Transcarpathian Oblast

part of the Ukrainian SSR. It was formed on Jan. 22, 1946, after the reunification of the Transcarpathian Ukraine with the Ukrainian SSR. Area, 12,800 sq km. Population, 1,071,000 (1971). The oblast is composed of 13 raions and has nine cities and 24 urban-type settlements. The center is the city of Uzhgorod.

The Transcarpathian Oblast was awarded the Order of Lenin on Feb. 26, 1958.

Natural features. The oblast is situated on the southwestern slopes of the northern part of the Eastern Carpathians (the Ukrainian, or Wooded, Carpathians) and the northeastern extremity of the Hungarian (Danube) Plain, which is called the Transcarpathian Lowland in the Transcarpathian Oblast. The mountains, which account for about 80 percent of the oblast’s area, form several ranges stretching from northwest to southeast: the Vodorazdel’nyi Range (altitudes to 1,693 m), the Polonina Range (altitudes to 1,883 m), and the Vulkanicheskii Range (altitudes to 1,081 m); these ranges are separated by longitudinal valleys. The Chernogora Massif (Mount Goverla, the highest point of the oblast, 2,061 m) and the Rakhov Massif, which have alpine landscapes, are in the eastern part of the oblast and are separated from the rest of the oblast by the transverse valley of the upper Tisa. The Uzhokskii, Srednii Veretskii, and other passes lie at altitudes of over 800 m. South of the mountains lie rolling and low-ridge foothills, with altitudes to 300–400 m, descending in terraces toward the Transcarpathian Lowland.

The climate of the oblast is moderately continental. The average January temperature is -2° to -3°C in the lowlands, -3° to -4°C in the foothills, and -5° to -9°C in the mountains; the July temperatures are, correspondingly, 19°-20°C, 17°-18°C, and 6°C. Annual precipitation is 600–700 mm in the lowlands, 800–1,000 mm in the foothills, and 1,000–1,400 mm or more in the mountains. The growing season lasts up to 230 days in the lowlands, 210–230 days in the foothills, and 90–210 days in the mountains. The main river of the oblast, the Tisa, which is formed by the Chernaia Tisa and the Belaia Tisa, belongs to the Danube basin; its tributaries are the Teresva, Tereblia, Rika, Borzhava, Latoritsa, and Uzh. The rivers are used as sources of hydroelectric power and for floating timber. There are saline, sulfurous, iodine, carbonated, and chalybeate mineral springs in the oblast.

The main soils in the lowlands are soddy (podzolized and gleyed) and alluvial soils, and the foothills have brown podzolic soils that are gleyed on the surface. The mountains have brown mountain forest soils of various degrees of podzolization, soddy brawn forest soils, and mountain meadow soddy and peat soils. Forests cover about half the oblast; the major forest species are beech, spruce, oak, fir, and hornbeam. Beech forests account for 46 percent of the total forest area, spruce for 24 percent, oak for 4.7 percent, and fir for 1.3 percent. The vegetation cover is characterized by clearly marked vertical belts. The lowlands are dominated by fields, vineyards, and meadows, with occasional oak and hornbeam forests, while oak and oak and beech forests are widespread in the foothills. In the mountains beech forests grow at altitudes to 800–1,100 m, coniferous forests to 1,300–1,500 m, and European dwarf-pine forests in the upper belt. Above 1,300–1,500 m are high mountain meadows, orpoloniny: subalpine meadows to 1,850–1,900 m and alpine meadows above that.

The animals inhabiting the forests include the European wildcat, lynx, wolf, fox, European brown bear, wild boar, roe deer, red deer, marten, squirrel, and brown hare. The Ugol’skii sector of the Carpathian Preserve, with its valuable yew massifs, is located in the oblast, on the Polonina Range. The oblast is a major tourist region of Union significance, the major centers being Uzhgorod, Mukachevo, Rakhov, Volovets, Mezhgor’e, and lasinia.

Population. The bulk of the population of the oblast is Ukrainian (76.5 percent in 1970). Hungarians constitute 14.4 percent of the population, Russians 3.3 percent, Rumanians 2.2 percent, Jews 1 percent, and Slovaks 0.9 percent. The average population density is 83.6 persons per sq km. The urban population amounts to 30 percent. A large part of the population lives in the lowlands and in the foothills of the Carpathians. The large cities are Uzhgorod (population, 67,000 in 1971), Mukachevo, Beregovo, and Vinogradov.

Economy. Before the Transcarpathian Oblast was reunified with the Ukrainian SSR, the economy consisted of backward agriculture, individual enterprises of the timber and building materials industries, and salt mining. During the years of Soviet power the oblast’s agriculture has developed rapidly. The industrial output of the oblast increased 6.2 times from 1950 to 1970. The timber industry and the related wood chemical and wood-products industries hold an important share in the oblast’s industrial output (25.9 percent). Other industries that have been developed include the food industry, light industry, mining, machine building, metalworking, and building materials. The high-capacity Tereblia-Rika hydroelectric plant was built in 1956. The timber industry is represented by wood chemical combines in Perechin, Svaliava, and Velikii Bychkov; wood-products enterprises in Svaliava, Bushtyna, Teresva, and Chinadievo; furniture combines in Uzhgorod, Mukachevo, Beregovo, Khust, Irshava, and Velikii Bereznyi; and a cardboard factory in Rakhov. The main branches of the food industry are fruit canning in Vinogradov, Mukachevo, Khust, and Tiachev; beer brewing in Mukachevo; wine-making in Beregovo, Mukachevo, and Irshava; meat industry in Mukachevo and Uzhgorod; and butter and cheese and dairy industries in Uzhgorod, Mukachevo, Rakhov, Irshava, Beregovo, and Khust. The enterprises of light industry include a leather plant in Beregovo; footwear plants in Uzhgorod, Khust, and Vinogradov; clothing factories in Mukachevo, Beregovo, and Vinogradov; and a knitted goods factory in Mukachevo.

