області, oblasti) in Ukraine, sometimes translated as region or province, is the main type of first-level administrative division of the country.

Ukraine is a unitary state, thus the oblasts do not have much legal scope of competence other than that which is established in the Ukrainian Constitution and devolved by law.

Most of Ukraine's oblasts are named after their respective administrative centers, which are also the largest and most developed cities in the region.

The territorial structure of Ukraine is based on the principles of unity and indivisibility of the state territory, the combination of centralisation and decentralisation in the exercise of state power, and the balanced socio-economic development of regions that takes into account their historical, economic, ecological, geographical and demographic characteristics, and ethnic and cultural traditions.Each of Ukraine's oblasts has its own legislative and executive authority, most of which is subordinate to the central government authorities in Kyiv.

[4] The heads of local administrations are in turn appointed and dismissed by the President of Ukraine upon nomination by the Cabinet of Ministers.

Carrying out their authority, the heads of local administrations are accountable to the President and are subordinate to higher bodies of executive leadership.

[4] They also have considerable budgets managed by an oblast council (Ukrainian: обласна рада) made up of people's deputies (representatives) voted into office in regional elections every four years, the last of which took place in 2020.

Most of them are also sometimes referred to in a feminine noun form, following the convention of traditional regional place names, ending with the suffix "-shchyna", such as Poltava Oblast, which is also called Poltavshchyna (Ukrainian: Полтавщина).