Cities of raion subordinance – 8; Rural councils – 384. The local administration of the oblast' is controlled by the Poltava Oblast Rada. The governor of the oblast’ is the Poltava Oblast’ Rada speaker, appointed by the President of Ukraine. Note: Asterisks (*) Though the administrative center of the rayon is housed in the city/town that it is named after, cities do not answer to the rayon authorities only towns do; instead they are directly subordinated to the oblast government and therefore are not counted as part of rayon statistics. Nomenclature Most of Ukraine's oblasts are named after their capital cities, officially referred to as "oblast centers" (, translit. oblasnyi tsentr). The name of each oblast is a relative adjective, formed by adding a feminine suffix to the name of respective center city: Poltava is the center of the Poltavs’ka oblast’ (Poltava Oblast). Most oblasts are also sometimes referred to in a feminine noun form, following the convention of traditional regional place names, ending with the suffix "-shchyna", as is the case with the Poltava Oblast, Poltavshchyna. References External links State Administration of Poltava Region – official site Information Card of the Region – official site of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Oblasts of Ukraine States and territories established in 1937 1937 establishments in Ukraine