialist Party of Ukraine.

The oblast's governor (currently Oleh Havashi) is appointed by the President of Ukraine.

Administrative divisions

thumb|250px|Historical regions in Zakarpattia Oblast:

Zakarpattia Oblast is administratively subdivided into 13 raions (districts), as well as 5 cities (municipalities) which are directly subordinate to the oblast government: Berehove, Chop, Khust, Mukachevo, and the administrative center of the oblast, Uzhhorod. There are a total of 7 cities, 19 towns, and more than 579 villages.

Zakarpattia Oblast can also be divided into four unofficial geographic-historic regions (counties): Ung, Bereg, Ugocsa, and Northern Maramuresh.

The following data incorporates the number of each type of administrative divisions of Zakarpattia Oblast: [cite web|url=http://gska2.rada.gov.ua:7777/pls/z7502/A005?rdat1=11.11.2006&rf7571=10949|title=General info. Zakarpattia Oblast|accessdate=2007-06-03|work=Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine|language=Ukrainian]

* Administrative Center — 1 (Uzhhorod);
* Raions — 13; [cite web|url=http://gska2.rada.gov.ua:7777/pls/z7502/A004RS?rdat1=11.11.2006&rf7571=10949|title=Zakarpattia Oblast (raions)|accessdate=2007-06-03|work=Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine|language=Ukrainian]
* City raions — 0;
* Settlements — 609, including:
** Villages — 579; [cite web|url=http://gska2.rada.gov.ua:7777/pls/z7502/A004SIL?rdat1=11.11.2006&rf7571=10949|title=Zakarpattia Oblast (villages)|accessdate=2007-06-03|work=Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine|language=Ukrainian]
** Cities/Towns — 30, including:
*** Urban-type settlements — 19; [cite web|url=http://gska2.rada.gov.ua:7777/pls/z7502/A004SMT?rdat1=11.11.2006&rf7571=10949|title=Zakarpattia Oblast (urban-type settlements)|accessdate=2007-06-03|work=Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine|language=Ukrainian]
*** Cities — 11, including:
**** Cities of oblast' subordinance — 5; [cite web|url=http://gska2.rada.gov.ua:7777/pls/z7502/A004MOZ?rdat1=11.11.2006&rf7571=10949|title=Zakarpattia Oblast (cities of oblast' subordinance)|accessdate=2007-06-03|work=Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine|language=Ukrainian]
**** Cities of raion subordinance — 6; [cite web|url=http://gska2.rada.gov.ua:7777/pls/z7502/A004MRZ?rdat1=11.11.2006&rf7571=10949|title=Zakarpattia Oblast (cities of raion subordinance)|accessdate=2007-06-03|work=Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine|language=Ukrainian]
* Selsovets — 307. [cite web|url=http://gska2.rada.gov.ua:7777/pls/z7502/A004RASIL?rdat1=11.11.2006&rf7571=10949|title=Zakarpattia Oblast (village councils)|accessdate=2007-06-03|work=Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine|language=Ukrainian]

Raions

There are 13 raions (districts) in the oblast:

# Berehivskyi Raion
# Irshavskyi Raion
# Khustskyi Raion
# Mizhhirskyi Raion
# Mukachivskyi Raion
# Perechynskyi Raion
# Rakhivskyi Raion
# Svaliavskyi Raion
# Tiachivskyi Raion
# Uzhhorodskyi Raion
# Velykobereznianskyi Raion
# Volovetskyi Raion
# Vynohradivskyi Raion

Cities

Largest cities and towns in the province are (with population figures in 2007): [cite web|url=http://www.world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=&men=gcis&lng=en&des=gamelan&dat=200&geo=-220&srt=pnan&col=aohdqcfbeimg&geo=-3740|title= Zakarpatsʿka: largest cities and towns and statistics of their population|accessdate=2007-06-01|work=World Gazetteer]

* Uzhhorod (118,231)
* Mukachevo (81,344)
* Khust (27,506)
* Berehove (25,288)
* Vynohradiv (24,366)
* Svaliava (16,217)
* Rakhiv (14,416)
* Tiachiv (9,256)
* Mizhhiria (9,133)
* Irshava (9,000)
* Velykyy Bychkiv (8,920)
* Solotvyno (8,774)
* Dubove (8,745)
* Velyki Luchky (8,540)
* Chop (8,436)
* Ilnytsia (8,420)
* Bushtyno (8,091)

Demographics

[

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thumb|250px|Ethnic_map_of_Zakarpattia_Oblast_in_2001.legend|#4682B4|mixed Ukrainians (incl. Rusyns) and Russians]

According to the 2001 Ukrainian Census, the population of Zakarpattia Oblast is 1,254,614.cite web|url=http://ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/regions/reg_zakar/|title=Regions of Ukraine / Zakarpattia region|accessdate=2007-06-01|work=2001 Ukrainian Census] The current estimated population is 1.2 million people (as of 2004).

