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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Koshyk (talk | contribs) at 17:26, 27 July 2007 (Correct spelling: Kiev ---> Kyiv (e.g. http://www.uazone.net/Kiev_Kyiv.html)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Kyiv КиївKyiv
Independence Square]] in the backgroundA monument to archangel Michael, the patron of Kyiv, with [[Maidan Nezalezhnosti|Independence Square]] in the background
FlagCoat of arms
Map of Ukraine with Kyiv highlighted
Country	Ukraine
Oblast	Kyiv City Municipality
Raion	Municipality
Government
• Mayor	Leonid Chernovetskyi
Elevation	179 m (587 ft)
Population
• Total	4,450,968
• Density	3,299/km (8,540/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code	01xxx-04xxx
Area code	+380 44
License plate	AA (before 2004: КА,КВ,КЕ,КН,КІ,KT)
Sister cities	Ankara, Athens, Belgrade, Brussels, Budapest, [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]], Chişinău, Edinburgh, Florence, Helsinki, Kraków, Kyoto, Leipzig, Minsk, Munich, Odense, Paris, Pretoria, Riga, Rome, Santiago de Chile, Sofia, Stockholm, Tallinn, Tampere, Tbilisi, Toronto, Toulouse, Warsaw, Wuhan, Vienna, Vilnius, Yerevan
Website	http://www.kmr.gov.ua

Kyiv, also Kyiv (Ukrainian: Audio file "Kyiv.ogg" not found, Kyyiv, [[International Phonetic

Alphabet|IPA]]: ; Russian: Audio file "ru-Kyiv.ogg" not found, Kiyev; see also [[Names of

European cities in different languages: I-L#K|Cities' alternative names]]), is the capital and the largest

city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper river. In 2005 Kyiv had 2,660,401

inhabitants, and this figure continues to grow.

Kyiv is an important industrial, scientific, educational and cultural center of Eastern Europe. It is home to many high-

tech industries, higher education institutions and world-famous historical landmarks. The city has an extensive

infrastructure and highly developed system of public transport, including the Kyiv Metro.

The name Kyiv is said to derive from the name of Kyi, one of four legendary founders of the city (brothers Kyi, Shchek,

Khoryv and sister Lybid'). During its history, Kyiv, one of the oldest cities in Eastern Europe,

passed through several stages of great prominence and relative obscurity. The city is believed to have been founded in the 5th

century as a trading post in the land of Early East Slavs. It gradually acquired eminence as the center of the [[Rus'

(people)|East Slavic civilization]], becoming in the tenth to twelfth centuries a political and cultural capital of [[Kyivan

Rus'|Rus']], a medieval East Slavic state. Completely destroyed during the Mongol invasion in 1240, the city lost most of its influence for the centuries to come. It was a provincial capital of marginal

importance in the outskirts of the territories controlled by its powerful neighbors: first the Grand Duchy of Lithuania,

followed by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russian Empire. The city prospered again during the Russian

industrial revolution in the late 19th century. After the turbulent period

following the Russian Revolution of 1917, from 1921 onwards Kyiv was an important city of the [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist

Republic]], and, since 1934, its capital. During World War II, the city again suffered

significant damage, but quickly recovered in the post-war years remaining the third largest city of USSR.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Ukrainian independence of 1991, Kyiv remained the capital of

Ukraine.

Environment

Geography

Kyiv is located on both sides of the Dnieper River, which flows south through the city towards the Black Sea. Its

geographic coordinates are [https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Kiev&params=50_27_00_N_30_31_24_E_type:city(2600000)

_scale:300000_region:ua 50°27′00″N 30°31′24″E / 50.45000°N 30.52333°E / 50.45000; 30.52333]. Geographically, Kyiv belongs to the Polesia ecological zone (a part of the European mixed

woods). However, the city's unique landscape distinguishes it from the surrounding region. The older right-bank (western)

part of Kyiv is represented by numerous woody hills, ravines and small rivers. It is a part of the larger Prydniprovska

(near-Dnieper) upland adjoining the western bank of the Dnieper. The city expanded to the Dnieper's left-bank (to the

east) only in the 20th century. Significant areas of the Dnieper valley were artificially sand-deposited, and are protected

by dams.

The Dnieper River forms a branching system of tributaries, isles, and harbors within the city limits. The city

is adjoined by the mouth of the Desna River and the Kyiv Reservoir in the north, and the Kaniv Reservoir in the

south. Both the Dnieper and Desna rivers are navigable at Kyiv, although regulated by the reservoir shipping

locks and limited by winter freeze-over.

