Zaporizhzhia Oblast (Запорізька область), commonly referred to as Zaporizhzhia (Запоріжжя), is an oblast (region) in south-east Ukraine. Its administrative centre is Zaporizhzhia. The oblast covers an area of , and has a population of
This oblast is an important part of Ukraine's industry and agriculture. Most of the area of the oblast has been under Russian military occupation since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, including all of the coast, although the capital and the majority of the population remains under Ukrainian administration.
On 30 September 2022, Russia declared it had annexed the Donetsk (Donetsk People's Republic), Luhansk (Luhansk People's Republic), Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts, despite having failed to occupy all of these Ukrainian territories. However, the sham referendums and subsequent annexations are internationally unrecognized.
To the south, Zaporizhzhia Oblast covers roughly of coastline of the Sea of Azov, as part of a coastal region known as Pryazovia, also including the coastal regions of Kherson Oblast and Donetsk Oblast, to the west and east, respectively.
The area of the oblast is 27,183 km2; its population (estimated as of 1 January 2013) was 1,785,243.
Important cities include:
Zaporizhzhia
Melitopol - (under Russian occupation)
Berdiansk - (under Russian occupation)
Enerhodar - (under Russian occupation) home of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant
Zaporizhzhia Oblast is characterized by a flat landscape. Soils are mostly chernozem. Knowledge of the relief of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast today is especially important because of the problem of land reclamation and its more intensive use.
The territory of Zaporizhzhia Oblast as a whole has a flat topography, but there are markedly elevated and depressed areas, which differ in shape, origin, and age.
The highest central-eastern part of the oblast is the Azov Upland. It extends to the east and to the territory of Donetsk Oblast, where it meets the Donetsk ridge.