ZAKARPATTYA

Russian Zakarpatskaya, also spelled Zakarpatskaia, or Zakarpatskaja, oblast (province), western Ukraine. It is bounded by Slovakia and Hungary on the west, Poland on the northwest, and Romania on the south. The oblast extends from the northwest-southeasttrending Carpathian Mountain crestline (the Verkhovyna and Gorgany ranges, respectively), across the successive parallel Polonina and Vulhanichnyy ranges, and southwestward down to the Great Hungarian Plain, which is drained by the Tisza (Tysa) River and its tributaries. Deep, longitudinal troughs separate these mountain ranges, while a number of important and fairly easy passes across the Carpathians long have given the area considerable strategic significance. The highest point of the oblast is Mount Hoverla (6,762 feet ) in the Polonina Range. Most of the oblast is densely forested, but the highest mountainous areas are in Alpine meadows. The area, part of Hungary before World War I, was incorporated into Czechoslovakia in 1920 as the province of Ruthenia. In 1945 Ruthenia was ceded to the Soviet Union, and the present oblast was formed. Most of the population are Ukrainians (including the Hutsul), with some Magyars, Russians, Romanians, Jews, and Slovaks. The modern economy is dominated by highly developed lumbering and timber-working industries; some coal (lignite) is mined near Mukacheve. Agriculture is confined to the valleys and plain, but in the latter it is intensive, with about four-fifths of the land under the plow. Corn (maize), wheat, oats, rye, potatoes, and tobacco are the main crops. There are many orchards and vineyards in the Tisza valley and on the lower surrounding slopes. Cattle use the mountain meadows for summer pasture, and pig raising is important in the valleys. Some three-fifths of the oblast's population live in rural areas. Cities, including the administrative centre, Uzhhorod (q.v.), are small; Chop, in the southwestern corner of the oblast, is the chief point of entry to Ukraine from Slovakia and Hungary. Area 4,900 square miles (12,800 square km). Pop. (1991 est.) 1,271,600.