Lviv Oblast Львівська область L’vivs’ka oblast’ |
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Oblast | |||
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Nickname(s): Львівщина (Lvivshchyna) | |||
Country | Ukraine | ||
Administrative center | Lviv | ||
Government | |||
• Governor | Oleh Syniutka | ||
• Chairperson | Petro Kolodij | ||
Area | |||
• Total | 21,833 km2 (8,430 sq mi) | ||
Area rank | Ranked 17th | ||
Population (2016) | |||
• Total | 2,534,174 | ||
Time zone | EET (UTC+2) | ||
• Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) | ||
Area code | +380-32 | ||
ISO 3166 code | UA-46 | ||
Raions | 20 | ||
Cities (total) | 44 | ||
• Regional cities | 9 | ||
Urban-type settlements | 34 | ||
Villages | 1849 | ||
FIPS 10-4 | UP15 | ||
Website | www.loda.gov.ua |
Lviv Oblast (Ukrainian: Львівська область, translit. L’vivs’ka oblast’; also referred to as L’vivshchyna, Ukrainian: Львівщина) is an oblast (province) in western Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Lviv. Population: 2,534,174 (2016 est.).
The oblast was created as part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on December 4, 1939 following the Soviet invasion of Poland. The territory of the former Drohobych Oblast was incorporated into the Lviv Oblast in 1959.
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), and Poland (1918 to 1939), when it was part of the Lwów Voivodship 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 1918, 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.