Where is Kharkiv Oblast located? What importance it is, let's take a look at it together.
Kharkiv Oblast is a region of northeastern Ukraine, established in 1932. It is bordered to the southeast by Donetsk Oblast, Luhansk Oblast and Russia to the north. It has an area of 31,400 square kilometers, equivalent to the area of five Shanghais. The capital is Kharkiv, once the capital of the Ukrainian republic of the Soviet Union. In 1934, the capital was moved to Kiev. Its main ethnic composition is: Ukrainian 48.5%, Russian 29.7%, Jewish 15.6%. Although the official language is Ukrainian, the dialect Russian is spoken by the whole population.
Topographically, it is dominated by plains, hills to the north, Donets Mountain to the south, and the highest point is 367 meters above sea level. Mineral resources include coal, natural gas, peat and apatite. With an annual precipitation of about 500 mm, it is a sub-humid area, a multi-forest steppe, the North Donets River runs through the whole territory, and agriculture is developed, rich in wheat, corn, vegetables and livestock products.
From a geographical point of view, Kharkiv can affect the Russian capital Moscow to the north, and the Caucasus region to the south, as an important gateway for North-South exchanges, the strategic value is very large. As early as World War II, the Germans had their sights on Kharkov, believing that by taking Kharkov, they would cut off the Soviet Union's north and south barriers, and at the same time threaten Stalingrad southeast of Kharkiv. The Soviets also realized this and relocated all the industrial equipment in Kharkov to the eastern region early. In October 1941, the German 6th Army launched a blitzkrieg and captured Kharkov. The Soviets lost 300,000 men in the second campaign of the counter-offensive against Kharkov. In the third campaign in 1943, 2 million Soviet troops fought against 700,000 German troops, paying a huge price, and finally recovered the industrial city of Kharkov.
Why did the Soviet Union value Kharkiv so much? That's because today's Kharkiv Oblast, Donetsk Oblast, Luhansk Oblast in Ukraine, these three closely connected oblasts, in the Soviet era, have many famous industrial towns, are well-known industrial city clusters. It is like the heart of Soviet industry, the signboard of Soviet industry.
Today, The city of Kharkiv is the capital of the Kharkiv Oblast, the second largest city in Ukraine and the center of education and heavy industry in the east. Its urban population ranks second in Ukraine. The city of Kharkiv is located at the confluence of rivers. It has an area of 306 square kilometers and a population of more than 1.5 million. From the 18th to the 19th century, it became one of the most important bazaar trading centers in Russia. In 1917 it became the capital of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic.
Kharkiv is the largest base of scientific, cultural and higher education in Ukraine, with 88 institutions of higher learning, about 250,000 students, and many foreign students from many parts of the world. The National Pharmacy University of Ukraine and the Kharkiv National Medical University are located here. Kharkiv can be said to be the gathering place of the Ukrainian pharmaceutical industry, the largest pharmaceutical education and scientific research center in Ukraine, and the manufacturing base of pharmaceuticals and medical devices. There are also 7 Ukrainian National Scientific Research Centers and more than 200 branches of scientific research. 25 museums and 8,226 monuments to cultural buildings tell the story of its rich history. At the same time, the planetarium, botanical garden, theater, circus, symphony orchestra, library and other cultural facilities are readily available.
Kharkiv is also the most important industrial area in Ukraine, with a relatively complete range of industries, including military, medical, agricultural machinery manufacturing, power machinery manufacturing, machine tools, electric energy, chemical industry, food processing, natural gas extraction, etc. There are gas pipelines through Moscow, Kiev and other places.
Kharkiv is the number one mechanical industry center in Ukraine, where hundreds of companies come together. The main products are airplanes, tractors, turbines, bearings, program-controlled machine tools, motorcycles, washing machines, televisions, vacuum cleaners and cameras. It is worth mentioning that the aircraft manufacturing and aerospace technology here are outstanding, and the Kharkiv State Aircraft Manufacturing Company is a world-renowned aircraft manufacturer with high quality, high reputation and high safety. Products are exported to many countries in the world.