Sumy region (Ukrainian Sumy region), colloquial. Sumschyna is an area
in the north-east of Ukraine. It borders in the west with the Chernihiv
region of Ukraine, in the north and east - with the Russian Federation,
in the southeast - with Kharkov, in the south - with the Poltava regions
of Ukraine. The region was formed on January 10, 1939 by the Decree of
the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR by separation from the
Kharkov region.
The administrative center and largest city is
Sumy, other large cities are Konotop, Shostka, Akhtyrka, Romny, Glukhov,
Lebedin, Krolevets, Trostyanets, Belopolye.
Sumy
Akhtyrka
Belopolye
Buryn
Divination
Glukhov
Friendship
Konotop
Krolevets
Lebedin
Putivl
Romny
Mid-Buda
Trostyanets
Shostka
Sumy region is located in the north-east of Ukraine. In the north and
east, the region borders on the Bryansk, Kursk and Belgorod regions of
Russia - the length of the state border with Russia is 562.8 km. On the
border there are three checkpoints for railway transport (Volfino,
Pushkarnoye, Zernovo) and five for automobile transport (Bachevsk,
Katerinovka, Ryzhevka, Yunakovka, Velikaya Pisarevka). In the south,
east and west it borders on Kharkov, Poltava and Chernihiv regions of
Ukraine. The distance from the regional center to the capital of
Ukraine, Kyiv, is 350 km.
The region is located in the
north-eastern part of the Left-Bank Ukraine.
The rivers of the
Sumy region belong to the Dnieper basin and for the most part are its
left tributaries. The most significant of them are Desna, Seim, Sula,
Psyol, Vorskla. In the river valleys there are numerous oxbow lakes and
swamps; many artificial ponds. The highest point of the region (246.4
m).
The northernmost settlement is the village of Novovasilevka,
Shostka district, the westernmost is the village of Tulushka, Konotop
district, the easternmost and southernmost are the villages of Akhtyrsky
district, Bratenitsa and Kuzemin, respectively.
The Sumy region was formed on the basis of the Sumy district,
formerly part of the Kharkov province, after the abolition of the latter
in 1923.
The territory of the Sumy region belongs to the
historical region of Slobozhanshchina, the ancient history of which
dates back to the distant past.
Monuments of the Kharyevka type,
being the easternmost local variant of the Zarubinets culture, are
distinguished by the most numerous and expressive western (Central
European) elements and belong to the latenized circle of antiquities
(Celtic veil) of the late Roman period (II century BC - I century AD).
Monuments of the middle of the 3rd - beginning / first quarter of
the 4th century of the "Boroml horizon" appeared in the Dnieper-Donetsk
forest-steppe as a result of the migration of some of the bearers of
monuments of the Demyanov-Cherepin type from the Upper Dniester region.
In the settlement of the Kolochin culture, Velikie Budki, in the 7th
century, paired lamellar brooches and small sewn-on plaques were cast
from a tin-lead alloy.
As part of the Kharyev treasure of the 7th
- the first third of the 8th century, pastoral-type earrings were found.
In the 7th-10th centuries, part of the future Sumy region was part
of the Khazar Khaganate (see Bititskoye settlement). In the first third
of the 9th century, the settlement of the Volyntsev culture, Melnyky I,
near the village of Andriyashevka, perished in Posulye. The Novotroitsk
settlement of the 8th-9th centuries belonged to representatives of the
Romany-Borshchiv culture (northerners). Suprut silver hollow threads in
the form of three connected balls, soldered from two halves, have the
closest analogies with threads from the hoard of the Novotroitsk
settlement and in the materials of Great Moravia. The rings from Utkino
(Tula region) find direct analogies in the materials of the Novotroitsk
settlement.
The Semya region was conquered by Russia at the end
of the 10th - beginning of the 11th century, most likely in the 990s,
during the eastern campaigns of Vladimir Svyatoslavich. All Roman
settlements Posemya perished in fires.
Near the village of Zeleny
Gay is the largest burial mound necropolis that has survived in Eastern
Europe, consisting of 14 groups, in which there are about 2500 mounds.
The Glukhiv Principality (XIII-XV century) was a part of the
Chernigov Principality. The Putivl principality was a part of the
Novgorod-Seversky principality.
In the XIII century, this
territory was invaded by the Horde. For a long time, the area remained
sparsely populated. Peasants appeared here only at the end of the 15th
century.
At the end of the 14th century, an Orthodox Tatar
principality arose on the territory of Severshchina - the Principality
of Mansur.
