The oblast was created as part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on September 22, 1937 out of territories of Vinnytsia and Kiev oblasts as well as two border okrugs of Kiev Oblast - Korosten Okrug and Novohrad-Volynsky Okrug. The oblast covers territories of the historic regions of Polesia, Volhynia, and Podolia, which are reflected on the oblast's coat of arms. Before the 18th century bigger half of the oblast belonged to the Kiev Voivodeship, while smaller western half around the city of Zviahel belonged to the Volhynian Voivodeship. Following the treaty of Andrusovo, the city of Zhytomyr continued to act as an administrative center of the Kiev Voivodeship. Following the second partition of Poland, on the newly annexed territory was formed oversizedIzyaslav Vice-royalty which included former Polish territories in Volhynia, Podolia, and Kiev land and centered in Izyaslav. However a couple of years later the Russian Empire annexed more territories of the Polish Kingdom during the third partition of Poland contributing to the complete disappearance of the Polish statehood. The Izyaslav Vice-royalty was reformed and the territory of today's Zhytomyr Oblast predominantly ended up in the Russian Volhynian Governorate and the city of Zviahel which was renamed as Novohrad-Volynskyi became its administrative center. Later the administrative center was transferred to the bigger city of Zhytomyr.
Geography
The total area of Zhytomyr Oblast is. Among the points of interest it is important to mention the following sites that were nominated for the Seven Wonders of Ukraine:
The current estimated population of the oblast is 1,268,903. Zhytomyr Oblast is the most important center of Polish minority in Ukraine, which is numbered there at 49,000.
Age structure
Median age
Economy
The economy of Zhytomyr Oblast mostly deals with mining of granite and other construction stone, forestry, agriculture and various machinery manufacturing. The northern part of the province is highly affected by the Chernobyl disaster: some of the towns and raions are devastated and are included in the Chernobyl zone, while others are prohibited from producing their own agriculture.
Administrative divisions
Zhytomyr Oblast is subdivided into 23 raions, and 5 of its cities are designated as separate raions within the oblast. The districts of Zhytomyr oblast include:
Most of Ukraine's oblasts are named after their capital cities, officially referred to as "oblast centers". The name of each oblast is a relativeadjective, formed by adding a feminine suffix to the name of respective center city: Zhytomyr is the center of the Zhytomyrs'ka 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 Zhytomyr Oblast, Zhytomyrshchyna.
