The map above shows the borders of “Hutsulshchyna,” the ethnic Hutsul towns and villages of three oblasts and Romania. The empty areas are mountains and national parks.

Hutsul homeland is region in the south-easternmost part of the Carpathian Mountains, and includes parts of three Ukrainian oblasts: Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Chernivtsi. Except for eight settlements in Romania, the Hutsul region lies within the present-day borders of Ukraine.

Geographically, this is the basins of the upper Prut River, upper Suceava River, upper Bystrytsia Nadvirnianska River, and upper Tysa River valleys. In the southeast the Hutsul region borders on ethnic Romanian lands; in the west, on the region of the Boikos; in the north, on the region of the Subcarpathian Pidhiriany; in the northwest, on their lowlander cousins, the Pokuttians; and in the southwest, on Transcarpathian Ukrainian lands (Zakarpattia).

The region is located in the most elevated and picturesque part of the Ukrainian Carpathians. The land there is cultivated to a considerable height owing to the moderating climatic influence of the Black Sea and the massiveness of the ranges, which make summers in the region warmer than in other parts of the Carpathians. Highland pastures (polonyny) are widespread, and herding, particularly of sheep, has traditionally been widely practiced.

After WWII the primary industries of the Hutsul region were animal husbandry, lumbering, and wood processing, with health-resort services and artistic-handicrafts manufacturing as secondary industries.

Since Independence, there has been much growth of tourism in Hutsulshchyna, especially in the Yaremche area.  Bukovel, a world class resort, brings visitors not only from various regions of Ukraine, but from abroad.  Handcrafts remain an important industry, with Hutsul pysanky, pottery, embroidery, woodwork and weaving being popularized and sold throughout Ukraine. Sadly, logging has continued apace, often illegally, with destruction of the watershed.  There has been much flooding in recent years due to deforestation.