Kharkiv

Location

Kharkiv is the capital of the Kharkiv region, at the confluence of the Kharkiv, Lopan and Udy Rivers in the Upper Donets Valley in Eastern Ukraine.

Population

approx 1,600,000 (est 1990)

Economic Activity

The city is Ukraine's second largest and serves as one of the country's main rail transport junctions, along with being a major cultural and economic center. Proximity to the iron mines of Kryvyy Rih and the coal of the Donets Basin has provided the basis for engineering industries that produce a wide variety of other heavy metal items, mostly tractors and locomotives. The city's other major industries include food and tobacco processing, printing, and the manufacture of chemicals.

Overview

The city was founded in 1656 as a military strongpoint for the purpose of defending Moscow's southern border. Later it became an important frontier headquarters for Ukrainian Cossacks. They kept the city loyal to the czar during the Cossack uprisings of the late 17th century, and, as a result, Kharkiv received more autonomy than most other Ukrainian cities. Developing as an intellectual and commercial center, Kharkiv became the site of large annual trade fairs, which were held from the second half of the 18th century until the Russian Revolution. Russia's annexation of the Crimea in 1783 and colonization of the steppes further stimulated Kharkiv's economic growth. The coal and metallurgical industries developed after the 1860s, and railroads were built in the late 19th century Kharkiv also became an important center of the 19th-century Ukrainian national and literary movements. The city became the capital of Ukraine in 1919 but was superseded by Kiev in 1934. The city is home to the Cathedral of the Protectoress (1686), a bell tower that celebrated Napoleon's defeat in 1812, a university, and other scientific research institutes.