Chernihiv Oblast – Steeped in History and Varied Landscapes

The Chernihiv oblast is situated in the northeastern section of Ukraine near the borders of Belarus and Russia. The region also borders the Kyiv, Slobidska, Belarus and the Briansk region. Chernihiv is made up of 55,700 square kilometers, which is reasonably populated. Bakhmach, Chernihiv (the capital), Koriukivka, Nizhyn, Pryluky and Novhorod-Siversky are some of the cities situated in the Chernihiv region.

The Chernihiv Region was first created on October 15, 1932 and was made part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Chernihiv city is historically rich and extends back to the Kievan Rus’ Period where it was ranked as the second most important city in Ukraine.

Unlike other oblasts in Ukraine, Chernihiv does not have much in the way of natural resources at its disposal and farming is not popular. The geography of the land slopes from 220 meters down to 120 meters and incorporates part of the swampy Dnieper Lowland. Chernihiv also lies within the Desna Basin, which has many tributaries like the Oster River and Snov River contributing to it.

In this northern region there are a lot of forested areas. In fact, one-fifth of Chernihiv is made up of forest. These forests include trees like oak, alder, pine and birch. The climate in the Chernihiv region is moderately continental, like so many of the other regions in Ukraine. The seasonal temperatures range from a high of 32°C to 21°C in summer and from -12°C to 7°C in winter and there is an average of 500 to 600 mm of rain every year.

As mentioned above the Chernihiv region is home to 1,156,609 million people. However, out of all the regions Chernihiv has one of the lowest densities in Ukraine. One of the reasons for this is the lack of land productivity which forces many of the inhabitants to leave and find work elsewhere. Another reason is that the natural population growth increases slowly and is also one of the lowest in the country. Mainly people of Ukrainian descent populate the Chernihiv Oblast, while the rest of the region is made up of Russians and Jews.

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