Wikipedia

Mykolaiv Oblast

Mykolaiv Oblast (Ukrainian: Миколаївська область, romanized: Mykolaivska oblast , IPA: [mɪkoˈlɑjiu̯sʲkɐ ˈɔblɐsʲtʲ] ), also referred to as Mykolaivshchyna (Ukrainian: Миколаївщина , IPA: [mɪkoˈlɑjiu̯ʃtʃɪnɐ] ), is an oblast (province) of Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Mykolaiv. At the most recent estimate, the population of the oblast stood at 1,091,821 (2022 estimate).[2]

Mykolaiv Oblast
Миколаївська область
Oblast
Mykolaivska oblast[1]
Flag of Mykolaiv Oblast
Flag
Coat of arms of Mykolaiv Oblast
Coat of arms
Nickname: 
Миколаївщина (Mykolaivshchyna)
Pre-July 2020 boundary shown
Pre-July 2020 boundary shown
Map
Interactive map of Mykolaiv Oblast in Ukraine
Coordinates: 47°26′N 31°48′E / 47.43°N 31.80°E / 47.43; 31.80
Country  Ukraine
Administrative center Mykolaiv
Government
 • Governor Heorhiy Reshetilov (acting)
 • Oblast council 64 seats
 • Chairperson Anton Tabunshchyk
Area
 • Oblast
24,598 km2 (9,497 sq mi)
 • Rank Ranked 14th
Population
 (2022)[2]
 • Oblast
1,091,821
 • Rank Ranked 18th
 • Density 44.387/km2 (114.96/sq mi)
 • Urban
750,698
 • Rural
341,123
GDP
[3]
 • Total ₴ 124 billion
(€3.2 billion)
 • Per capita ₴ 112,864
(€2,900)
Time zone UTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code
54000-56999
Area code +380-51
ISO 3166 code UA-48
Raions 4
Cities 10
Settlements 17
Villages 820
HDI (2022) 0.740[4]
high
FIPS 10-4 UP16
NUTS statistical regions of Ukraine UA41
Website www.mk.gov.ua
www.mk-oblrada.gov.ua

History

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Ruins of Olbia

Historically, at various times, the territory was ruled either entirely or partly by Scythia, the ancient Greeks, Old Great Bulgaria, the Khazars, the Kipchaks, the Mongol Empire, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Crimean Khanate, the Ottoman Empire, the Kingdom of Poland and the Russian Empire. Historic cities of particular importance included ancient Olbia and the late medieval port city of Ochakiv.

In the late 17th and 18th centuries, the tripoint of three early modern great powers, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Ottoman Empire and Russia, was located at the site of present-day Pervomaisk, now the second-largest city in Mykolaiv Oblast. The modern city was formed by the merger of the former Polish town of Bohopol, the Russian town of Olviopol and the Ottoman settlement of Holta, later known as Golta.[5][6]

Jewish history

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Jewish communities developed in the region during the period of the Russian Empire, when much of the territory formed part of the Pale of Settlement. Jews participated extensively in commerce, crafts and the economic development of the region. The port and shipbuilding city of Mykolaiv, founded in 1789, developed one of the area's largest Jewish communities. Jews were present there from the city's earliest years, many having migrated from Galicia.[7]

The Russian government prohibited most Jews from residing in Mykolaiv in 1829 because of its status as an important naval base, although implementation of the expulsion was delayed. Restrictions were gradually relaxed beginning in the 1850s and were removed in 1866, after which the Jewish population grew rapidly. There were 8,325 Jews in Mykolaiv in 1880. By the 1897 census, the number had increased to 20,109, representing 21.8 percent of the city's population. The community maintained synagogues, houses of prayer, schools and charitable organizations. Jews suffered during outbreaks of anti-Jewish violence in 1881 and 1899, while Jewish self-defence organizations helped prevent a pogrom in the city during the Revolution of 1905.[7]

Jewish communities also existed in towns and villages throughout what is now Mykolaiv Oblast, particularly in the western districts adjoining the Southern Bug. Under Soviet rule, traditional Jewish religious and communal institutions were restricted, while Jews increasingly participated in industry and urban life. In 1926, Mykolaiv itself had 21,786 Jewish residents, approximately 20.8 percent of its population. The city supported Yiddish-language educational and judicial institutions during the 1920s. By 1939, 25,280 Jews lived in Mykolaiv, constituting approximately 15.2 percent of the city's population.[7]

