One of the natural wonders of the region are its cave complexes.[4] Although Ternopil Oblast is among the smallest regions in Ukraine, over 100 caves have been discovered there.[4] Scientists believe these are only 20% of all possible caves in the region.[4] The biggest cave is Optymistychna Cave.[4] Measuring 267 km (166 mi) in total length, it is the longest cave in Eurasia and the fifth-longest in the world.[4] Twenty percent of the land in the region is chernozem soil.[4]
Among its attractions, Ternopil Oblast has 34 castles.[4] By at least one account, the most prominent is the Zbarazh Castle with fortifications that expand over 16 ha (40 acres) and was the center of a 17th-century standoff between troops of Bohdan Khmelnytsky and the army of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.[4] The Dniester Canyon passes through the oblast; it is considered one of the wonders of Ukraine, stretching for 250 km (160 mi).[4]
Geography
The oblast is located in Western Ukraine and has an area of 13,800 km2 (5,300 sq mi). It is situated at the western part of the Podilian Upland, which is known for its rocky terrain. Among noticeable mountains there are the Kremenets Mountains. The oblast is also famous for its caves.
One of the major rivers in the country Dniester forms southern and southwestern borders of Ternopil Oblast with the adjacent Chernivtsi Oblast and Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast. Its tributaries that flow through the oblast include Zbruch, Seret, and Strypa among just a few of them. The Seret River (not to be confused with Siret nor Seret) is a left tributary of the Dniester flowing through the oblast administrative center, i.e. Ternopil.
From the First Partition of Poland in 1772 until the end of World War I the area which would become Ternopil Oblast was mostly part of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, a possession of the Habsburg Monarchy, Austrian Empire and finally Austria-Hungary. In Ukraine today, there are three oblasts (provinces) that largely formed the eastern part of Galicia and Lodomeria until 1918. Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast was entirely contained in the kingdom, as was the vast majority of Lviv Oblast (only a few small areas and villages near Sokal were not). The southern and central parts of Ternopil Oblast were within the kingdom while the northern parts (pre-2020 raions: Kremenets, Shumsk, Lanivtsi and the northern half of Zbarazh; post-2020: Kremenets Raion and small parts of Ternopil Raion) remained with Poland Lithuania; from 1795 (Third Partition) they belonged to the RussianVolhynian Governorate (specifically the Kremenetsky Uyezd). During the Napoleonic wars the area around Ternopil was annexed by Russia in the 1809 Treaty of Schönbrunn becoming the Tarnopolsky Krai [de; pl; ru; uk]; it was ceded back to Austria in 1815 (Congress of Vienna). The Tarnopolsky Krai roughly covered the eastern two-thirds of the post-2022 Ternopil Raion and the Chortkiv Raion up to the Strypa; in pre-2020 terms it corresponded with the cities of Ternopil and Chortkiv and the Borshchiv, Chortkiv, Husiatyn, Pidvolochysk, Terebovlia, Ternopil and Zalishchyky raions, the southern half of Zbarazh raion, the eastern and northern parts of Buchach raion and some eastern parts of Zboriv and Kozova raions.
The oblast was created during the Second World War when both Nazi Germany and later the Soviet UnioninvadedPoland. Due to the Polish national policy in the area (Pacification action), many people favored the Soviet invasion of Eastern Galicia at first. However, soon thereafter, the Soviet security agencies started a witch hunt among nationally oriented members of Ukrainian resistance who emigrated to Poland after the Soviet-Ukrainian War as well as other reasons. Many of local population were exiled to Siberia regardless of their ethnic background. On December 4, 1939, the voivodeship division in the West Ukraine was abolished and replaced with the existing Soviet administrative division oblast. Ternopil Oblast (originally Tarnopol Oblast) was established based mostly on the Tarnopol Voivodeship and southern portions of the Volhynian Voivodeship.