Although ethnic Ukrainians are in majority here (80.5%),cite web|url=http://ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/nationality/Zakarpattia/|title=General results of the census / National composition of population / Zakarpattia region|accessdate=2007-06-01|work=2001 Ukrainian Census] other ethnic groups are relatively numerous in Zakarpattia. The largest of these are Hungarians (12.1%), Romanians (2.6%), Russians (2.5%), Roma (1.1%), Slovaks (0.5%) and Germans (0.3%). The Ukrainian government does not recognize the Rusyn people living in that country as a distinct nationality but rather as an ethnic group of Ukrainians. About 10,100 people (0.8%) identify themselves as Rusyns according to the last census. [cite web|url=http://ukrcensus.gov.ua/results/general/nationality/zakarpatia/|title=General results of the census / National composition of population / Zakarpattia region|accessdate=2007-06-03|work=2001 Ukrainian Census|language=Ukrainian]

Their languages and culture are respected by the provision of education, clubs, etc. in their respective languages. Those who recognize Ukrainian as their native language total 81.0% of the population, Hungarian — 12.7%, Russian — 2.9%, Romanian — 2.6%, and Rusyn — 0.5% [cite web|url=http://ukrcensus.gov.ua/regions/select_reg5/?box=5.5W&data1=1&rz=1_1&rz_b=2_1&data=1&botton=cens_db&k_t=00|title=Regions of Ukraine / Results of the census|accessdate=2007-06-03|work=2001 Ukrainian Census|language=Ukrainian] Residents in seven of Mukachivskyi Raion's villages have the option to learn the Hungarian language in a school or home school environment.

Zakarpattia is home to approximately 14,000 ethnic Roma (otherwise known as Gypsies), the largest population of Roma in Ukraine. The first Hungarian College in Ukraine is in Berehovo, the II. Rákoczi Ferenc College.

Economy

Situated in the Carpathian Mountains, Zakarpattia Oblast's economy depends mostly on trans-border trade, vinery and forestry. The oblast is also home to a special economic zone. [cite web|url=http://all.zakarpattya.net/eng/begin.html|title= History of the Region|accessdate=2007-06-01|work=World Gazetteer] [Cite Ukrainian law|type=Verkhovna Rada law|number=2322-III|law=2322-14|name=On the official economic zone of "Zakarpattia"|date=2004-03-31]

The oblast's main industry includes woodworking. Other industries include food, light industry, and mechanical engineering. Segment of foodstuffs in the structure of ware production of national consumption is 45%. The total number of large industrial organisations is 319, compared to 733 small industrial organisations.cite web|url=http://www.kmu.gov.ua/control/en/publish/article?art_id=117393&cat_id=32596|title=Zakarpattya Region|accessdate=2007-06-01|work=Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine]

The most common crops grown within the region include cereals, potatoes and other vegetables. In 1999, the total amount of grain produced was 1,75,800 tons, of sunflower seeds — 13,000 tons, and potatoes — 3,780,200 thousand tons. The region also produced 7,610,000 tons of meat, 3,634,000 tons of milk and 2,41,900 eggs. The total amount of registered farms in the region was 1,400 in 1999.

ee also

* Administrative divisions of Ukraine
* Carpathian Ruthenia, small historical region
* Carpatho-Ukraine, a short-lived Ukrainian state on the territory
* Ruthenians and Ukrainians in Czechoslovakia
* Museum of Folk Architecture and Life, museum displaying Zakarpattia architecture

References

External links

* [http://www.carpathia.gov.ua/ carpathia.gov.ua] — Official website of Zakarpattia Oblast Administration uk icon/en icon
* [http://gska2.rada.gov.ua:7777/pls/z7502/A005?rdat1=11.11.2006&rf7571=10949 Verkhovna Rada website] — Zakarpattia Oblast data
* [http://48x24.com/home/go?lat=48.62120&lng=22.29710&zoom=13 Photos and infrastructure objects of Zakarpattia on interactive map (Ukrainian Navigational Portal)]
* [http://www.simkovich.org/carpatho-rusyns.carpathorussianhistory.htm Zakarpattia Early & Recent History, and Photos]
* [http://all.zakarpattya.net/eng/begin.html all.zakarpattya.net] — All about Zakarpattia en icon/uk icon
* [http://www.mukachevo.net/ mukachevo.net] — Zakarpattia Oblast informational portal uk icon
* [http://map.meta.ua/?
] — Digital map of Zakarpattia Oblast uk icon
* [http://karpaty.prygl.net/ukrajina.php Zakarpattia Oblast - photographs]