Chernivtsi Oblast

Chernivtsi Oblast (Ukrainian: Чернівецька область, Chernivets’ka oblast’, Romanian: Regiunea Cernăuți) is an oblast (province) in western Ukraine, consisting mostly of the northern part of the region of Bukovina, and bordering Romania and Moldova. It has a large variety of landforms: the Carpathian Mountains and picturesque hills at the foot of the mountains gradually change to a broad partly forested plain situated between the Dniester and Prut rivers. Its capital is the city Chernivtsi. The region has a population (as of 1 May 2004) of 913,275 and spans 8,100 km².

Geography

Chernivtsi Oblast covers an area of 8,097 km². It is the smallest oblast in Ukraine, representing 1.3% of Ukrainian territory.

In the oblast there are 75 rivers longer than 10 kilometers. The largest rivers are the Dnister (290 km), Prut (128 km) and Siret (113 km).

The oblast covers three geographic zones: a forest steppe region between Prut and Dnister rivers, a foothill region between the Carpathian Mountains and Prut river, and a mountain region known as the Bukovinian part of the Carpathian Mountains.

Chernivtsi

Chernivtsi (Ukrainian: Чернівці́ [t͡ʃɛrnʲiβ̞ˈt͡sʲi], Romanian: Cernăuți [tʃerˈnəutsʲ]; Yiddish: טשערנאָוויץ‎ Tschernowitz; see also other names) is a city in western Ukraine, situated on the upper course of the River Prut. Chernivtsi is the administrative center of Chernivtsi Oblast (province) – the northern, Ukrainian part of the historical Moldavian region of Bukovina. At the time of the 2001 Ukrainian Census, the population of the city was 240,600.

Together with the city of Lviv, Chernivtsi is viewed at present to be a cultural center of western Ukraine. The city is also considered one of modern Ukraine's greatest cultural, educational and architectural centers. Historically a cosmopolitan cultural center, Chernivtsi was even dubbed "Little Vienna" and "Jerusalem upon the Prut". Chernivtsi is currently twinned with seven other cities around the world. The city is a major regional rail and road transportation hub, also housing an international airport.

Name

Aside from its Ukrainian name of Chernivtsi, the city is also known by many different names in various languages, which still are used by the respective population groups much as they used to be throughout the city's history, either in connection with the rule by one country or another or independently from it: Romanian: Cernăuți; German: Czernowitz; Polish: Czerniowce; Hungarian: Csernovic, Russian: Черновцы́, translit. Chernovtsy (until 1944: Чернови́цы, translit. Chernovitsy). In the times of Halych-Volyn Principality the city's name was Chern.