Novoselytsia Raion

Novoselytsia Raion (Новоселицький район, Raionul Noua Suliță ) was a raion (administrative district) in Chernivtsi Oblast, (province) in the west of Ukraine. The western part of its territory lied in the historical region of Bukovina, the eastern part in Bessarabia, while one village (Boianivka) was part of the Hertsa region. The center of the raion was the city of Novoselytsia. The raion was abolished on 18 July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Chernivtsi Oblast to three. The area of Novoselytsia Raion was split between Chernivtsi and Dnistrovskyi Raions. The last estimate of the raion population was

History and population
According to the 2001 Ukrainian Census, the raion's population was 87,241. The ethnical composition by self-identification was as follows:

Among the 50,329 self-identified Moldovans (57.54%), 47,585 (54.54%) self-identified their language as Moldovan and 2,264 as Romanian (2.6%) according to the Ukrainian census of 2001; there were also 29,703 self-identified Ukrainians (35.05%), 5,904 Romanians (6.77%), 1,235 Russians (1.42%), and 290 others (0.29%).. Novoselytsia raion, within its boundaries at that time, had 87,241 inhabitants in 2001, including 34.08% Ukrainian-speakers, 64% Romanian-speakers, and 1.78% Russian-speakers. In the last Soviet census of 1989, out of 86,771 inhabitants, 28,207 declared themselves Ukrainians (32.51%), 585 Romanians (0.67%), 55,669 Moldovans (64.16%), and 1,639 Russians (1.89%). The decline in the number (from 55,669 to 50,329) and proportion of self-identified Moldovans (from 64.16% to 57.54%) was explained by a switch from a census Moldovan to a census Romanian ethnic and linguistic identity, and has continued after the 2001 census. By contrast, the number of self-identified ethnic Romanians has increased (from 585 to 5,904 ),and so has their proportion of the population of the former raion (from 0.67% to 6.77%), and the process has continued after the 2001 census.

The singer Sofia Rotaru was born in Marshyntsi, one of the Romanian speaking villages of the Raion.

The village of Tarasivtsi, located in the raion, is notable as the only place in Ukraine where the Moldovan (Romanian) language was designated as a regional language from 2012 to 2014. This occurred after Ukraine permitted regional languages to be designated in August 2012.

Administrative divisions
Novoselytsia Raion had 1 city and 30 communes:


 * Novoselytsia - administrative seat


 * Communes
 * Balkivtsi
 * Berestia
 * Boiany
 * Cherlenivka
 * Chornivka
 * Dovzhok
 * Dranytsia
 * Dynivtsi
 * Forosna
 * Kostychany
 * Koteleve
 * Mahala
 * Malynivka
 * Mamalyha
 * Marshyntsi
 * Nesvoia
 * Podvirne
 * Prypruttia
 * Ridkivtsi
 * Rokytne
 * Rynhach
 * Shcherbyntsi
 * Sloboda
 * Stalnivtsi
 * Strointsi
 * Tarasivtsi
 * Toporivtsi
 * Vanchykivtsi
 * Zelenyi Hai
 * Zhylivka

Of these, Boiany, Chornivka, Mahala, Sloboda, Pripruttia, Toporivtsi and Zelenyi Hai are in the historical region of Bukovina, while the remainder are in Bessarabia.

At the time of disestablishment, the raion consisted of six hromadas:
 * Boiany rural hromada with the administration in the selo of Boiany, transferred to Chernivtsi Raion;
 * Mahala rural hromada with the administration in the selo of Mahala, transferred to Chernivtsi Raion;
 * Mamalyha rural hromada with the administration in the selo of Mamalyha, transferred to Dnistrovskyi Raion;
 * Novoselytsia urban hromada with the administration in Novoselytsia, transferred to Chernivtsi Raion;
 * Toporivtsi rural hromada with the administration in the selo of Toporivtsi, transferred to Chernivtsi Raion;
 * Vanchykivtsi rural hromada with the administration in the selo of Vanchykivtsi, transferred to Chernivtsi Raion.

Toporyvtsi rural hromada also contained three villages, Kolinkivtsi, Hrozyntsi, and Bochkivtsi, which belonged to Khotyn Raion.