The oblast strategic position at the heart of central Europe and as the gateway to the Carpathians has caused it to change hands many times over the centuries.

Several NKVD prisoner massacres were committed in the area in 1941, including at Lviv, Sambir and Dobromyl.

It was occupied by Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1944 following the start of Operation Barbarossa, where most of the local Jewish population were killed.

The Germans also established several prisoner-of-war camps with multuple forced labour subcamps in the region for Soviet, French and Belgian POWs, who were subjected to beatings, hunger, epidemics and executions, resulting in a high death rate.

[9] Following the end of World War II, the region remained in Soviet hands as was arranged in the Tehran and Yalta conferences.

Given its historical development, Lviv Oblast is one of the least Russified and Sovietized parts of Ukraine, with much of its Polish and Habsburg heritage still visible today.

In Ukraine today, there are three provinces (oblasts) that formed the eastern part of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria.

During the 2014 Euromaidan protests, the region is also notable for having declared independence from the central government led by Viktor Yanukovych who started to use active military force against protestors.

Between these valleys and Beskyd lies the Precarpathian upland covered with deciduous forests, with well-known mineral spa resorts (see Truskavets, Morshyn).

The climate is favourable for the cultivation of sugar beets, winter wheat, flax, rye, cabbage, apples, and for dairy farming.

It is still too cold to successfully cultivate maize, sunflower, grapes, melon, watermelon or peaches in Lviv Oblast.

Fifty-nine percent of the religious organisations active in the Lviv Oblast adhere to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

The city of Lviv contains a well-preserved main square (Rynok) and numerous historical churches.

Other sites of interest are the historic Lychakiv Cemetery, the local museum of folklore, and the ruins of the famous Vysokyi Zamok.

A local museum of Ukrainian art and an institution of higher learning (Ivan Franko State University) are also present.

[24] The National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine's Institute of Agriculture in Obroshino is the center of study for cereal pathogens including powdery mildew of barley.