Kirovohrad Oblast (), also known as Kirovohradshchyna (), is an oblast (province) in central Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Kropyvnytskyi. The oblast's population is It is Ukraine's second least populated oblast, ahead of Chernivtsi.
In 2019, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine approved the change of the oblast's name to Kropyvnytskyi Oblast (, unofficially Kropyvnychchyna ()). The change is not yet implemented. The largest cities of the region are Kropyvnytskyi, Oleksandriia, Znamianka and Svitlovodsk.
Geography
The area of the province is .
The city of Dobrovelychkivka is the geographical center of Ukraine.
Most of the region is located within historic Right-bank Ukraine and Zaporizhzhia, and the western outskirts are part of historic Podolia.
History
The lands of the modern Kirovohrad Oblast were first inhabited by Scythians.Антропологічний склад українського народу: етногенетичний аспект. — К.: Видавництво ім. Олени Теліги, 2001Геродот «Історія» Кн. 4. Абз. 11. In the Middle Ages, during the time of Kyivan Rus', the East Slavic tribe of Ulichis lived here.Повесть временных лет, т. I. М.; Л., 1950. С. 20, 21 After the liberation of the former Kyivan Rus' from the Tatars in the Battle of Blue Waters and the unification of the principalities of Kyiv, Pereyaslav, and Chernihiv with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania,Stryjkowski, Kronika Polska... 1846: 6—7.Брайченко Олексій. Синьоводська проблема: перспективи комплексних краєзнавчих досліджень // Синьоводська проблема у новітніх дослідженнях. — К., 2005. — С. 37. there was a need to protect the southeastern borders from attacks by the Crimean Khanate, a remanent steppe horde formed after the collapse of the Golden Horde at the end of the 15th century. For this, Dmytro Vyshnevetsky founded the first Zaporozhian Sich on the island of Khortytsia, thus the Ukrainian Cossacs appeared.Єдине відоме на сьогодні писемне джерело, котре ясно вказує на місце будівництва замку (хроніка Йоахима та Мартина Бєльських), називає острів Малу Хортицю On the territory of the modern Kirovohrad region the Zaporozhians founded many villages. From 1569, the territory formed part of the Kingdom of Poland within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
These lands were under the rule of the Ukrainian Cossacks of Hetmanate and Zaporozhian Sich from XV to XVIII century.Громко Т. В. Семантичні особливості народної географічної термінології Центральної України (на матеріалі Кіровоградщини). — Кіровоград, 2000
As a result of the destruction of the Cossacks and the serfdom imposed by the Russian government at the end of the 18th century, these lands came under the direct power of Russia.Яворницький Д. І. Історія запорозьких козаків. — К., 1991. — Т. І.Ключевский В. О. Происхождение крепостного права в России / В. Ключевский. — СПб., 1885. In 1752, the territory of New Serbia was founded with the capital in Novomyrhorod.
In the 1800s, majority of the landed was owned by the noble Skarżyński family. They played a large role in the development of the region. An emphasis was placed on the development of its agriculture and the Skarzynskis opened a school in Migeya dedicated to this.
The oblast was created as part of the Ukrainian SSR on January 10, 1939 out of the northern raions of Mykolaiv Oblast. Before establishment, its territory was part of Kherson Governorate (most of it) and Podolia Governorate (smaller portion) until 1925. Earlier before occupation of Ukraine in 1920s, in 1918 there were plans to introduce own Ukrainian administrative territorial division with territory of modern Kirovohrad Oblast being split between lands of Nyz (Lower land), Pobozhia (Boh land), and Cherkasy.
During the Soviet repressions, over 40,000 residents of the region were killed.Виконавчий комітет Знам'янської міської ради, Архівний відділ міської ради, Відділ внутрішньої політики міськвиконкому Чорна смуга довжиною в два роки. Книга пам'яті міста Знам'янки та смт. Знам'янка Друга Кіровоградської області — Знам'янка, 2008Олександр Рябошапка Знам'янка: залізниця, історія, люди. — Кіровоград, Цетрально-Українське видавництво, 1995 (ст. 20 — 21).Олександрія. Геоінформаційна система місць «Голодомор 1932—1933 років в Україні». Український інститут національної пам'яті. Історія міста. Новоукраїнська міська рада (uk-ua) . Процитовано 17 листопада 2021
During World War II, the oblast was under Nazi occupation from 1941 to 1944 and was liberated as a result of Kirovograd offensive.