Climate

Kyiv has a continental humid climate, although it has changed significantly during recent decades.

The warmest months are June, July, and August, with mean temperatures of 13.8 to 24.8°C (56.9 to 76.7°F). The coldest are

December, January, and February, with mean temperatures of −4.6 to -1.1°C (23.7 to 30.0°F). The highest ever temperature

recorded in the city was 39.4°C (103.0°F) on 31 July 1936. The coldest temperature ever recorded in the city was -

32.2°C (-26.0°F) on 7 & 9 February 1929. Snow cover usually lies from mid-November to the end of March,

with the frost-free period lasting 180 days on average, but surpassing 200 days in recent years.

History

Kyiv is one of the oldest and most important cities of Eastern Europe with a pivotal role in the development of the

medieval East Slavic civilization as well as in the modern Ukrainian nation.

People have lived on the site of Kyiv since before the existence of any historic records. The settlement at the site of the

modern city may have been founded as early as the fifth or the sixth century AD. With the exact time of city foundation being hard to determine, May 1982 was chosen to celebrate the city's

1,500th anniversary.

During the eighth and ninth centuries, Kyiv was an outpost of the Khazar empire. Starting from some point during the late

ninth century Kyiv was ruled by the Varangian nobility and became the nucleus of the [[Etymology of Rus and

derivatives|Rus']] polity, which became known as Kyivan Rus' during the Golden age of Kyiv (eleventh to early twelfth

centuries). In 1240 the Mongol invasion of Rus led by Batu Khan completely destroyed Kyiv, an event that had a

profound effect on the future of the city and the East Slavic civilization. At the time of the

Mongol destruction, Kyiv was reputed as one of the largest cities in the world, with a population exceeding one hundred

thousand.

From 1362, the area, with a largely diminished city, was conquered by Gediminas for the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania. From 1569 the city was controlled by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, as a capital of

Kijów Voivodeship, transferred by then to the Polish Crown. In the 17th century, was Kyiv

was transferred under rule of Russia. In the Russian Empire Kyiv was a primary Christian center, the

attraction of piligrims and the craddle of many of the empire's most important religious figures, but until the 19th century

the city's commercial importance remained marginal.

Kyiv prospered again during the industrial revolution in the late nineteenth century when it became the third most

important city of the Russian Empire, the major center of commerce of the Empire's southwest. In the turbulent period

following the 1917 Russian Revolution, Kyiv became the capital of several [[Ukrainian People's

Republic|short-lived Ukrainian states]] and was caught in the middle of several conflicts: World War I, the [[Russian

Civil War]], and the Polish-Soviet War. From 1921 the city was a part of Ukrainian SSR, a founding republic of

Soviet Union. In 1932-33 the city was affected by the devastating man-made famine known as Holodomor. While there was

no famine for those who had ration cards distributed to workers, thousands of peasants from the rural areas were banned from

the state food stores and were often dying on the streets.. Since 1934, Kyiv became the

capital of Soviet Ukraine. The city boomed again during the years of the Soviet industrialization as it

population grew rapidly and many industrial giants were built that exist to this day.

In World War II, the city again suffered significant damage, but quickly recovered in the

post-war years, becoming once again the third most important city of the Soviet Union. The catastrophic accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant located only some 100 km to the north from the city affected the city, which

had surpassed two million inhabitants, but to a lesser extent than it was feared as the northward wind blew the most

substantial radioactive debris away from the city.

In the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union the [[Declaration of Independence

of Ukraine]] was proclaimed in the city by the Ukrainian parliament on August 24, 1991. Kyiv now remains the capital of

independent Ukraine.

Government

The municipality of the city of Kyiv has a unique legal status within Ukraine compared to the other [[subdivisions of

Ukraine|administrative subdivisions of the country]]. The most significant difference is that the city is subordinated

directly to the national-level branches of the Government of Ukraine, skipping the provincial level authorities

of Kyiv Oblast. Additionally, the leading governmental position is held by the locally elected, rather than appointed,

figure, the Mayor of Kyiv, and the municipal self-governance institutions have a higher than elsewhere in Ukraine latitude

in the local affairs.

Subdivisions

Administratively, the city is divided into "raions" ("districts"), which have their local governments with jurisdiction

over a limited scope of affairs. Presently, there are 10 raions.

Besides these, Kyiv is informally divided into historical or territorial neighborhoods, each housing from about 5,000 to

100,000 inhabitants.

