The actual population of the region, according to the All-Ukrainian Population Census ‘2001 data, accounted for 1,265.0 thousand people.

The urban population, according to the All-Ukrainian Population Census data, accounted for 838.8 thousand people, or 66.3%, and that of the rural population – 425.9 thousand people, or 33.7%.

According to the All-Ukrainian Population Census ‘2001 data the number of men accounted for 588.2 thousand people, or 46.5%, that of women – 676.5 thousand people, or 53.5%.

During the years that have passed since the census of the population ‘1989, the number of towns in the region have stayed constant and on the Census day amounted to 9 units.

The total number of the permanent population of the region as of 5 December 2001 accounted for 1,262.9 thousand people, including the urban population – 835.0 thousand people, or 66.1%, the rural population – 427.9 thousand people, or 33.9%.

The age structure of the population, stated by the All-Ukrainian census of the population, is characterized by the following data: the decrease in the part of children in total population simultaneously with the increase in the part of the persons at the older than able-to-work age, that considerably complicates present demographic situation and leads to the growing ageing of the population.

The peculiarity of the national structure of the population of the region is its multinational composition. According to the All-Ukrainian Population Census data, the representatives of more than 100 nationalities and ethnic groups lived on the territory of the region. The part of Ukrainians in the national structure of the population of the region was the largest, their number totaled 1034.4 thousand people, or 81.9% of the total permanent population.

The language structure of the region, according to the All-Ukrainian Population Census ‘2001 data, is characterized by the following data: the part of those whose mother tongue is Ukrainian totals 69.2% of the population of the region, this is by 5.0 percentage points more than in 1989. The part of those whose mother tongue is Russian totals 29.3% of the population, comparatively with the data of the previous census this index has decreased by 4.5 percentage points.

The All-Ukrainian Population Census results testified to the tendency to the rise of the educational standard of the population and the increase in the number of people with higher and complete secondary education. The number of people with higher and complete secondary education amounted to 751.3 thousand people, what exceeded by 17.6% the corresponding characteristic population census ‘1989.

According to the All-Ukrainian Population Census data, of married men and women accounted for 632.9 thousand persons.