In 1954, the oblast lost some raions to the newly created Cherkasy Oblast, but later that year received its western raions from the Odesa Oblast.
Between 1939 and 2016, the oblast administrative center, Kropyvnytskyi, was called Kirovohrad and was named after the First Secretary of the Leningrad City Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) Sergei Kirov. Due to decommunization laws (on 14 July 2016) the name of the city was changed to Kropyvnytskyi.Goodbye, Lenin: Ukraine moves to ban communist symbols, BBC News (14 April 2015) Verkhovna Rada renamed Kirovograd, Ukrayinska Pravda (14 July 2016) Kirovohrad Oblast was not renamed because as such it is mentioned in the Constitution of Ukraine, and the Oblast can only be renamed by a constitutional amendment by the Verkhovna Rada.Ukraine, The World Factbook
On 20 June 2018, the Committee on State Building, Regional Policy and Local Self-Government of the Ukrainian parliament backed the proposal to rename Kirovohrad Oblast to Kropyvnytskyi Oblast.Ukraine's parliament committee backs renaming of Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad regions, UNIAN (20 June 2018) In February 2019, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine declared constitutional the bill on renaming Kirovohrad Oblast to Kropyvnytskyi Oblast. The renaming was supported by the local Oblast Council in March 2021. The process then stalled in the parliament, with the oblast council asking the Verkhovna Rada to speed up the process in September 2022. In August 2025, the Director of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory Oleksandr Alfiorov said that the changes to the Constitution are planned for both Kirovohrad and Dnipropetrovsk Oblasts, but can be implemented only after martial law is lifted.
Demographics According to the 2001 Ukrainian census, ethnic Ukrainians accounted for 90.1% of the population of Kirovohrad Oblast, and ethnic Russians for 7.5%. Етнічний склад населення України, 2001 рікБанк даних, перепис 2001 року
Language
Due to the Russification of Ukraine during the Soviet era, the share of Ukrainian speakers in the population of Kirovohrad Oblast gradually decreased between the 1970 and 1989 censuses, while the share of Russian speakers increased. Native language of the population of Kirovohrad Oblast according to the results of population censuses:Итоги Всесоюзной переписи населения 1959 года: Украинская ССР, стр. 168—193Численность и состав населения СССР: по данным Всесоюзной переписи населения 1979 года. Центральное статистическое управление СССР, 1984Чорний С. Національний склад населення України в ХХ сторіччі (2001)Итоги Всесоюзной переписи населения 1970 года. Том IV — М., Статистика, 1973 1959197019892001 Ukrainian86.9%87.4%83.3%88.9% Russian10.7%11.4%15.1%10.0% Other2.4%1.2%1.6%1.1%
Native language of the population of the raions and city councils of Kirovohrad Oblast according to the 2001 Ukrainian census: UkrainianRussian Kirovohrad Oblast 88.9%10.0% Kropyvnytskyi (city council) 79.7%19.6% Oleksandriia (city council) 87.0%12.5% Znamianka (city council) 79.1%19.9% Svitlovodsk (city council) 79.5%20.0% Blahovishchenske Raion 97.1%1.7% Bobrynets Raion 96.2%2.3% Vilshanka Raion 92.7%2.5% Haivoron Raion 96.5%2.9% Holovanivsk Raion(in pre-2020 borders) 95.6%3.7% Dobrovelychkivka Raion 95.3%3.2% Dolynska Raion 94.4%4.6% Znamianka Raion 93.3%5.1% Kompaniivka Raion 95.5%2.5% Kropyvnytskyi Raion(in pre-2020 borders) 87.9%10.4% Mala Vyska Raion 89.3%9.6% Novhorodka Raion 97.1%2.1% Novoarkhanhelsk Raion 97.0%1.9% Novomyrhorod Raion 95.2%2.5% Novoukrainka Raion(in pre-2020 borders) 95.3%2.7% Oleksandriia Raion(in pre-2020 borders) 95.0%3.8% Oleksandrivka Raion 96.8%2.3% Onufriivka Raion 86.3%12.9% Petrove Raion 93.6%5.3% Svitlovodsk Raion 85.9%12.9% Ustynivka Raion 95.6%2.3%
Ukrainian is the only official language on the whole territory of Kirovohrad Oblast.