During the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany, Ternopil became an object of fierce fighting between Soviet and German forces because of its importance as a rail transportation hub. During German occupation, the region (except for its Volhynian portion) became part of the District of Galicia and transferred to administration by the General Government. After the war, a destroyed residential section of Ternopil, near the river, was turned into an artificial lake rather than being rebuilt. Additionally, upon annexation to the Soviet Union's Ukrainian SSR, most ethnic Poles in the region were forcibly relocated to Poland, whose national borders had shifted far to the west. The area of the former Polish voivodeship was expanded by adding territory in the north, though the westernmost parts were transferred to the Lviv oblast. After 1945 Soviet authorities also encouraged ethnic Russians to settle in territories newly annexed to the Soviet Union, including the Ternopil oblast, though western Ukraine remained considerably less Russian than eastern Ukraine.
By 2005, the population of the oblast had grown to roughly 225,000, consisting primarily of ethnic Ukrainians with a large Russian or Russian-speaking minority. The city of Ternopil has important institutions of higher education, including two teacher's colleges, an international medical school with instruction in English, and one of three economics institutes in Ukraine.
Pochaiv Monastery
The religion of the majority is Ukrainian Greek Catholic, though there is a notable Orthodox presence and a small Protestant minority. Many churches which were closed or destroyed under Soviet rule have rebuilt since independence. The local Jewish community, which was very large before 1939, disappeared in the Holocaust and was not reestablished after 1945. There are no active synagogues in the oblast and only a few isolated individuals affiliating with the Jewish faith.
Points of interest
Vyshnivets PalaceDzhuryn Waterfall, one of the highest in Ukraine
The oblast is known for its castles and fortresses. Due to the underfunding of the state program for the preservation of cultural heritage, many of objects of historical significance are in poor condition.
The following historic-cultural sites were nominated for the Seven Wonders of Ukraine.
The population is predominantly Ukrainophone and about 98% consider themselves Ukrainians. Among the biggest minorities are Poles and Russians who combine 1.6% of the total population. Most of the population is bilingual and the Ukrainian language is accepted in daily communications. The estimated population is 1,038,694 (2020 est.)[5]
In historical comparison, before World War II national composition was very different and according to the 1931 Polish Census Ukrainians were a slight majority in the Tarnopol Voivodeship at 54.8%, while there was almost no Russians. On the other hand, the Polish and Jewish population decreased drastically from 36.6% and 8.4% respectively.[citation needed]
Age structure
0-14 years: 15.7% (male 86,309/female 81,940)
15-64 years: 69.0% (male 360,305/female 381,271)
65 years and over: 15.3% (male 53,364/female 110,887) (2013 official)
Median age
total: 38.6 years
male: 35.8 years
female: 41.4 years (2013 official)
Economy and transportation
Bridge near Terebovlia
The economy is predominantly agriculturally oriented. Among industries, there is a well developed food industry particularly sugar production, alcohol, and dairy (such as butter). There is also number of factories such as "Vatra" (lighting equipment), Ternopil Harvester Plant, "Orion" (radio communication) among a few.
Ternopil Oblast has an adequate network of highways, while the city of Ternopil is located at the intersection of main European corridors along the E50 and E85 highways. There is a small airport in Ternopil (Ternopil Airport) which however mostly is used for charter flights. There is a well developed railroad network which is a part of the Lviv Railways. Water transportation is very limited and mostly along the Dniester River.
Before 18 July 2020
Before the 2020 administrative reform, Ternopil Oblast was administratively subdivided into 17 raions (districts), as well as 1 city (municipality) which is directly subordinate to the oblast government: Ternopil, the administrative center of the oblast. The average area of a raion was around 808 km2 (312 sq mi), the biggest one was Terebovlia Raion covering 1,130 km2 (440 sq mi) and the smallest one - Pidhaitsi Raion with 496 km2 (192 sq mi). The average population number was around 50.6 thousands which is just below the national average.
In town of Buchach was born a Nobel Prize recipient, writer Shmuel Yosef Agnon.[4] The prize was given for works about fate of Galician Jews.[4] Agnon worked for a Lviv newspaper, but after refusal to serve in the army he moved to Mandatory Palestine.[4] In Ukraine he published over 70 of his early works.[4]
^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. ISBN978-966-475-839-7. Archived(PDF) from the original on 2021-01-25. Retrieved 2020-10-06. ((cite book)): |website= ignored (help)
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