Subdivisions of Kiev
Encyclopedia
Subdivisions of Kiev
, the capital of Ukraine
, include the formal administrative subdivision into raion
s and the more detailed informal subdivision into historical neighborhoods.
, Starokyiv, and the first and the second parts of Podil
. In 1833-1834 according to Tsar Nicholas I
's decree, Kiev was subdivided into 6 police raions; later being increased to 10. As of 1917, there were 8 Raion Councils (Duma), which were reorganized by Pavlo Skoropadsky
into 17 raions. In 1924 bolshevik
s reorganized them into the bigger six party-administrated Raions with various sub-raions under Hryhoriy Hrynko administration. All the city modern raions that start with a letter D are located on the left bank of Dnieper and until 1927 were part of Chernigov Governorate
with Darnytsia
being the first to be incorporated within the city limits that year.
Over the Soviet time, as city was expanding, the number of raions was gradually increasing. The raions has been also commonly named after Soviet party leaders, and as political situation was changing and some leaders were overturned by the other, so raion names were also changing.
The last raion reform took place in 2001 when the number of raions has been decreased from 14 to 10.
Under Oleksandr Omelchenko
(mayor
from 1999 to 2006), there were further plans for the merger of some raions and revision of their boundaries, and the total number of raions had been planned to be decreased from 10 to 7. With the election of the new mayor-elect (Leonid Chernovetsky) in 2006, these plans were conducted.
Administratively, the city is divided into raion
s (district
s), which have their own units of central and local government with jurisdiction
over a limited scope of affairs.
The last Kiev raion reorganization took place in 2001, and currently Kiev raions are:
Most of the raions are named after respective historical neighborhoods of the city.
(a few large islands belong to the left-bank raions).
The Right Bank , located on the western side of the river, contains the older portions of the city, as well as the majority of Kiev's business and governmental institutions.
The eastern Left Bank , incorporated into the city only in the twentieth century, is predominantly residential
. There are large industrial and green areas in both the Right Bank and the Left Bank.
The terms "Right Bank" and, especially, "Left Bank" are recognized in the names of Kiev's infrastructure, e.g. "Livoberezhna" Metro station
.
, since most of them have lost their distinctive topographic
limits.
The names of the oldest neighborhoods go back to the Middle Ages
, and sometimes pose a great linguistic
interest. The newest whole-built developments bear numeric designations or residential marketing
names.
Most notable informal historical neighborhoods of Kiev include:
Lypky and Zvirynets of the Pecherskyi Raion
are the most expensive areas to live. Koncha-Zaspa is arguably the most interesting neighborhood name dating back to the times of Kievan Rus'
. A local legend explaining the name of a locality states the Rus warriors who felt asleep (zaspaly) during their watch at the outpost
were killed (koncheni) by Golden Horde
invaders. Koncha-Zaspa is now a prestigious area too.
system. However, metro lines do not cover significant parts of Kiev, making such orientation very approximate (but easy for newcomers). Sometimes, the system of elektrychka train
stops are used for the same purpose.
The full informal set of addresses in Kiev (used, for example, in real estate
advertising) would include:
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, the capital of 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...
, include the formal administrative subdivision into 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"...
s and the more detailed informal subdivision into historical neighborhoods.
History of subdivision
The first known formal subdivision of Kiev dates to 1810 when the city was subdivided into 4 parts: PecherskPechersk
Pechersk Raion is a larger administrative district of the city which lies majorly within the historical neighborhood, while also including some other historical areas. Pechersk neighborhood is located on the hills adjoining the right bank of the Dnieper River. The two geographic entities are...
, Starokyiv, and the first and the second parts of Podil
Podil
The Podil or Podilskyi Raion is a historic neighbourhood and an administrative raion in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. It is one of the oldest neighborhoods of Kiev, the birthplace of the city's trade, commerce and industry...
. In 1833-1834 according to Tsar Nicholas I
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...
