Chornobyl Raion


The Chornobyl Raion was one of 26 administrative raions of Kiev Oblast in northern Ukraine. After the Chernobyl disaster, the majority of the raion was contaminated, and many of its populated places were included into the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, which is an officially designated exclusion area around the site of the disaster.

Geography

The Chernobyl Raion was located in the northern portion of Kiev Oblast, at the time an administrative portion of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. To the raion's east, it bordered upon the Kiev Reservoir; to its south, the Vyshhorod Raion; to its southwest, the Ivankiv Raion; and to its west, the Poliske Raion, significant portions of which also suffered due to the Chernobyl disaster.
Today, the territory of the former raion is administratively part of the Ivankiv Raion. Prior to its liquidation, the Chernobyl Raion had an area of and a population of 44,000. The Pripyat River flows through the territory of the former raion before emptying into the Kiev Reservoir.

History

The Chornobyl Raion was established in 1923 out of transformation of Chornobyl County within the Kiev Governorate following an administrative reorganization of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. From its creation in 1923 until 1941, its administrative center was the urban-type settlement of Chernobyl; after 1941, the settlement's status was upgraded to that of a city of district significance.
On 16 November 1988, the Chornobyl Raion was liquidated and merged with the Ivankiv Raion based on a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR. In 1996, the remaining populated settlements of the Chernobyl Raion that weren't evacuated after the disaster were transferred to the Ivankiv Raion's administration.

Administrative divisions

Overview

Before it was liquidated, the Chornobyl Raion had one city council under its administration, and 23 rural councils, to which 69 villages were subordinated. There was a total of 70 populated places in the raion.
The city of Pripyat, which was established in 1970 for workers and families of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, was formerly administratively subordinate to the Chernobyl Raion. In 1980, it was given the status of a city of regional significance, administratively subordinate to the Kiev Oblast authorities rather than the Chernobyl Raion.

Settlements