[6] By at least one account, the most prominent is the Zbarazh Castle with fortifications that expand over 16 ha (40 acres) and was the center of a 17th-century standoff between troops of Bohdan Khmelnytsky and the army of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

[6] The Dniester Canyon passes through the oblast; it is considered one of the wonders of Ukraine, stretching for 250 km (160 mi).

From the First Partition of Poland in 1772 until the end of World War I the area which would become Ternopil Oblast was mostly part of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, a possession of the Habsburg Monarchy, Austrian Empire and finally Austria-Hungary.

During the Napoleonic wars the area around Ternopil was annexed by Russia in the 1809 Treaty of Schönbrunn becoming the Tarnopolsky Krai [de; pl; ru; uk]; it was ceded back to Austria in 1815 (Congress of Vienna).

The southern pre-2020 raions of Ternopil Oblast were partially coterminous with Galicia and Lodomeria's districts/counties and Interwar Poland's counties.

Due to the Polish national policy in the area (Pacification action), many people favored the Soviet invasion of Eastern Galicia at first.

However, soon thereafter, the Soviet security agencies started a witch hunt among nationally oriented members of Ukrainian resistance who emigrated to Poland after the Soviet-Ukrainian War as well as other reasons.

During German occupation, the region (except for its Volhynian portion) became part of the District of Galicia and transferred to administration by the General Government.

Additionally, upon annexation to the Soviet Union's Ukrainian SSR, most ethnic Poles in the region were forcibly relocated to Poland, whose national borders had shifted far to the west.

The area of the former Polish voivodeship was expanded by adding territory in the north, though the westernmost parts were transferred to the Lviv oblast.

Over 88% of voters supported Yulia Tymoshenko of the All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" in the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election.

By 2005, the population of the oblast had grown to roughly 225,000, consisting primarily of ethnic Ukrainians with a large Russian or Russian-speaking minority.

The religion of the majority is Ukrainian Greek Catholic, though there is a notable Orthodox presence and a small Protestant minority.

Due to the underfunding of the state program for the preservation of cultural heritage, many of objects of historical significance are in poor condition.

There is also number of factories such as "Vatra" (lighting equipment), Ternopil Harvester Plant, "Orion" (radio communication) among a few.