According to a poll conducted by Rating from 16 November to 10 December 2018 as part of the project «Portraits of Regions», 70% of the residents of Kirovohrad Oblast believed that the Ukrainian language should be the only state language on the entire territory of Ukraine. 13% believed that Ukrainian should be the only state language, while Russian should be the second official language in some regions of the country. 11% believed that Russian should become the second state language of the country. 6% found it difficult to answer.
On 23 December 2021, Kirovohrad Oblast Council approved the «Programme for the Development and Functioning of the Ukrainian Language in Kirovohrad Oblast for 2022—2027», the main objective of which is to strengthen the positions of the Ukrainian language in various spheres of public life in the oblast.
According to a survey «Is the language question (ir)relevant?» (), which took place in Kirovohrad Oblast from 12 to 22 October 2023, 96.7% of respondents named Ukrainian as their mother tongue, while 2.6% named Russian as their mother tongue. In everyday life, 66.4% of respondents spoke Ukrainian, 29.4% spoke a mix of Ukrainian and Russian, and 3.4% spoke Russian.
According to the research of the Content Analysis Centre, conducted from 15 August to 15 September 2024, the topic of which was the ratio of Ukrainian and Russian languages in the Ukrainian segment of social media, 80.4% of posts from Kirovohrad Oblast were written in Ukrainian (77.0% in 2023, 70.2% in 2022, 21.1% in 2020), while 19.6% were written in Russian (23.0% in 2023, 29.8% in 2022, 78.9% in 2020).
After Ukraine declared independence in 1991, Kirovohrad Oblast, as well as Ukraine as a whole, experienced a gradual Ukrainization of the education system, which had been RussifiedBarbara A. Anderson and Brian D. Silver, "Equality, Efficiency, and Politics in Soviet Bilingual Education Policy, 1934–1980," American Political Science Review 78 (December 1984): 1019–1039. during the Soviet era. Dynamics of the ratio of the languages of instruction in general secondary education institutions in Kirovohrad Oblast:«Статистичний щорічник України за 1998 рік» — К., 1999. — — Language of instruction, % of pupils 1991—1992 1992—1993 1993—1994 1994—1995 1995—1996 2000—2001 2005—2006 2007—2008 2010—2011 2012—2013 2015—2016 2018—2019 2021—2022 2022—2023 Ukrainian 62.2% 65.3% 69.0% 72.0% 75.0% 89.0% 96.0% 97.0% 98.0% 98.0% 98.0% 99.0% 99.24% 100.0% Russian 37.8% 34.7% 31.0% 28.0% 25.0% 11.0% 4.0% 3.0% 2.0% 2.0% 2.0% 1.0% 0.76% —
According to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, in the 2023—2024 school year, all 93,403 pupils in general secondary education institutions in Kirovohrad Oblast were studying in classes where Ukrainian was the language of instruction. —
Age structure 0–14 years: 14.3% (male 72,646/female 68,970) 15–64 years: 68.7% (male 324,698/female 355,058) 65 years and over: 17.0% (male 55,718/female 111,666) (2013 official)
Median age total: 41.2 years male: 37.7 years female: 44.5 years (2013 official)
Points of interest The following sites were nominated for the Seven Wonders of Ukraine: Khutir Nadiia, outskirts of Mykolaivka village The oblast also has a number of archaeological sites, such as Nebelivka site and Melgunov Kurgan.
Administrative divisions
Kirovohrad OblastAs of January 1, 2022Number of districts (райони)4Number of hromadas (громади)49