The natural first level of subdivision of the city is into the Right Bank and the Left Bank of the

Dnieper. The Right Bank, located on the west side of the river, contains the older portions of the city.

See also: Category:Neighborhoods and raions of Kyiv

Demographics

As of the All-Ukrainian Census conducted in 2001, the population of Kyiv is 2,611,300. Please

consult the table to the right for Kyiv's historical populations. According to the census, the number of men accounted

for 1,219,000 persons, or 46.7%, and that of women – 1,393,000 persons, or 53.3%. The comparison with the results of the

previous census (1989) shows the trend of population aging which, while common for the country overall, is partly offset

in Kyiv by the inflow of the migrants of the working age.

According to the census data, more than 130 nationalities and ethnic groups reside within the territory of Kyiv. Ukrainians

constitute the largest ethnic group in Kyiv, and they account for 2,110,800 people, or 82.2% of the population. Russians

comprise 337,300 (13.1%), Jews - 17,900 (0.7%), Belarusians - 16,500 (0.6%), Poles - 6,900 (0.3%), Armenians -

4,900 (0.2%), Azerbaijanis - 2,600 (0.1%), Tatars - 2,500 (0.1%), Georgians -

2,400 (0.1%), Moldovans - 1,900 (0.1%).

Both Ukrainian and Russian are commonly spoken in the city, with Russian being

more widely used despite the fact that Ukrainian is claimed as their native tongue by almost three times as many residents as

those who claim Russian. According to a 2006 survey, Ukrainian is used at home by 23% of

Kyivans, as 52% use Russian and 24% switch between both.

1,069,700 people have higher and complete secondary education, a significant increase 21.7% since 1989.

Modern Kyiv

Modern Kyiv is a mix of the old and the new, seen in everything from the architecture to the stores and to the people

themselves. Experiencing fast population growth between the 1970s and the mid-'90s, the city has continued its

consistent growth after the turn of the millennium. As a result, Kyiv's "downtown" is a dotted picture of new, modern

buildings amongst the pale yellows, blues and grays of the older apartments. Urban sprawl has been gradually reducing, while

population densities of suburbs started increasing. The most expensive properties are located in the Pechersk, and

Khreschatyk area. It is also prestigious to own a property in newly constructed buildings in [[Kharkivskyi neighborhood,

Kyiv|Kharkivskyi Raion]] or Obolon along the Dnieper, as well as in some other better-established areas.

With the Ukrainian independence on the turn of the millennium, other changes came. Western-style residential complexes, hip

nightclubs, classy restaurants and prestigious hotels opened in the center. Music from Europe and North America

started rising on Ukrainian music charts. And most importantly, with the easing of the visa rules in 2005, Ukraine is

positioning itself as a prime tourist attraction, with Kyiv, among the other large cities, looking to profit from the new

opportunities. The center of Kyiv has been cleaned up and buildings have been restored and redecorated, especially the

Khreschatyk street and the Independence Square. Many historic areas of Kyiv, such as

Andriyivskyy Descent, have become popular street vendor locations, where one can find traditional [[Art of

Ukraine|Ukrainian art]], religious items, books, game sets (most commonly chess) as well as jewelry for sale.

• Pictures of Kyiv

Culture

An important part of Kyiv's culture is the many theatres in the city, which include: Kyiv Opera House, [[Ivan

Franko National Academic Drama Theater]], Lesya Ukrainka National Academic Theater of Russian Drama, the [[Kyiv Puppet

Theater]], October Palace, National Philharmonic of Ukraine and many others.

Other cultural items include the Olexandr Dovzhenko Film Studios, and the Kyiv Circus. The most important of the

city's many museums are the Kyiv State Historical Museum, [[Museum of the Great Patriotic War,

Kyiv|Museum of the Great Patriotic War]], the National Art Museum, the [[Museum of Western

and Oriental Art]] and the National Museum of Russian art.

In 2005 Kyiv hosted the 50th annual Eurovision Song Contest as a result of

Ruslana's Wild Dances being victorious in 2004.

See also: Category:Kyiv culture

Sports

Football (soccer) is the most popular spectator sport in Kyiv, followed by basketball and ice hockey. Kyiv has

many professional and amateur soccer clubs, including the Arsenal and Dynamo, which

both play in the top division of the Ukrainian Premier League. Other less prominent sport clubs in the

city include: the FC Obolon Kyiv soccer club, the HC Sokil Kyiv hockey club and BC Kyiv basketball club.

