Berdiansk Raion

Berdiansk Raion, also spelled Berdyansk Raion (Бердянський район) is one of the five raions (districts) of Zaporizhzhia Oblast in southern Ukraine. The administrative center of the region is Berdiansk. The raion has access to the northern coast of the Sea of Azov. The population is

History
From 1923 to 1925, it was known Novospasivka Raion (Новоспасівський район), after its then-center Novospasivka (now Osypenko, Zaporizhzhia Oblast). In 1925, the administrative center was moved to Berdiansk, and it was renamed Berdiansk Raion.

From 1939 to 1958, it was known as Osypenko Raion (Осипенківський район). During World War II, Osypenko Raion was occupied by Nazi Germany between October 1941 and September 1943. 3,260 people from Osypenko Raion were deported to Germany for forced labor and 300 were murdered.

The January 2020 estimate of the raion population was On 18 July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, the number of raions of Zaporizhzhia Oblast was reduced to five, and the area of Berdiansk Raion was significantly expanded.

Demographics
As of the 2001 Ukrainian census, the raion (excluding Berdiansk itself, which was then designated a city of oblast significance) had a population of 31,631 people. In terms of self-reported ethnic background, 73% were Ukrainians and 17% were Russians, with small minorities of Belarusians, Bulgarians, and Greeks.