's decree, Kiev was subdivided into 6 police raions; later being increased to 10. As of 1917, there were 8 Raion Councils (Duma), which were reorganized by Pavlo Skoropadsky
Pavlo Skoropadsky
Pavlo Petrovych Skoropadskyi 3 May 1873, Wiesbaden, Germany – 26 April 1945, Metten monastery clinic, Bavaria, Germany) was a Ukrainian politician, earlier an aristocrat and decorated Imperial Russian Army general...
into 17 raions. In 1924 bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
s reorganized them into the bigger six party-administrated Raions with various sub-raions under Hryhoriy Hrynko administration. All the city modern raions that start with a letter D are located on the left bank of Dnieper and until 1927 were part of Chernigov Governorate
Chernigov Governorate
The Chernigov Governorate , also known as the Government of Chernigov, was a guberniya in the historical Left-bank Ukraine region of the Russian Empire, which was officially created in 1802 from the disbanded Malorossiya Governorate with an administrative centre of Chernigov...
with Darnytsia
Darnytsia
Darnytsia , is a raion of the Ukrainian capital Kiev.It is the southeastern raion of Kiev located on the left bank of Dnieper river. It borders Dnieper to its west with Holosiiv Raion of Kiev is lying across it, Dnipro Raion of Kiev city to its north, and Boryspil Raion of Kiev Oblast to its east...
being the first to be incorporated within the city limits that year.
Over the Soviet time, as city was expanding, the number of raions was gradually increasing. The raions has been also commonly named after Soviet party leaders, and as political situation was changing and some leaders were overturned by the other, so raion names were also changing.
The last raion reform took place in 2001 when the number of raions has been decreased from 14 to 10.
Under Oleksandr Omelchenko
Oleksandr Omelchenko
Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Omelchenko became the mayor of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, in 1999. He lost his re-election bid in March 2006. Omelchenko is now member of the Verkhovna Rada elected on behalf of Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc but expelled from that fraction in September 2011....
(mayor
Mayor of Kiev
Mayor of Kiev is the elected mayor of the municipality of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, who is also normally automatically appointed as Head of the City's State Administration and Chair of the City Council....
from 1999 to 2006), there were further plans for the merger of some raions and revision of their boundaries, and the total number of raions had been planned to be decreased from 10 to 7. With the election of the new mayor-elect (Leonid Chernovetsky) in 2006, these plans were conducted.
Raions of Kiev
Administratively, the city is divided into 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"...
s (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:...
s), which have their own units of central and local government with jurisdiction
Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...
over a limited scope of affairs.
The last Kiev raion reorganization took place in 2001, and currently Kiev raions are:
- Darnytsia Raion (Дарницький район)
- Desna Raion (Деснянський район; after the Desna riverDesna RiverDesna is a river in Russia and Ukraine, left tributary of the Dnieper. The word means "right hand" in the Old East Slavic language. Its length is , and its drainage basin covers ....
) - Dnipro Raion (Дніпровський район; after the Dnieper riverDnieper RiverThe Dnieper River is one of the major rivers of Europe that flows from Russia, through Belarus and Ukraine, to the Black Sea.The total length is and has a drainage basin of .The river is noted for its dams and hydroelectric stations...
) - Holosiiv Raion (Голосіївський район)
- Obolon Raion (Оболонський район)
- Pechersk Raion (Печерський район)
- Podil Raion (Подільський район)
- Shevchenko Raion (Шевченківський район; after Taras Schevchenko)
- Solomyanka Raion (Солом’янський район)
- Svyatoshyn Raion (Святошинський район)
Most of the raions are named after respective historical neighborhoods of the city.
Former Raions
- Zaliznychny (April 9, 1938 - October 2001), most of it became the Solomyansk Raion
- Zhovtnevy (~1920's - October 2001), raion was created on the territory of Shuliavka that became famous for the Uprising of 1905Shuliavka RepublicThe Shuliavka Republic was an early 20th century worker based quasi-government organization in the city of Kiev, now the capital of Ukraine, whose main task was self-defense. The uprising lasted a total of four days, from December 12–16, 1905 and encompassed the territory of the Shuliavka factory...
, in 1938 khutir Vidradny was incorporated within the raion, later became the Solomyansk Raion - Minsk (? - March 3, 1975), renamed into Obolon Raion
- Starokyiv ( - October 2001), merged with Sovietsky to form Shevchenko Raion
- Sovietsky ( - October 2001), merged with Starokyiv to form Shevchenko Raion
- Leningrad (April 12, 1973 - October 2001), formed out parts of Zhovtnevy, Sovietsky, and Shevchenko, later renamed into Svyatoshyn Raion
- Shevchenko (prior to 2001)
- Rakhiv-Sviatoshyn (January 1924 - April 1973), included Sviatoshyn sub-raion, later became Leningrad
- Sviatoshyn (1918 - 1924), created by an administrative reform of Pavlo SkoropadskyPavlo SkoropadskyPavlo Petrovych Skoropadskyi 3 May 1873, Wiesbaden, Germany – 26 April 1945, Metten monastery clinic, Bavaria, Germany) was a Ukrainian politician, earlier an aristocrat and decorated Imperial Russian Army general...