During the 1980 Summer Olympics held in the Soviet Union, Kyiv held the preliminary matches and the quarter-finals of

the football tournament at its Olympic Stadium, reconstructed for the event. The stadium is the

largest of Ukrainian stadiums, as well as among Kyiv's 15 stadiums/sport complexes. Initially constructed for audience of

100,000, following the installation of individual seats it can now accommodate 83,053 spectators. Other notable sport

stadiums/sport complexes in Kyiv include the Lobanovsky Dynamo Stadium, the Palace of Sports,

among many others.

Kyiv does not only host field games and indoor sports, but also aquatic sports, which take place on the Kyiv Reservoir at

Vyshhorod, and on Trukhaniv Island in the Dnieper river, opposite the city center, where there are many fine beaches

and recreational facilities. In addition to that, cross country bicycling is another favorite sport, also taking place on

the Trukhaniv Island.

Together with a few other cities of Poland and Ukraine, Kyiv will house the [[2012 UEFA European Football

Championship]]. Three group matches, a quarter final and the final are scheduled to be played at Kyiv NSK Olimpiyskyi

stadium.

See also: Category:Sports in Kyiv

Architecture

Probably, Kyiv's most famous historical architecture complexes are St. Sophia Cathedral and

Kyiv Pechersk Lavra (Monastery of the Caves), which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Noteworthy historical architectural landmarks also include the Mariyinsky Palace (designed and constructed from 1745 to

1752, then reconstructed in 1870), several Orthodox churches such as St. Michael's Cathedral, St. Andrew's, St. Vladimir's, the reconstructed

Golden Gate, and others.

The cylindrical Salut hotel, located across from Glory Square and an eternal flame at the World War Two memorial [[Tomb of

the Unknown Soldier]]. The giant highly visible from the Dnieper hills Mother Motherland statue standing at the [[Museum

of the Great Patriotic War, Kyiv|Museum of the Great Patriotic War]] is one of Kyiv's well recognized modern landmarks.

Among Kyiv's best-known monuments are Mikeshin's statue of Bohdan Khmelnytsky astride his horse

located near St. Sophia Cathedral, the venerated Vladimir the Great

(St. Vladimir), the baptizer of Rus', overlooking the river above Podil, the monument to [[Kyi,

Schek and Khoryv]] and Lybid, the legendary founders of the city located at the Dnieper embankment. Finally, two elevated on

the tall columns modern monuments to the city protectors are located at the Independence Square in

the city center: the historic protector of Kyiv Michael Archangel and a modern invention, the goddess

-protector Berehynia.

See also: Category:Buildings and structures in Kyiv

Architectural monuments

Transportation

Local transportation

Public transportation in Kyiv includes metro (subway), buses, trolleybuses and trams. The publicly owned and

operated Kyiv Metro system is the fastest, the most convenient and affordable network that covers most, but not all, of

the city. The metro is regularly expanding towards the city limits to cover the growing demand, while the other kinds of

public transport are not that well maintained. In particular, the public bus service fails to maintain its schedule.

Public electric trolleybus and tram lines are more reliable, but are also technically obsolete and underfunded. The historic

tram system, which once were a maintained and densely-developed method of transport, are now gradually being

phased out in favor of buses and trolleys.

One unusual mode of public transportation Kyiv has is a funicular, that climbs on the steep right bank of

the Dnieper River. It provides transport to 10,000-15,000 passengers daily.

All public road transport in Kyiv is operated by the united Kyivpastrans municipal company. It is heavily

subsidized by the city as large groups of passengers (pensioners, etc.) are granted free service on its lines.

A simple distance-regardless tariffs system exists in Kyiv public transport: the tickets for ground transportation are

bought for each entrance into the vehicle. Discount passes are available for scholars and students. Pensioners use public

transportation free. Monthly passes, which are sold at the price of 60 rides, are also available in all combinations of public

transportation: metro, bus, trolley, tram.

Recently, privately owned minibuses, marshrutkas, occupied Kyiv's streets. They provide good coverage of smaller

residential streets and have routes that are convenient for the residents. Minibuses take fewer passengers, run faster, stop

on demand and are more available, although with an increased frequency of accidents. Ticket price and itinerary of private

minibuses are regulated by city government, and the cost of one ride, while higher than on public buses, is still far lower

than the Western European standard.

The taxi market in Kyiv is intensive but not adequately regulated. In particular, the taxi fare per kilometer is

not regulated. There is a strong competition between private taxi companies. Many allow scheduling a pick-up by phone. Also,

it is quite common for a local with a car (or even people from other parts of Ukraine) to provide taxi service unofficially.

