Hertsa Raion

Hertsa Raion or Hertza Raion (Герцаївський район, translit.: Hertsaiivs'kyi raion; Raionul Herța ) was an administrative raion (district) in the southern part of Chernivtsi Oblast in western Ukraine, on the Romanian border. The region had an area of 308.7 km2 and the administrative center in the city of Hertsa. It was one of the three raions of Ukraine with the majority of the ethnic Romanian population. The raion was abolished on 18 July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions in Chernivtsi Oblast to three. The area of Hertsa Raion was merged into Chernivtsi Raion. The last estimate of the raion population was

At the time of disestablishment, the raion consisted of two hromadas, Hertsa urban hromada with the administration in Hertsa and Ostrytsia rural hromada with the administration in the selo of Ostrytsia.

History
The Hertsa region was part of the Principality of Moldavia since its founding in the 14th century. After the unification of Moldavia and Wallachia in 1859, it became part of Romania (which gained its formal independence in 1877), as one of the five districts (plăși) of Dorohoi County.

The region was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940 following the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany, and was added to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. It was recaptured by Romania in 1941 in the course of the Axis attack on the Soviet Union in World War II, but it was recaptured again by the Soviet Army in 1944. The annexation was confirmed by the Paris Peace Treaties in 1947 between the USSR and Romania.

The fact that neither the secret protocol (appendix) of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, which specified the expansionist claims of both sides, nor the June 1940 Soviet Ultimatum demanding from the Kingdom of Romania the adjacent territory of Northern Bukovina and Bessarabia included Hertsa makes the capture by the Soviets controversial in Romania. Furthermore, unlike Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, the region had not been a part of Imperial Russia or Austria-Hungary before World War I, but had been a part of Romania and one of its predecessor states, Moldavia, before that.

In 1962, the raion was merged into Hlyboka Raion, and in 1991, it was reinstated again.

Demographics
In 1930, the region had a population of 30,082, of which 27,919 (92.8%) Romanians, 1,931 (6.4%) were Jews, and 232 (0.8%) people of other ethnicities.

In 2001, the population of Hertsa Raion was 32,316, of which 29,554 or 91.45% identified themselves as Romanians, 1,616 or 5.0% as Ukrainians, and 756 or 2.34% as Moldovans (out of which 511 self-identified their language as Moldovan and 237 as Romanian), 0.9% as Russians, and 0.3% as being of other ethnicities (''see: Ukrainian Census, 2001). Hertsa raion, within its boundaries at that time, had 32,316 inhabitants in 2001, including 4.83% Ukrainian-speakers, 93.82% Romanian-speakers, and 1.21% Russian-speakers. In the last Soviet census of 1989, out of 29,611 inhabitants, 1,569 declared themselves Ukrainians (5.30%), 23,539 Romanians (79.49%), 3,978 Moldovans (13.43%), and 431 Russians (1.46%). The decline in the number (from 3,978 to 756) and proportion of Moldovans (from 13.43% to 2.34%) was explained by a switch from a census Moldovan to a census Romanian ethnic identity, and has continued after the 2001 census. By contrast, the number of self-identified ethnic Romanians has increased (from 23,539 to 29,554), and so has their proportion of the population of the former raion (from 79.49% to 91.45%), and the process has continued after the 2001 census.

Localities
Hertsa Raion was composed of 1 city and 13 incorporated localities, containing a total of 24 villages (Romanian names listed in brackets):


 * Герца Hertsa (Herța)
 * Байраки Bairaky (Mogoșești)
 * Буківка Bukivka (Poieni, Poieni-Bucovina, Puieni)
 * Годинівка Hodynivka (Godinești, Godânești)
 * Горбова Horbova (Horbova)
 * Хряцька Khriatska (Hreațca)
 * Куликівка Kulykіvka (Colincăuți, Culiceni)
 * Лунка Lunka (Lunca)
 * Молниця Molnytsia (Molnița)
 * Остриця Ostrytsia (Ostrița, Stârcești)
 * Петрашівка Petrashivka (Mihoreni, Petrașivca)
 * Тернавка Ternavka (Târnauca)
 * Цурень Tsuren (Țureni)
 * Велика Буда Velyka Buda (Buda Mare)

The 10 unincorporated villages are:


 * Банчени Bancheny (Bănceni)
 * Дяківці Diakіvtsі (Probotești)
 * Круп'янське Krupianske (Pasat)
 * Луковиця Lukovytsia (Lucovița, Lucovița Moldovenească)
 * Мала Буда Mala Buda (Buda Mică)
 * Маморниця Mamornytsia (Mamornița, Mamornița Ucraineană)
 * Могилівка Mohylivka (Movila)
 * Підвальне Pіdval'ne (Becești)
 * Радгоспівка Radhospivka (Vama)
 * Великосілля Velykosillia (Pilipăuți, Satul Mare)