Hertsa Raion is an administrative raion

Raion

A raion is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet countries. The term, which is from French rayon 'honeycomb, department,' describes both a type of a subnational entity and a division of a city, and is commonly translated in English as "district"...

 (district

District

Districts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...

) in the southern part of Chernivtsi Oblast

Chernivtsi Oblast

Chernivtsi Oblast is an oblast in western Ukraine, bordering on Romania and Moldova. It has a large variety of landforms: the Carpathian Mountains and picturesque hills at the foot of the mountains gradually change to a broad partly forested plain situated between the Dniester and Prut rivers....

 in western Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

, on the Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

n border. The region has an area of 308.7 km² and 32,000 inhabitants, and centers on the city of Hertsa

Hertsa

Hertsa or Herţa is a city located in Chernivtsi Oblast in western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Hertsa Raion.The city is the smallest raion administrative center in Ukraine and is located close to the Romanian border...

.

History

The region was part of the Principality of Moldavia since its founding in the 14th century and after the union of Moldavia with Wallachia in 1859 it became part of Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

, which gained its formal independence in 1877.

Hertza region was occupied by the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 in 1940 following the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact

Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact

The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, named after the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, was an agreement officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and signed in Moscow in the late hours of 23 August 1939...

 with Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

, and was added to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic

Ukrainian SSR

The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or in short, the Ukrainian SSR was a sovereign Soviet Socialist state and one of the fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union lasting from its inception in 1922 to the breakup in 1991...

. It was recaptured by Romania in 1941 in the course of Axis

Axis Powers

The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...

 attack on the Soviet Union in the Second World War

Eastern Front (World War II)

The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...

, but was recaptured again by the Soviet Army

Soviet Army

The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...

 in 1944. The annexation was confirmed by the Paris Peace Treaties

Paris Peace Treaties, 1947

The Paris Peace Conference resulted in the Paris Peace Treaties signed on February 10, 1947. The victorious wartime Allied powers negotiated the details of treaties with Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Finland .The...

 in 1947 between the USSR and the Communist Romania

Communist Romania

Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...

.

The fact that neither the secret protocol (appendix) of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which specified the expansionist claims of both sides, nor the June 1940 Soviet Ultimatum demanding from Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

 the adjacent territory of Northern Bukovina and Bessarabia

Bessarabia

Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....

 included Hertsa makes the capture by the Soviets especially controversial. Furthermore, unlike Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, the region had not been a part of Imperial Russia or Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

 before World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, but had been a part of Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

 and one of its predecessor states, Moldavia, before that.

In 1962, the region was merged into the Hlybotskyi Raion

Hlybotskyi Raion

Hlyboka Raion is an administrative district of Chernivtsi Oblast in western Ukraine. The population of the raion as of 2001 is 72,682 inhabitants , its area covers 686 km2. The administrative center is the town of Hlyboka. There are 37 villages in the raion.In Hlybotskyi Raion there are 46...

, and in 1991, was reinstated again.

Demographics

In 1930, the region had a population of 30,082, of which 27,919 (92.8%) Romanians, 1,931 (6.4%) Jews and 232 (0.8%) people of other ethnicities.

In 2001, the population of Hertsaivskyi Raion was 32,316, of which 91.4% Romanians

Romanians

The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....

, 5.0% Ukrainians

Ukrainians

Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...

, 2.3% Moldovans

Moldovans

Moldovans or Moldavians are the largest population group of Moldova...

, 0.9% Russians

Russians

The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

 and 0.3% of other ethnicities (see: Ukrainian Census, 2001

Ukrainian Census (2001)

The first Ukrainian Census was carried out by State Statistics Committee of Ukraine on 5 December 2001, twelve years after the last Soviet Union census in 1989....

).

Localities

Hertsaivskyi Raion is composed of 1 city and 13 incorporated localities, containing a total of 24 villages (Romanian names listed in brackets):

• Герца Hertsa
  Hertsa
  Hertsa or Herţa is a city located in Chernivtsi Oblast in western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Hertsa Raion.The city is the smallest raion administrative center in Ukraine and is located close to the Romanian border...
  
  (Herţa)
• Байраки Bairaky (Mogoșești)
• Буківка Bukіvka (Poieni, Poieni-Bucovina, Puieni)
• Годинівка Hodynіvka (Godinești, Godânești)
• Горбова Horbova (Horbova)
• Хряцька Khriatska (Hreațca)
• Куликівка Kulykіvka (Colincăuți, Culiceni)
• Лунка Lunka (Lunca)
• Молниця Molnytsia (Molnița)
• Остриця Ostrytsia (Ostrița, Stârcești)
• Петрашівка Petrashіvka (Mihoreni, Petrașivca)
• Тернавка Ternavka (Târnauca)
• Цурень Tsuren' (Țureni)
• Велика Буда Velyka Buda (Buda Mare)

The 10 unincorporated villages are:

• Банчени Bancheny (Bănceni)
• Дяківці Diakіvtsі (Probotești)
• Круп'янське Krupianske (Pasat)
• Луковиця Lukovytsia (Lucovița, Lucovița Moldovenească)
• Мала Буда Mala Buda (Buda Mică)
• Маморниця Mamornytsia (Mamornița, Mamornița Ucraineană)
• Могилівка Mohylіvka (Movila)
• Підвальне Pіdval'ne (Becești)
• Радгоспівка Radhospivka (Vama)
• Великосілля Velykosіllia (Pilipăuți, Satul Mare)