[1][2] According to the 2001 census, the majority of the population of the Şîreaieve district spoke Ukrainian (91.13%), with Romanian (4.3%) and Russian (3.62%) speakers in the minority.

[4] At the time of disestablishment, the raion consisted of four hromadas:[5] Shyriaieve was founded in the end of the 18th century as Stepanovka (Stepanivka), named after the landowner Stepan Shyriay.

[6] The area was settled after 1792, when the lands between the Southern Bug and the Dniester were transferred to Russia according to the Iasi Peace Treaty.

In the middle of the 19th century Stepanivka was formally renamed Shiryayevo (Shyriaieve).

In 1923, uyezds in Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic were abolished, and the governorates were divided into okruhas.