Sumy Oblast

The oblast was created in its most recent form, from the merging of raions from Kharkiv Oblast, Chernihiv Oblast, and Poltava Oblast in 1939 by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union.

Sumy Oblast Сумська область
Oblast
Sumska oblast
Flag Coat of arms
Nickname:  Сумщина (Sumshchyna)
Country	Ukraine
Administrative center	Sumy
Government
• Governor	Volodymyr Artyukh
• Oblast council	64 seats
• Chairperson	Volodymyr Tokar
Area
• Total	23,834 km2 (9,202 sq mi)
• Rank	Ranked 16th
Population  (2022)
• Total	1,035,772
• Rank	Ranked 19th
GDP
• Total	₴ 105 billion (€2.726 billion)
• Per capita	₴ 100,760 (€2,609)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code	40000-41999
Area code	+380-54
ISO 3166 code	UA-59
Raions	18
Cities (total)	15
• Regional cities	7
Urban-type settlements	20
Villages	1492
FIPS 10-4	UP21
Website	sorada.gov.ua

The estimated population is 1,035,772 (2022 estimate).

The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Sumy. Other important cities within the oblast include Konotop, Okhtyrka, Romny, and Shostka. The oblast has a heavy mix of agriculture and industry, with over 600 industrial locations. Importantly, seven rivers pass through the oblast.

The Sumy Oblast is situated in the northeastern part of Ukraine. It is situated on a border of two historical regions of Ukraine — the Cossack Hetmanate and Sloboda Ukraine. Elevation is 110–240 m above sea level. Its area (23,800 km²) constitutes 3.95% of the country.

The oblast borders the oblasts of Bryansk (Russia) on the northeast, Kursk and Belgorod (Russia) on the east, Kharkiv on the southeast, Poltava on the south, and Chernihiv on the west.

Seven main rivers flow through the oblast, with Desna River being the largest.

The Sumy Oblast contains 168 objects and territories of natural reserve. The oblast is rich in picturesque banks of numerous rivers, and sources of mineral waters. Major environmental problems are: soil erosion, pesticide pollution, air and water pollution. The city has a problem of garbage utilization. The only place for pesticide utilization in Ukraine^{[citation needed]} is Shostka, Sumy Oblast.

The region was created on the ukase of Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union on 10 January 1939 as part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. The newly created Sumy Oblast included 12 former raions of Kharkiv Oblast, 17 former raions of Chernihiv Oblast, and 2 former raions of Poltava Oblast.

During World War II in 1941–43, it was occupied by Nazi Germany under administration of the German Wehrmacht. After the German forces were driven out, the Soviet Union regained control of the region under jurisdiction of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.

In 1965 one of former Chernihiv Oblast raions (Talalaivka Raion) was returned to Chernihiv Oblast.

During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine the Sumy Oblast was one of the first regions where Russian and Ukrainian forces clashed. Parts of the oblast came under Russian occupation during the invasion. On 4 April 2022 Governor of Sumy Oblast Dmytro Zhyvytskyi stated that Russian troops no longer occupied any towns or villages in Sumy Oblast and had mostly withdrawn, while Ukrainian troops were working to push out the remaining units. On 8 April 2022 Zhyvytskyi stated that all Russian troops had left Sumy Oblast.

The following historic-cultural sited were nominated for the Seven Wonders of Ukraine.

• Monument to a Mammoth (Kulishivka)
• Kruhlyi dvir (Round court)
• Sofroniiv Monastery

 

 

It comprises 5 raions (districts) that are further subdivided into 51 territorial hromadas (communities).

The following data incorporates the number of each type of administrative divisions of the Sumy Oblast:

• Administrative Center – 1 (Sumy);
• Raions – 5;
• Hromadas – 51.

The local administration of the oblast is controlled by the Sumy Oblast council. The governor of the oblast (chairman of state regional administration) is appointed by the President of Ukraine.

 

 

At the 2001 census, the ethnic groups within the Sumy Oblast were: 88.8% Ukrainians, 9.4% Russians. A major Russian subethnicity in the region is the Goryuns.

Age structure

0-14 years: 12.7%   (male 74,529/female 70,521)
15-64 years: 70.8%   (male 386,250/female 422,077)
65 years and over: 16.5%   (male 60,374/female 127,306) (2013 official)^{[citation needed]}

Median age

total: 42.0 years  
male: 38.6 years  
female: 45.4 years   (2013 official)^{[citation needed]}

Industry

The main industrial activities of the oblast are: chemical mechanical engineering, pumping and energy mechanical engineering, agricultural machine-construction, instrument-making industry and radio electronics, technical equipment production for processing fields of agro-industrial complexes, mining and iron ore production industry, polygraph industry and medicine production, oil and gas processing, chemical production, film and photo material production (See: Svema), and chemical fertilizer production. In general, there are 273 large industry enterprises and 327 small industry enterprises.

Agriculture

In 1999, the gross grain yield was about 446,000 tons, sugar beets – 664,000 tons, sunflower seeds – 27,700 tons, potatoes – 343,600 tons. The region also produced 108,700 tons of meat, 517,800 tons of milk and 295,300,000 eggs. At the beginning of 1999, there were 781 registered farms in the oblast.

• Viktor Yushchenko – 3rd President of Ukraine (2005–2010); Khoruzhivka village
• Yevhen Adamtsevych – a Ukrainian bandurist, the author of Zaporizhian March
• Oleksi Berest – one of the soldiers who hoisted the Victory Banner in Berlin and a posthumous Hero of Ukraine.
• Dmitry Chechulin – architect; born Shostka 1901
• Thomas de Hartmann, composer
• Oleh Husyev – Ukrainian internal footballer
• Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub – WW2 ace and air marshal of the Soviet Union.
• Natalia Ivanovna Sedova – Wife of Leon Trotsky, born Romny 1882
• Stephen Timoshenko – the father of modern engineering mechanics (1878-1972)
• Leonid Toptunov – senior reactor control chief engineer at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Reactor Unit 4 on the night of the Chernobyl disaster
• Vladimir Sakhenko, painter and ceramist

Most of Ukraine's oblasts are named after their capital cities, officially referred to as "oblast centers" (Ukrainian: обласний центр, translit. oblasnyi tsentr). The name of each oblast is a relative adjective, formed by adding a feminine suffix to the name of respective center city: Sumy is the center of the Sums’ka oblast (Sumy Oblast). Most oblasts are also sometimes referred to in a feminine noun form, following the convention of traditional regional place names, ending with the suffix "-shchyna", as is the case with the Sumy Oblast, Sumshchyna.

•  
  Skyline of Sumy
•  
  St. George's Church in Okhtyrka
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  Putyvl Fortress
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  Hlukhiv Pedagogical University
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  Kruhlyi dvir in Trostianets
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  Trostianets Park
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  Desna-Stara Huta National Nature Park
•  
  Hetman National Nature Park

• Subdivisions of Ukraine
• Russian occupation of Sumy Oblast

51°00′N 34°00′E / 51.000°N 34.000°E / 51.000; 34.000