The region is named after the city of Lviv which was founded by Daniel of Galicia, the King of Ruthenia, in the 13th century, where it became the capital of Galicia-Volhynia. Daniel named the city after his son, Leo. During this time, the general region around Lviv was known as Red Ruthenia (Cherven' Rus'). Earlier, under Polish rule, the territory was part of the Cherven Cities.
Given its historical development, Lviv Oblast is one of the least Russified and Sovietized parts of Ukraine, with much of its Polish and Habsburg heritage still visible today.
In Ukraine today, there are three provinces (oblasts) that formed the eastern part of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. Two of these, Lviv Oblast and Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast were entirely contained in the kingdom; the third oblast of Ternopil was mainly in the kingdom apart from four of its most northerly counties (raions). The counties of the Kingdom of Galicia remained largely unchanged when they were incorporated into successor states; with minor changes as detailed below, the current counties are almost co-extensive with those of the Kingdom.
During the 2014 Euromaidan protests, the region is also notable for having declared independence from the central government led by Viktor Yanukovych who started to use active military force against protestors.[6] During Ukraine's decommunization process that accelerated after 2014, Lviv Oblast became the first region of Ukraine to remove all its Soviet-era monuments by January 2024.[7]
Geography
The terrain of Lviv Oblast is highly varied. The southern part is occupied by the low Beskids mountain chains running parallel to each other from northwest to southeast and covered with secondary coniferous forests as part of the Eastern Carpathians; the highest point is Pikui (1408 m). North from there are the wide upper Dniester river valley and much smaller upper San River valley. These rivers have flat bottoms covered with alluvial deposits, and are susceptible to floods. Between these valleys and Beskyd lies the Precarpathian upland covered with deciduous forests, with well-known mineral spa resorts (see Truskavets, Morshyn). It's also the area of one of the earliest industrial petroleum and gas extraction. These deposits are all but depleted by now.
In the central part of the region lie Roztochchia, Opillia, and part of the Podolia uplands. Rich sulphur deposits were mined here during the Soviet era. Roztocze is densely forested, while Opillia and Podolia (being covered with loess on which fertile soils develop) are densely populated and mostly covered by arable land. In the central-north part of the region lies the Small Polesia lowland, geographically isolated from the rest of Polesia but with similar terrain and landscapes (flat plains with sandy fluvioglacial deposits and pine forests). The far North of the region lies on the Volhynia upland, which is also covered with loess; coal is mined in this area.
The climate of Lviv Oblast is moderately cool and humid. The average January temperatures range from −7 °C (19 °F) in the Carpathians to −3 °C (27 °F) in the Dniester and San River valleys while in July the average temperatures are from 14–15 °C (57–59 °F) in the Carpathians to 16–17 °C (61–63 °F) in Roztochchia and 19 °C (66 °F) in the lower part of the Dniester valley.[8] The average annual precipitation is 600–650 mm (23.62–25.59 in) in the lowlands, 650–750 mm (25.59–29.53 in) in the highlands and up to 1,000 mm (39.37 in) in the Carpathians, with the majority of precipitation occurring in summer. Prolonged droughts are uncommon, while strong rainfalls can cause floods in river valleys. Severe winds during storms can also cause damage, especially in the highlands. The climate is favourable for the cultivation of sugar beets, winter wheat, flax, rye, cabbage, apples, and for dairy farming. It is still too cold to successfully cultivate maize, sunflower, grapes, melon, watermelon or peaches in Lviv Oblast. In the Carpathians conditions are favourable for Alpine skiing 3–4 months a year.
Nationalities (2001): 94.8% of the region's population are Ukrainians; 3.6% (or 92,600 people) are Russians; Poles account for 0.7%; there are also smaller German, Jewish and Romani minorities.[18] Notably, the comparison of the 2001 Ukrainian census (mentioned above), with the last Soviet census of 1989 reveals that in those 12 years the number of Poles in the Lviv Oblast declined by 29.7 percent which, in the opinion of "Wspólnota Polska" Society defies explanation, and could possibly be attributed to the intensive Ukrainization of the Roman Catholic Church.[19]
Age structure
0-14 years: 15.7% (male 202,923/female 193,000)
15-64 years: 70.0% (male 867,699/female 897,788)
65 years and over: 14.3% (male 122,906/female 238,016) (2013 official)
Church of St. Anna in Boryslav, the fifth largest city in Lviv Oblast
Church of the Blessed Eucharist, Klymets, Stryi Raion
Zolochiv. The church of Assumption of the Holy Virgin (1731-1763)
Historical and cultural sites
The city of Lviv contains a well-preserved main square (Rynok) and numerous historical churches. Other sites of interest are the historic Lychakiv Cemetery, the local museum of folklore, and the ruins of the famous Vysokyi Zamok. The name of the castle is closely tied to the name of the city. There is also a museum of military artifacts, the "Arsenal".
Well-preserved local wooden churches, castles, and monasteries can be found throughout the Oblast. One of them is the Olesko Castle which is first recorded in 1327. Another castle that was built at the end of the 15th century is Svirzh Castle in the village of Svirzh. One more and no less famous castle is the Pidhirtsi Castle. Its architectural complex consists of the three-story palace, Kostel, and small park. In Roztochia is also located the Krekhivsky monastery in the beech-pine grove at the foot of the Pobiina mount. The whole complex consists of the Saint Nicholas Church, the bell tower, numerous service structures, and defensive walls with towers. Another site worth of mentioning is the Tustan city-fortress which is built in the rock. The site was nominated as the historical and as the natural wonder of Ukraine. There also a nature complex in the valley of the Kamianka river in Stryi Raion. Another natural wonder of the region is the Kamin-Veleten (Rock-Giant in English) which is located near city of Pidkamin in Zolochiv Raion. The name of the local city means Under the Rock. A local museum of Ukrainian art and an institution of higher learning (Ivan Franko State University) are also present.
Two introduced banded land snails, the Grove Snail (Cepaea nemoralis) and White-Lipped Snail (C. hortensis) are found here.[22]C. n. was intentionally brought here in the late 1800s, but the genetic analysis of Gural-Sverlova et al., 2021 shows continued introductions have also occurred ever since.[22] (The geographic distribution of both suggests they arrive through the gardening trade, as is known from other countries.)[22] This analysis shows several distinct arrivals of C. n. yielding several present-day populations in and around Lviv.[22]
Curiosities
In the 17th century, there were sizeable Scottish communities in Lviv and Brody.[23]
^Most of Ukraine's oblasts are named after their capital cities, officially referred to as "oblast centers" (Ukrainian: обласни́й це́нтр, romanized: oblasnýi céntr, IPA:[oblɐsˈnɪjˈtsɛntr]). The name of each oblast is a relationaladjective—in English translating to a noun adjunct which otherwise serves the same function—formed by adding a feminine suffix to the name of the respective center city: Lʹvív is the center of the Lʹvívsʹka óblastʹ (Lviv 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 the Lviv Oblast, Lvivshchyna.
^Buko, Andrzej (2008). The Archeology of Early Medieval Poland. Leiden. p. 307. ISBN978-90-04-16230-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Wijaczka, Jacek (2010). "Szkoci". In Kopczyński, Michał; Tygielski, Wojciech (eds.). Pod wspólnym niebem. Narody dawnej Rzeczypospolitej (in Polish). Warszawa: Muzeum Historii Polski, Bellona. pp. 204, 206. ISBN978-83-11-11724-2.