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".