Brown coal is mined in Il’nitsa, rock salt in Solotvina, and bentonite clay in Gorbki; marble and other minerals are also mined. Machine building and metalworking are developing, mainly machine-tool construction in Mukachevo and instrument-making in Uzhgorod and Mukachevo. The oblast is the site of a plastic sanitary technical products plant in Vinogradov, a fittings plant in Kobyletskaia Poliana, an abrasives plant in Irshava, a majolica plant in Beregovo, a glassware container plant in Svaliava, and a repair and assembly combine in Uzhgorod. The building materials industry is represented by brick and tile plants in Beregovo, Khust, Uzhgorod, Mukachevo, and Irshava and stone crushing plants in Uzhgorod and Khust raions.

At the beginning of 1971 the Transcarpathian Oblast had 143 kolkhozes and 21 sovkhozes. In 1971 agricultural fields constituted 458,200 hectares (ha), including 185,700 ha of ploughland, 92,800 ha of hayfields, and 124,600 ha of pastures. In 1971 the sown area amounted to 181,800 ha, of which 65,600 ha were planted with grain crops (wheat and maize) and 5,900 ha with industrial crops (chiefly tobacco); considerable areas were planted with potatoes (32,700 ha), vegetables (5,500 ha), and feed crops (72,700 ha). Viticulture and fruit growing (including apples, plums, pears, apricots, and walnuts) are developed. In 1971 the irrigated land totaled 2,300 ha, and the drained land totaled 151,200 ha.

Meat and dairy livestock raising is the most important branch of animal husbandry. By the beginning of 1971 the oblast had 308,300 head of cattle (including 151,200 cows), 239,000 swine, and 298,800 sheep and goats. Poultry raising, apiculture, and artificial fish hatching (in ponds and rivers) have been developed in the oblast. In the mountains the share of farming is considerably lower (predominantly fodder grasses, root crops, oats, and rye). The major tracts of wheat, maize, and tobacco plantings are in the lowlands. Cattle, poultry, and pig raising predominate in the lowlands, while viticulture and fruit growing are very important in the foothills.

The total length of the railroads is 653 km (1970). The main railroad lines are Chop-Uzhgorod-Sambor-L’vov, Chop-Mukachevo-Stryi-L’vov, and Chop-Batevo-Beregovo-Khust-Teresva-Rakhov-Ivano-Frankovsk-L’vov. The L’vov-Chop railroad is electrified. Chop is an important international railroad junction. The total length of automobile roads is 3,216 km, of which 3,061 km are hard-surfaced (1970). The most important automobile roads are UzhgorodMukachevo - Beregovo - Khust - Tiachevo - Rakhov - IvanoFrankovsk, Uzhgorod - Perechin - Turka - Sambor - L’vov, and Uzhgorod- Mukachevo- Svaliava- Skole- Stryi- L’vov .The Transcarpathian Oblast is connected by airlines with many other oblasts.

Education, cultural affairs, and public health. In the 1970–71 academic year the oblast had 821 general education schools with 222,700 pupils, 13 vocational and technical schools with 6,300 students, and 15 specialized secondary schools with 10,600 students; 10,800 students were enrolled in the University of Uzhgorod. In 1970 more than 24,000 children were enrolled in preschool institutions.

As of Jan. 1, 1971, the oblast had 819 general libraries (with 5,670,000 books and magazines), three museums (the Transcarpathian Museum of Local Lore, the Art Museum, and the Museum of Popular Architecture and Way of Life in Uzhgorod), the Transcarpathian Music and Drama Theater with a Ukrainian troupe in Uzhgorod and a Russian troupe in Mukachevo, an oblast philharmonic society, 759 club institutions, 704 motion picture projectors, and 30 extracurricular institutions (including 15 Palaces and Houses of Pioneers).

The oblas.t newspapers are Zakarpat’ska pravda (Transcarpathian Truth, since 1920), the Komsomol Molod* Zakarpattia (The Youth of Transcarpathia, since 1945), both in Ukrainian; the Russian-language Zakarpatskaia pravda(since 1960); and Kárpáti Igaz szó (Transcarpathian Truth, since 1945) and the Komsomol newspaper Kórpótontúli ifjúsag (the Youth of Transcarpathia, since 1958), both in Hungarian.

The oblast radio and television broadcast on one radio and one television channel in Ukrainian, Russian, Hungarian, and Moldavian. Programs are also relayed from Kiev and Moscow.

As of Jan. 1, 1971, the oblast had 10,200 hospital beds (9.5 beds for each 1,000 inhabitants) and 1,900 doctors (one doctor for each 563 inhabitants). The spas Poliana and Siniak are located in the oblast, and Shaian, Soimy, Gornaia Tisa, and Karpaty are areas of balneological and climatological therapy. The Dragovo mineral water (the city of Dragovo, Khust Raion) is bottled. There are sanatoriums and rest homes.