, was incorporated as a sub-raion into Rakhiv-Sviatoshyn - Moscow (1921 - October 2001), reorganized as Holosiiv Raion
- Kharkiv (? - 2004), became part of Darnytsia Raion
The Right Bank and the Left Bank
The natural first level of subdivision of the city is into the Right Bank and the Left Bank of the Dnieper RiverDnieper River
The Dnieper River is one of the major rivers of Europe that flows from Russia, through Belarus and Ukraine, to the Black Sea.The total length is and has a drainage basin of .The river is noted for its dams and hydroelectric stations...
(a few large islands belong to the left-bank raions).
The Right Bank , located on the western side of the river, contains the older portions of the city, as well as the majority of Kiev's business and governmental institutions.
The eastern Left Bank , incorporated into the city only in the twentieth century, is predominantly residential
Residential area
A residential area is a land use in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas.Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single family housing, multi-family residential, or mobile homes. Zoning for residential use may permit...
. There are large industrial and green areas in both the Right Bank and the Left Bank.
The terms "Right Bank" and, especially, "Left Bank" are recognized in the names of Kiev's infrastructure, e.g. "Livoberezhna" Metro station
Livoberezhna (Kiev Metro)
Livoberezhna is a station on the Kiev Metro's Sviatoshynsko-Brovarska Line.The station was opened on November 5, 1965 as part of the westwards eastwards expansion of the Brovary radius and is the first one to be fully on the left bank of the Dnieper River .The station is situated at a junction...
.
Historical neighborhoods
Residents widely recognize a system of the non-formal historical neighborhoods. Such neighborhoods count in dozens, however, constituting a kind of hierarchyHierarchy
A hierarchy is an arrangement of items in which the items are represented as being "above," "below," or "at the same level as" one another...
, since most of them have lost their distinctive topographic
Topography
Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...
limits.
The names of the oldest neighborhoods go back to the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, and sometimes pose a great linguistic
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
interest. The newest whole-built developments bear numeric designations or residential marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
names.
Most notable informal historical neighborhoods of Kiev include:
Lypky and Zvirynets of the Pecherskyi Raion
Pechersk
Pechersk Raion is a larger administrative district of the city which lies majorly within the historical neighborhood, while also including some other historical areas. Pechersk neighborhood is located on the hills adjoining the right bank of the Dnieper River. The two geographic entities are...
are the most expensive areas to live. Koncha-Zaspa is arguably the most interesting neighborhood name dating back to the times of Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus was a medieval polity in Eastern Europe, from the late 9th to the mid 13th century, when it disintegrated under the pressure of the Mongol invasion of 1237–1240....
. A local legend explaining the name of a locality states the Rus warriors who felt asleep (zaspaly) during their watch at the outpost
Outpost (military)
An Outpost in military terminology essentially means a detachment of troops stationed at a distance from the main force or formation, usually at a station in a remote or sparsely populated location, positioned to stand guard against unauthorized intrusions and surprise attacks; and the station...
were killed (koncheni) by Golden Horde
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
invaders. Koncha-Zaspa is now a prestigious area too.
Practical orientation patterns
Another useful pattern of city division is the Kiev MetroKiev Metro
The Kiev Metro is a metro system that is the mainstay of Kiev's public transport. It was the first rapid transit system in Ukraine and the third one built in the USSR . It now has three lines with a total length of 63.7 kilometres and 49 stations...
system. However, metro lines do not cover significant parts of Kiev, making such orientation very approximate (but easy for newcomers). Sometimes, the system of elektrychka train
Elektrichka
Elektrichka is an informal word for elektropoyezd , a Soviet or post-Soviet regional electrical multiple unit passenger train. Elektrichkas are widespread in Russia, Ukraine and other countries of the former Soviet Union....
stops are used for the same purpose.
The full informal set of addresses in Kiev (used, for example, in real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
advertising) would include:
- Formal raion
- Historical neighborhood
- Nearest metro station or train stop
- Formal address
External links
- History of Administrative Subdivision of Kiev, Kiev City Department of Statistics.