Spanning 20,900 square kilometres (8,100 sq mi), Cherkasy Oblast is the 18th largest oblast of Ukraine, comprising about 3.5% of the area of the country. The south flowing
Archaeological discoveries have shown that people have inhabited the valley of the Dnieper River since time immemorial. The oldest objects excavated on the territory of the region date back to the Stone Age – the Palaeolithic period.
The local administration of the oblast is controlled by the Cherkasy Oblast Rada. The governor of the oblast is the Cherkasy Oblast Rada speaker, appointed by the President of Ukraine.
Since July 2020, Cherkasy Oblast consists of four raions:
The region has 16 populated places designated as cities (towns). The only one with the population over 100 thousands is Cherkasy. Uman and Smila are in the range between 80 and 90 thousands, and all others are below 30 thousands.
Demographics
The current estimated population is 1,335,064 (as of 2006).
According to the 2001 Ukrainian census, the oblast's population is almost equally divided between the urban and rural areas (53.7% and 46.3%, respectively).[6] The demographic situation in this largely agricultural territory is somewhat complicated by population ageing.[7]
By ethnic composition, Ukrainians represent the overwhelming majority of the oblast's population (73.6%).[8] Ethnic Russians are the second group of population (25.4%), and are concentrated mainly in the city of Cherkasy.
Age structure
0-14 years: 13.4% (male 87,557/female 82,340)
15-64 years: 69.1% (male 417,426/female 457,390)
65 years and over: 17.5% (male 72,835/female 147,711) (2013 official)
Median age
total: 41.7 years
male: 38.4 years
female: 45.0 years (2013 official)
Economy
The economy of the Cherkasy Oblast is largely dominated by agriculture. While the
The industry is mainly concentrated in Cherkasy, the oblast's capital and the largest city. A chemical industry was developed in the city in late 1960s in addition to machine building, furniture making and agricultural processing.
capital cities, officially referred to as "oblast centers" (Ukrainian: обласний центр, romanized: oblasnyi tsentr). The name of each oblast is a relativeadjective, formed by adding a feminine suffix
to the name of respective center city: Cherkasy is the center of the Cherkaska oblast (Cherkasy 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 Cherkasy Oblast, Cherkashchyna.
(1972) Історіа міст і сіл Української CCP - Черкаська область (History of Towns and Villages of the Ukrainian SSR - Cherkasy Oblast), Kyiv. (in Ukrainian)