World War II and the Holocaust

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Following the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, the territory of present-day Mykolaiv Oblast was divided between German and Romanian occupation zones. Mykolaiv and the eastern part of the present-day oblast came under German administration, while the territory west of the Southern Bug was incorporated into the Romanian-administered Transnistria Governorate. The latter included Golta County, centred on the Golta section of present-day Pervomaisk. Transnistria became one of the principal sites of the Holocaust perpetrated by Romanian authorities, German units and local auxiliaries.[8]

German forces occupied Mykolaiv in August 1941. In September, approximately 7,000 Jews were murdered in the vicinity of the city. The prewar Jewish community, which had numbered more than 25,000 in 1939, was largely destroyed during the German occupation.[7]

In the Romanian occupation zone, Golta County became a major centre of mass murder. Romanian authorities concentrated local Ukrainian Jews together with tens of thousands of Jews deported from Bessarabia, Bukovina and elsewhere in Transnistria. The three principal killing camps in the county were Bogdanovka, Domanovka and Akhmechetka. Other ghettos, camps and forced-labour sites operated throughout the county.[8][9]

Bogdanovka, located at a large state farm near the Southern Bug, became the largest of these killing sites. Romanian authorities confined Jews deported from Odesa, other parts of Transnistria, Bessarabia and Bukovina there. Between 25,000 and 30,000 Jews were forced to march from Odesa toward Bogdanovka beginning in October 1941. Thousands died from hunger, disease and exposure after reaching the camp. Beginning on 21 December 1941, tens of thousands of prisoners were murdered in a series of mass killings carried out by Romanian-controlled local police and ethnic German auxiliaries operating under German authority. Prisoners who were elderly or too weak to walk to the killing sites were among those burned alive in buildings.[10]

At Domanovka, approximately 20,000 Ukrainian and Bessarabian Jews were confined between November 1941 and January 1942. About 18,000 were murdered by Romanian soldiers and police, Ukrainian auxiliaries and ethnic German units by February 1942. Survivors were subjected to starvation, disease and forced labour, and Jewish prisoners were later forced to exhume and burn the bodies of victims.[11]

Akhmechetka, situated between Bogdanovka and Domanovka, was established at an isolated former Soviet pig farm. Romanian authorities used the camp particularly for Jews considered incapable of work. Prisoners were confined under lethal conditions with inadequate food, shelter and medical care, and thousands died or were murdered there.[9]

The Golta section of Pervomaisk itself contained a ghetto. By the autumn of 1942 approximately 450 Jews, including deportees from Bessarabia and Bukovina, were concentrated there. Local Jews were subsequently sent to Bogdanovka, Akhmechetka and other camps, although some were later returned to Golta. Jews considered incapable of labour faced murder or transfer to Akhmechetka.[12]

Numerous smaller detention and forced-labour sites also operated in territory now belonging to Mykolaiv Oblast. These included the Bobric camp and Slivina. At Slivina, now Slyvyne, Jewish prisoners were used for forced labour in 1943, including construction work associated with a bridge across the Southern Bug toward Mykolaiv.[13]

Romanian authorities also carried out deportations of Roma to Transnistria, including locations in and around Golta County. Across Transnistria, the Romanian government deported an estimated 25,000 Roma, of whom at least 11,000 died from deprivation and maltreatment or were murdered.[8]

The Red Army recaptured the region in the spring of 1944. Mykolaiv was liberated in March 1944, ending the German and Romanian occupations of the territory of the present-day oblast.

Postwar period

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The oblast had been established within Soviet Ukraine in 1937. Following the end of World War II, it remained part of the Ukrainian SSR. Jewish survivors and evacuees returned to Mykolaiv after the war. The city had approximately 15,800 Jewish residents in 1959, although Soviet restrictions on Jewish religious life continued and the last synagogue was closed by the authorities in 1962. The Jewish population subsequently declined as a result of assimilation and, particularly from the late Soviet period onward, emigration.[7]

During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian army invaded the oblast from Kherson Oblast, advancing as far northwest as Voznesensk. Russian forces were repulsed at Voznesensk, and their attempt to capture Mykolaiv also failed. From April 2022, almost all of the oblast remained under Ukrainian control, apart from the extreme southeast and the Kinburn Peninsula. When Russia announced the annexation of Kherson Oblast in September 2022, its claims incorporated Russian-occupied areas of Mykolaiv Oblast. A Ukrainian military official announced the Russian withdrawal from Mykolaiv Oblast on 10 November 2022.[14]

On 4–5 July 2022, during the international Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano, Switzerland pledged to support the reconstruction of Mykolaiv Oblast.[15]

Geography

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Mykolaiv Oblast is located in the southern half of Ukraine. Its area (24,600 km²) comprises about 4.07% of the total area of Ukraine.