From the middle of the 17th century, mass settlement
of the region began.
In 1765, the Sloboda-Ukrainian province was
created, in 1780 the Sloboda-Ukrainian province was transformed into the
Kharkov vicegerency, the center of which was Kharkov. In 1796, the
Sloboda-Ukrainian province was recreated on the site of the
governorship, which in 1835 received the name of the Kharkov province.
The Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic was proclaimed on January 30
(February 12), 1918 at the IV Regional Congress of Soviets of Workers'
Deputies of the Donetsk and Krivoy Rog basins.
On October 16,
1925, Putivl was transferred from the Russian Soviet Federative
Socialist Republic to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. In June
1925, all the provinces of the Ukrainian SSR were abolished and replaced
by smaller districts. Along with others, there was also the Sumy
district.
On February 27, 1932, when the regional division was
introduced in Ukraine, the Kharkov region appeared on the map of the
Ukrainian SSR. At first, it also noticeably exceeded the area of the
eponymous region of modern Ukraine and subsequently decreased twice due
to the newly created administrative-territorial units. The Kharkiv
region took its modern shape only after the Poltava region was formed on
its western territory on September 22, 1937, and on January 10, 1939,
the Sumy region was formed from the northwestern lands of the Kharkov
region and part of the Chernihiv region.
During the Great
Patriotic War, the front line passed through the territory of the Sumy
region several times and fierce battles took place, accompanied by great
destruction. Also, huge damage was caused to industry, agriculture and
the inhabitants of the region by the German invaders. Several post-war
years were devoted to restoring the destruction.
In 1967, the
Sumy region was awarded the Order of Lenin.
Between February 24
and early April 2022, most of the territory of the Sumy region was under
the occupation of Russian troops during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
For the regional center there were fierce battles.
The population of the region as of January 1, 2020 is 1,068,247
people, including the urban population of 741,430 people, or 69.4%, the
rural population - 326,817 people, or 30.6%.
The population of
the region according to the State Statistics Service as of September 1,
2013 amounted to 1,137,069 people, including the urban population of
772,517 people (67.94%), the rural population of 364,552 people
(32.06%). The permanent population is 1,134,877 people, including the
urban population - 768,062 people (67.67%), the rural population -
366,815 people (32.33%). Demographic indicators (per 1000 people): birth
rate - 9.0, death rate - 16.9, natural increase - -7.9. In 2012, 11,093
people were born in the region, 19,002 people died, and 76 children died
under the age of 1 year in 2012, in the same year 6343 people moved to
the region for permanent residence, and 7518 people left the region. The
death rate exceeds the birth rate by 7909 people (2012), and the number
of those who left the region exceeds those who arrived by 1175 people,
in 2012 the population of the region decreased by 9084 people (87.06%
due to the dead, 12.94% due to those who left). Since its formation
(1939), the population of the region has been constantly decreasing by
an average of 7.7 thousand people per year. In 2013, 570,164 people
lived in the region less than in 1939.
Euroregion "Yaroslavna" was formed between the Sumy and Kursk
(Russia) regions on April 24, 2007[3uroregion "Yaroslavna" became the
third Ukrainian Euroregion created on the Ukrainian-Russian border.
Earlier, in 2003, the Dnipro and Slobozhanshchina Euroregions were
created.
During the existence of the Euroregion, positive results
have been achieved in foreign trade, cooperation at the level of cities
and regions, education, culture, sports, tourism, the youth sector, and
the development of border infrastructure. The Council and the
Secretariat of the Euroregion, an inter-deputy working group on
cross-border cooperation were created, the Euroregion became a member of
the Association of European Border Regions[33] as a full member, the
annual exhibition-fair of the Euroregion "Yaroslavna" was organized, and
17 joint programs of cross-border cooperation in the field of energy
saving were developed, ecology, demography, culture, information, youth
sphere. So, for the period from 2007 to 2012, 68 general events were
held.
The foreign trade turnover of the Sumy region with the
Kursk region within the Euroregion "Yaroslavna" amounted to:
2007 -
$21.3 million
2008 - $22.4 million
2009 - $32.4 million
2010 -
$41 million
2011 - $46 million
9 months of 2012 - 40 million
dollars. USA.
Today, within the framework of the Euroregion
"Yaroslavna" is being implemented: 14 agreements and protocols on
cooperation at the level of cities and districts, 6 protocols on the
establishment of twinning relations between the village councils of the
Sumy and Kursk regions.