| Desnianskyi District | |
| Native Name: | Деснянський район |
| Native Name Lang: | uk |
| Settlement Type: | Urban district in Kyiv |
| Flag Alt: | Flag of Desnianskyi District |
| Shield Alt: | Coat of arms of Desnianskyi District |
| Image Map1: | Kyiv map (en).svg |
| Coordinates: | 50.53°N 30.7042°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Region |
| Subdivision Name1: | Kyiv |
| Parts Type: | Subdivisions |
| Parts Style: | coll |
| P1: | — city councils |
| P2: | — settlement councils |
| P3: | — rural councils |
| P4: | Number of localities: — cities |
| P5: | |
| P6: | — villages |
| P7: | — rural settlements |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Established Date: | 30.12.1987 |
| Seat Type: | Admin. center |
| Leader Title: | Governor |
| Leader Name: | Dmytro Ratnikov |
| Leader Title1: | Chairman |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Area Total Km2: | 142 |
| Population Total: | 368 500[1] |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone1: | EET |
| Utc Offset1: | +2 |
| Timezone1 Dst: | EEST |
| Utc Offset1 Dst: | +3 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal index |
| Area Code Type: | Area code |
| Area Code: | 38044 |
| Website: | http://desn.kyivcity.gov.ua |
Desnianskyi District (Ukrainian: Деснянський район|Desnianskyi raion) is an administrative raion (district or borough) of the city of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. It is located in the north-eastern part of the city on the Left Bank of the Dnieper River and is the most populous district of Kyiv. It is also the second largest district, with the total area of ca. 14.2 ha.
The Desnianskyi District mainly consists of two microdistricts – Troieshchyna and Lisovyi – making it predominantly residential in nature. There is only one clear-cut, (yet small) industrial zone called Kulykove on the border with Dniprovskyi Raion. This fact explains why the district has the lowest number of registered business entities among Kyiv raions.[2] Much like commuter town, therefore, Desnianskyi District has very little commercial or industrial activity beyond a small amount of retail, oriented toward serving the locals. However, it differs from commuter towns in that it forms part of the city proper and is not regarded as suburb in a classical sense. Still, its currently weak transportation links with the major part of the city on the Right Bank make it appear as a "city inside a city", which is especially true for Troieshchyna microdistrict.[3]
The first written reference of the lands that today form part of Desnianskyi District dates back to 1667.[4] Until 1927 the area of the raion belonged to the Oster uyezd of the Chernigov Governorate. Since then it became part of the city of Kyiv. In 1932 the area was reorganized under the Petriv (Podil) Raion. It was not until 1987 when the area was reorganized into a separate raion partially out of the neighboring Dnipro Raion and was named as the Vatutin Raion.
Residential development of what would become known as Troieshchyna microdistrict started in 1966. However it was not until the completion of Pivnichnyi Bridge (named Moskovskyi Bridge until 2018[5]) in 1976 that the development became genuinely large-scale.[6]
Distribution of the population by native language according to the 2001 census:[7]
| Language | Number | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ukrainian | 250 165 | 74.74% | |
| Russian | 78 386 | 23.42% | |
| Other | 6 153 | 1.84% | |
| Total | 334 704 | 100.00% |
| Those who did not indicate their native language or indicated a language that was native to less than 1% of the local population. |
a. Resident population as of 1 January 2009.
b. Informally, Kyiv is subdivided into the Right Bank (Ukrainian: Правий Берег) and the Left bank (Ukrainian: Лівий Берег) on the west and east bank of the Dnieper river respectively.