Khmelnytskyi Oblast, also known as Khmelnychchyna, is an oblast (province) in western Ukraine covering portions of the historical regions of western Podolia and southern Volhynia. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Khmelnytskyi. The current estimated population is around 1,228,829 (2022 estimate).
Khmelnytskyi is a city in western Ukraine. Located on the Southern Bug, it serves as the administrative centre of Khmelnytskyi Oblast as well as Khmelnytskyi Raion within the oblast.[2] With a population of 274,452 (2022 estimate),[3] Khmelnytskyi is the second-largest city in the historical region of Podolia, after Vinnytsia.
Khmelnytskyi Oblast has a total area of 20,600 km (3.4% of the total area of Ukraine) and is located between 48°27' and 50°37' north latitude and between 26°09' and 27°56' east longitude. It is 220 km long when measured from north to south, and is 120 km in length when measured from east to west. It is associated with a historical region of Podolia, yet in reality its territory is split almost in half, the northern in Volhynia, and the southern in Podolia. Its Volhynian region contains smaller cities like Iziaslav, Starokostiantyniv, Shepetivka, while its Podolian portion more developed cities of Khmelnytskyi and Kamianets-Podilskyi.
The oblast borders the Rivne Oblast to the northwest, the Zhytomyr Oblast to the northeast, the Vinnytsia Oblast to the east, the Chernivtsi Oblast to the south, and the Ternopil Oblast to the west.
Khmelnytsyi City foundation date is uncertain. The territory where Khmelnytskyi is situated has been inhabited for a very long time. Many archaeological discoveries have been made in the city suburbs. For example, to the East of Lezneve district, there was a settlement from the Bronze Age 2000 B.C., and from Scythian times from 7–3 century B.C.[7] The first mention of the city was written with Cyrillic alphabet. The earliest known mention in historical sources was in 1431,[8] when it was known as Płoskirów (Ploskirov, Плоскиров) and was part of the Kingdom of Poland. It was a royal city.
