Poltava
or PULTAWA, a province of Russia, bounded by Czernigov, Kharkov, Ekaterinoslav, Kherson, and Kiev; area 19,265 square miles; pop. about 4,000,000. It is one of the most fertile and best cultivated portions of the Russian empire, and grows large quantities of grain. Live stock and bee rearing are important branches of the rural economy.
Both manufactures and trade are of very limited extent. Poltava, the capital, the confluence of the Poltava with the Worskla, has straight and broad streets, a cathedral, etc. As a place of trade Poltava derives importance from the great fair held each year. Wool is the great staple of trade. Horses, cattle, and sheep are likewise bought and sold in great numbers. It contains a monument to Peter the Great, who here defeated Charles XII. in 1709. Pop. about 85,000.