Lviv Oblast
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| L’vivs’ka Oblast Львівська область | |
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| Missing image Map_of_Ukraine_political_simple_Oblast_Lemberg.png Location of Lviv Oblast | |
| Missing image Lviv_oblast_detail_map.png Detailed map of Lviv Oblast | |
| Population Total (2004) Density Urban | 2,593,426 119/km² 59.7% |
| Area | 21,800 km² |
| Raions | 20 |
| Cities | 43 |
| City districts | 6 |
| Urban localities | 35 |
| Villages | 1,849 |
Lviv Oblast (Львівська область, L’vivs’ka oblast’ or Львівщина, L’vivshchyna in Ukrainian, Lwów in Polish, Lemberg in German) is an oblast of western Ukraine, created on December 4, 1939. Its capital is the city of L'viv.
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History
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, Kyivan Rus', the independent Ukrainian state of Halych-Volynia (circa 1200–1400, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (circa 1400–1795, the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1795 to 1918 and Poland from 1918-1939, 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 Western Ukrainian Republic in 1918 but this endured only briefly. Local autonomy was provided in international treaties but later on those were not honored by the Polish government and the area experienced much ethnic tension between the Polish and Ukrainian population.
It only became part of the Soviet Union under the terms of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, when it was annexed to the Ukrainian SSR. It was occupied by Nazi Germany from 1941-1944 and remained in Soviet hands after World War II as was arranged during the conferences Teheran and Yalta. Thanks to its historical development, L'viv is one of the least Russified and Sovietized parts of Ukraine, with much of its Hapsburg heritage still visible today.
The region and its capital city take their name from the time of Halych-Volynia, when Danylo, the King of Rus' founded L'viv, naming the city after his son, Lev (Leo). During this time, the general region around L'viv was known as Red Ruthenia (Cherven' Rus').
Geography and economy
The terrain of L'viv Oblast is highly varied, ranging from open steppes to dense forests, with intensively cultivated river basins and forested mountains. The chief industries are agriculture, cattle and sheep farming and forestry. Significant mineral extraction also occurs, and the region also possesses oil and natural gas deposits which are piped to the city of L'viv and used locally.
Principal Cities and Towns
Demographics
- Male/female ratio: 48%/52%
- Nationalities: 90% of region's population are Ukrainians; 200,000 people are Russians; there are also smaller German and Polish minorities.
Religion
56% of the religious organisations active in L'viv adhere to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic (Uniate) Church.
Local Historical and Cultural Sites
L'viv contains a well-preserved main square (Rynok) and numerous historical and beautiful churches. Other sites of interest are the historic Lychakivskiy Cemetery, the local museum of folklore, and the high castle ruins. There is also a museum of military artifacts, the "Arsenal".
Well-preserved local wooden churches can be found in the surrounding countryside, as can the Olesky Zamok (castle). A local museum of Ukrainian art and an institution of higher learning (Ivan Franko State University) are also present.
References
- Source for statistics used: L'viv Regional State Administration Web Site (http://www.loda.gov.ua/eng/region/) - accessed February 29, 2004.
External links
- L'viv Regional State Administration Web Site (http://www.loda.gov.ua/eng/region/)
- Symbols and flags (http://flagspot.net/flags/ua-lv.html)
| Subdivisions of Ukraine | 
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| oblasts: | Cherkasy | Chernihiv | Chernivtsi | Dnipropetrovsk | Donetsk | Ivano-Frankivsk | Kharkiv | Kherson | Khmelnytskyi | Kirovohrad | Kiev | Luhansk | Lviv | Mykolaiv | Odessa | Poltava | Rivne | Sumy | Ternopil | Vinnytsia | Volyn | Zakarpattia | Zaporizhia | Zhytomyr | ||
| autonomous republic: | Crimea | ||
| cities with special status: | Kiev | Sevastopol | ||
de:Oblast Lemberg es:L'viv (región) nl:Oblast Lviv pl:Obwód lwowski uk:Львівська область