Zhitomir region

Zhitomir region is situated in north-western Ukraine, in the central part of the East European Plain, in the north of the right-bank Ukraine. In the north it borders on the Republic of Belarus, the length of the border is 280 km. Zhitomir region is the ancient Slavic land, which is used to be called Polesye.

Zhitomir region ranks fifth according to the magnitude of the area, which is 29.9 thousand square km or 4.9% of Ukraine. The length of the region from west to east is 170 km, from north to south - 320 km.

One of the features of the region is the close location to the capital - Kiev.

Zhitomir region is rich in mineral resources, in particular, in its depths there are concentrated more than 80% of all stocks of titanium ores and quartzites of the country, there are significant deposits of decorative facing stone - labradorite, granite, gabbro. There are developed the deposits of kaolin, marble, lignite, peat, limestone and other building materials, there are currently produced beryl, topaz, quartz and marble.

The climate is temperate continental with warm humid summer and mild cloudy winter with frequent thaws.

On the territory of the region there are 221 rivers, which all belong to the basin of the Dnieper. The largest rivers in the boundaries of the region are Teterev, Sluch, Irpin, Irsha. In Zhitomir region there are many lakes, the largest are Black, Duzhe, Kup’e, Ozeryanskoe, Dedovo, Pribilovetskoe, which are located in the basin of the river Ubort’.

In the region there are two zones - mixed forests and forest-steppe. In the southern forest-steppe part of Zhitomir region dominate black earth soils, in woodland – sod-podzol, marsh and gray forest soils.

The region ranks 2nd in Ukraine due to forest resources, forests occupy 30% of the area, here conifers dominated. But the forests are mainly mixed and there grow pines, oaks, birches, aspens and other trees and shrubs. Among the animals are elk, wild boar, roe deer, wolves, foxes, hares, squirrels, and of birds - woodpeckers, owls, tits, grouse, hawks, wild ducks.