Mykolaiv Oblast borders upon Odesa Oblast in the west-southwest, Kirovohrad Oblast in the north, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast in the northeast, and Kherson Oblast on the southeast.

To the south, the oblast is also bordered by the Black Sea. To Mykolaiv Oblast belong Kinburn Peninsula, Berezan Island in Black Sea, Pervomaisky Island in Dnieper Estuary.

Historically, it is located in Yedisan (central and southern parts), Zaporizhzhia (northern part) and Podolia (north-western part). Pervomaisk, the second largest city of the province, is located at the tripoint of the three historic regions.

In regards to relief, Mykolaiv Oblast is a plain that gently slopes in southern direction.[16] Bigger portion of the territory lays within Black Sea Lowland.[16] To the north there are spurs of Podolian and Dnieper uplands.[16] Among major valuable deposits and minerals there are nickel, uranium ores, granite, gneiss, quartzites.[16]

The climate is moderately continental with a mild winter of small snow amount and hot arid summer.[16]

In the territory of the region are eighty-five rivers that belong to basin of the Black Sea.[16] Among main rivers there are the Southern Bug (Boh) which splits the oblast into eastern and western parts, Inhulets, and Berezan.[16]

Points of interest

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The following historic-cultural sites were nominated for the Seven Wonders of Ukraine or Seven Natural Wonders of Ukraine.

There are 41 monuments of national significance in Mykolaiv Oblast.[17]

Demographics

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Mykolaiv, capital and largest city of the oblast and a major port city
Pervomaisk, second largest city of the oblast, created by merger of the towns of Bohopil, Holta and Olviopol
Pivdennoukrainsk, third largest city of the oblast, home to the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant

The estimated population was 1.2 million people in 2005. The greater part of the oblast's population resided in urban type settlements (66%), with the remainder residing in agricultural areas. Also, almost 60% of the urban population resided in Mykolaiv, the industrial, cultural and administrative center of Mykolaiv Oblast.

As of 2021, the total population of the oblast was estimated at 1,108,394 inhabitants, with 761,278 (68.7%) residing in urban areas and the remaining 347,116 (31.3%) living in rural areas. The city of Mykolaiv, home to 341,123 residents, constituted 68.8% of the urban population of Mykolaiv Oblast.[2]

The oblast's population density is one of the lowest in Ukraine – 45 inhabitants per square kilometre (120/sq mi). Mykolaiv Oblast contains 2.7% of the population of Ukraine, by percentage share ranking 19th among Ukrainian oblasts and territories.

Age structure

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0-14 years: 14.7% Increase (male 88,668/female 83,434)
15-64 years: 70.7% Decrease (male 396,342/female 432,808)
65 years and over: 14.6% Steady (male 56,527/female 114,987) (2013 official)

Median age

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total: 39.7 years Increase
male: 36.3 years Increase
female: 42.9 years Increase (2013 official)

Ethnicity, language and citizenship

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The oblast has a multi-ethnic composition; people of more than 100 ethnicities (national groups) live in the oblast.[18] As of 2001, Ukrainian was the most common native language in the oblast, while Russian was the second most common.[19] In the city of Mykolaiv, the most common native language was Russian.[20]

At the time of the 2001 census, the oblast had 1,269,900 permanent residents.[21] Of these:

  • 1,251,100 (99.1%) had Ukrainian citizenship.[21]
  • 6,400 had citizenship of CIS countries.[21]
  • 10,200 had citizenship of other countries.[21]
  • 4,200 were without citizenship.[21]
  • 1,000 who did not specify their citizenship.[21]
Ethnicity
("Nationality")		 Permanent residents 2001 Mother Tongue 2001 [19] Permanent residents 1989 Mother Tongue 1989 [19]
Number [18] % [18] Ukrainian Russian % [18] Ukrainian Russian
All ethnicities [21] 1,269,900 100.0% 69.2% 29.3% 100.0% 64.2% 33.8%
Ukrainian 1,034,400 81.9% 82.4% 17.5% 75.6%
Russian 177,500 14.1% 6.2% 93.7% 19.4%
Moldovan 13,200 1.0% 28.5% 16.8% 1.3%
Belarusian 8,400 0.7% 21.8% 58.5% 1.1%
Bulgarian 5,600 0.4% 16.9% 53.2% 0.5%
Armenian 4,300 0.3% 7.1% 35.8% 0.1%
Jewish 3,300 0.3% 10.1% 87.4% 0.9%
Korean 1,800 0.1% 6.3% 70.8% 0.0%
Azerbaijani 1,500 0.1% 8.1% 33.3% 0.1%
Gypsy (Roma) 1,400 0.1% 38.7% 15.2% 0.1%
Polish 1,300 0.1% 47.4% 44.1% 0.2%
Tatar 1,300 0.1% 7.3% 73.5% 0.1%
German 1,200 0.1% 26.8% 67.7% 0.1%
Other 7,700 0.7% 13.8% 37.3% 0.5%

Administrative divisions

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Mykolaiv Oblast formed in September 1937. it is subdivided into various areas, mostly raions. The subdivisions changed in 2020.

Administrative divisions (18 July 2020 to present)

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Current raions of Mykolaiv Oblast as of August 2020.

On 18 July 2020, the number of Mykolaiv Oblast subdivisions was reduced to four raions.[22][23] These are:

  1. Bashtanka (Баштанський район), the center is in the town of Bashtanka;
  2. Mykolaiv (Миколаївський район), the center is in the city of Mykolaiv;
  3. Pervomaisk (Первомайський район), the center is in the town of Pervomaisk;
  4. Voznesensk (Вознесенський район), the center is in the town of Voznesensk.

Administrative divisions (to 17 July 2020)

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Former raions of Mykolaiv Oblast as of June 2020. The city of Mykolaiv is shown in dark blue.

Before July 2020, Mykolaiv Oblast was subdivided into 24 regions: 19 raions (administrative districts) and 5 city municipalities (mis'krada or misto), officially known as territories governed by city councils[24] which are directly subordinate to the oblast government.

Name Ukrainian Name Area
(km2)		 Population
census 2015[25]		 Admin.center Urban Population Only
Mykolaiv Миколаїв 260 493,860 Mykolaiv 493,860
Pervomaisk Первомайськ 25 66,677 Pervomaisk 66,677
Voznesensk Вознесенськ 23 35,520 Voznesensk 35,520
Yuzhnoukrainsk Южноукраїнськ 24 40,353 Yuzhnoukrainsk 40,353
Arbuzynka Raion Арбузинський район 969 20,198 Arbuzynka 8,543
Bashtanka Raion Баштанський район 1,706 37,721 Bashtanka 12,640
Berezanka Raion Березанський район 1,378 23,409 Berezanka 4,120
Bereznehuvate Raion Березнегуватський район 1,264 20,387 Bereznehuvate 7,742
Bratske Raion Братський район 1,129 18,037 Bratske 5,325
Domanivka Raion Доманівський район 1,458 25,500 Domanivka 6,137
Kazanka Raion Казанківський район 1,349 19,745 Kazanka 7,207
Kryve Ozero Raion Кривоозерський район 814 24,905 Kryve Ozero 7,823
Mykolaiv Raion Миколаївський район 1,430 30,448 Mykolaiv N/A *
Novyi Buh Raion Новобузький район 1,243 31,199 Novyi Buh 15,566
Nova Odesa Raion Новоодеський район 1,428 33,602 Nova Odesa 12,108
Ochakiv Raion Очаківський район 1,500 29,949 Ochakiv 14,489
Pervomaisk Raion Первомайський район 1,319 30,275 Pervomaisk N/A *
Snihurivka Raion Снігурівський район 1,350 40,420 Snihurivka 12,870
Veselynove Raion Веселинівський район 1,245 23,161 Veselynove 8,060
Vitovka Raion Вітовській район 1,460 50,565 Mykolaiv N/A *
Voznesensk Raion Вознесенський район 1,392 30,562 Voznesensk N/A *
Vradiivka Raion Врадіївський район 801 17,611 Vradiivka 8,391
Yelanets Raion Єланецький район 1,018 15,530 Yelanets 4,912
Mykolaiv Oblast (total) Миколаївська область 24,585 1,159,634 791,227

Note: Asterisks (*) Though the administrative center of the rayon is housed in the city/town that it is 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.

