TO WHAT EXTENT DO THE NEW ADMINISTRATIVE-TERRITORIAL UNITS OF THE TRANSCARPATHIAN REGION CORRESPOND TO ITS ETHNIC GEOGRAPHY

Abstract

Relevance of the study. The correlation of the territory of administrative units and ethno-geographic areas has a significant impact on ensuring the socio-cultural needs of ethnic minorities, and determines various trends in ethno-political relations in states and regions of the world. This is especially important for Ukraine, which carried out administrative reform in 2015–2020, and for the Transcarpathian region in particular, where areas of compact settlement of ethnic minorities are concentrated. The subject of the study is an assessment of the role of the ethno-geographic factor in implementing administrative-territorial reform in the Transcarpathian region, an analysis of the degree of ethnic homogeneity and mosaicism of the newly created administrative units of the Transcarpathian region. The purpose of the study is to identify the degree of correspondence of the geography of newly created territorial communities and administrative districts in the Transcarpathian region to the areas of settlement of ethnic minorities in the context of ethno-political relations. The research methodology is based on an interrelated analysis of the administrative-territorial division and ethnic geography of the Transcarpathian region using the cartographic method and methods for studying the ethnic mosaic of the territories of ethnic minority settlements and the degree of compactness of their settlement. Research results. The article reveals the prerequisites and results of the administrative-territorial reform in Ukraine and the Transcarpathian region in particular. An analysis of the main approaches to assessing the ethnic factor in the reform process is made. The level of compliance of newly created territorial communities and administrative districts with the areas of settlement of ethnic minorities is determined in the context of the prospects for balancing the interests of all subjects of ethnopolitical relations in the region. Practical significance: substantiated provisions on the principles of creating new administrative-territorial units in places of compact settlement of ethnic minorities can be taken as the basis of state regional ethno-policy. Conclusions. Ensuring greater correspondence between the administrative-territorial units and the areas of compact settlement of ethnic minorities, creating better conditions for organizing local self-government for them, is a guarantee of establishing balanced ethno-political relations in the state, beneficial to all subjects of political interaction. The principle of voluntary unification of settlements into new lower-level administrative units contributed to the population of ethnic minorities, compactly located in the Transcarpathian region, in organizing territorial communities in which they constitute the majority. At the same time, the peculiarities of the settlement of ethnic minorities in the Transcarpathian region and the wishes of their public organizations were only partially taken into account when forming new administrative districts and choosing district centers, which in most cases was limited by certain criteria regarding the size of new administrative units. Further research on this issue should be aimed at studying the effectiveness of territorial communities in areas of compact settlement of ethnic minorities.