At a lower level of administration, these district-level administrations are subdivided into:

  • Settlements — 922, including:
    • Villages — 896;
    • Cities/Towns — 21, including:
      • Cities of raion subordinance — 4 (Bashtanka, Novyi Buh, Nova Odesa and Snihurivka);
      • Urban-type settlement — 17;
  • Selsovets — 287.

The local administration of the oblast is controlled by the Mykolaiv Oblast Council. The governor of the oblast is the Mykolaiv Oblast Council speaker, appointed by the President of Ukraine.

Infrastructure and economy

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Public opinion

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During the 1991 referendum, 89.45% of votes in Mykolaiv Oblast were in favor of the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine. 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, 95.5% did not support the idea, and the rest were undecided or did not respond.[26]

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See also

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References

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  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. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  2. 1 2 3 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.
  3. ↑ "Валовии регіональнии продукт".
  4. ↑ "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org.
  5. ↑ Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom III (in Polish). Warsaw. 1882. p. 113.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ↑ "Pervomaisk". Encyclopedia of Ukraine. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Slutsky, Yehuda. "Nikolayev". Encyclopaedia Judaica. Retrieved 1 September 2026 – via Encyclopedia.com.
  8. 1 2 3 "Transnistria Governorate". Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved 1 September 2026.
  9. 1 2 The Holocaust in Romania (PDF) (Report). Yad Vashem. Retrieved 1 September 2026.
  10. ↑ "Odessa". Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved 1 September 2026.
  11. ↑ "Domanevka" (PDF). Yad Vashem. Retrieved 1 September 2026.
  12. ↑ "פרבומייסק (אולביופול, בוגופול, גולטה) (Pervomaisk (Olviopol, Bogopol, Golta))". The Encyclopedia of the Ghettos During the Holocaust (in Hebrew). Yad Vashem. Retrieved 1 September 2026.
  13. ↑ "Slivina" (PDF). Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933–1945. Vol. III. Washington, D.C.: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. p. 762. Retrieved 1 September 2026.
  14. ↑ "Ukraine war: Kyiv claims major gains as Russia exits Kherson". BBC News. Retrieved 1 September 2026.
  15. ↑ "Rebuilding Ukraine will cost $750 billion". The Brussels Times. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Vermenych, Ya. Mykolaiv Oblast (МИКОЛАЇВСЬКА ОБЛАСТЬ). Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine. 2009
  17. ↑ Перелік пам'яток культурної спадщини національного значення Миколаївської області, занесених до Державного реєстру нерухомих пам'яток України [List of cultural heritage monuments of national significance in Mykolaiv Oblast inscribed on the State Register of Immovable Monuments of Ukraine] (PDF). Ministry of Culture of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). 19 July 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 February 2026. Retrieved 26 February 2026.
  18. 1 2 3 4 National composition of population. About number and composition population of Mykolaiv Region by data All-Ukrainian census of the population 2001, State Statistics Committee of Ukraine, 2003–2004
  19. 1 2 3 Linguistic composition of the population. About number and composition population of Mykolaiv Region by data All-Ukrainian census of the population 2001, State Statistics Committee of Ukraine, 2003–2004
  20. ↑ In a survey in 2017, 63% of the population of the city of Mykolaiv spoke Russian at home, 7% Ukrainian, and 28% spoke both Ukrainian and Russian equally.
    "Public Opinion Survey of Residents of Ukraine June 9 – July 7, 2017" (PDF). iri.org. August 2017. p. 89. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 August 2017.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Permanent population. About number and composition population of Mykolaiv Region by data All-Ukrainian census of the population 2001, State Statistics Committee of Ukraine, 2003–2004
  22. ↑ "Про утворення та ліквідацію районів. Постанова Верховної Ради України № 807-ІХ". Голос України (in Ukrainian). 2020-07-18. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  23. ↑ "Нові райони: карти + склад" (in Ukrainian). Міністерство розвитку громад та територій України.
  24. ↑ "Чисельність наявного населення України (Actual population of Ukraine)" (PDF) (in Ukrainian). State Statistics Service of Ukraine. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 June 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  25. ↑ "Population Quantity". UkrStat (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  26. ↑ 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.
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