Traffic jams and lack of parking space are the growing problems for taxi service in Kyiv. Current regulations allow for

parking on pavements, which pedestrians may find inconvenient.

Suburban transportation

Suburban transportation is provided by buses and short-range trains (elektrichkas). There are a few bus stations

inside the city providing suburban transportations. Private minibuses (marshrutkas) provide faster and more frequent

suburban service, currently winning the competition against large buses.

Elektrichkas are serviced by the publicly owned Ukrzaliznytsia company. The suburban train service is fast, and

unbeatingly safe in terms of traffic accidents. But the trains are not reliable, as they may fail significantly behind

schedule, may not be safe in terms of crime, and the elektrichka cars are poorly maintained and are overcrowded in [[rush

hour]]s.

There are 5 elektrichka directions from Kyiv:

• Nizhyn (north-eastern)
• Hrebinka (south-eastern)
• Myronivka (southern)
• Fastiv (south-western)
• Korosten (western)

More than a dozen of elektrichka stops are located within the city allowing residents of different neighborhoods to use

the suburban trains.

Once existing suburban riverboats service is now extinct due to lack of profitability, limiting Kyiv's

water transport for cargo and tourism uses.

Railways

Railways are Kyiv’s main kind of outer transport connection. The city has a developed railroad

infrastructure including a long-distance passenger station, 6 cargo stations, depots, and repairing facilities. However, this

system still fails to meet the demand for passenger service. Particularly, the Kyiv Passenger Railway Station is city's

only long-distance passenger terminal (vokzal). There is construction underway for a new Darnytsia Railway Station on

the left-bank part of Kyiv, which may easer the tension of the central station. Bridges over the Dnieper River are another problem restricting the development of city’s railway system. Presently, only one rail

bridge out of two is available for intense train traffic. A new combined rail-auto bridge is under construction, as a part of

Darnytsia project.

Air transport

Passenger air link to Kyiv can be made through two of its airports: the Boryspil Airport, which is served by the many

international airlines, and a smaller Zhulyany Airport, serving mostly domestic flights, and few

flights to nearby countries. There is also Gostomel cargo airport in Kyiv's north-western suburb of

Hostomel. The international passenger terminal at Boryspil is quite small, yet modern. A new section of the international

terminal was opened in 2006. There is a separate terminal for domestic flights within walking distance. Passengers traveling

to other cities within Ukraine by air usually stop for a connection at Boryspil, as the other airports in Ukraine such as in

Donetsk, Simferopol, Odessa, provide very limited international connections.

Kyiv is one of the centers of world aviation industry, being a home for Antonov aircraft manufacturing company.

National Avaition University is playing vital role in ukrainian aviation industry Currently, there are expansion plans for

the city's international airport, with construction to begin within the coming years.

See also: Category:Transport in Kyiv

Tourism

Attractions in Kyiv

It is said that one can walk from one end of Kyiv to the other in the summertime without leaving the shade of its many trees.

Most characteristic are the horse-chestnuts (Template:Lang-uk).

Kyiv is known as a green city with two botanical gardens and numerous large and small parks. The

green nature of the city is probably most notable by the overgrown and mostly untouched by urbanization hills on the right

bank along the Dnieper river. There the World War II Museum is located, which

offers both indoor and outdoor displays of military history and equipment surrounded by verdant hills overlooking the Dnieper

river.

Among the numerous islands, Venetsianskyi (or Hidropark) is the most habitable. It's accessible by metro or by car, and

includes an amusement park, swimming beaches, boat rentals, and night clubs. The Victory Park (Park Peremohy) located near

Darnytsia subway station is a popular destination for strollers, joggers, and cyclists.

Boating, fishing, and water sports are popular pastimes in Kyiv. Since the lakes and rivers freeze over in the winter, ice

fishermen are frequently seen, as are children with their ice skates. However, the peak of summer is when masses of people can

be seen on the shores, swimming or sunbathing, with daytime high temperatures sometimes reaching 30 to 34 °C.

The center of Kyiv (Independence Square and Khreschatyk Street) becomes a large outdoor party place at night during summer

months, with thousands of people having a good time in nearby restaurants, clubs and outdoor cafes. The central streets are

closed for auto traffic on weekends and holidays.

Wide varieties of farming products are available in many of Kyiv's farmer markets with the Besarabsky Market located in

the very center of the city being the most famous one. Each residential region has its own market, or rynok. Here one will

find table after table of individuals hawking everything imaginable: vegetables, fresh and smoked meats, fish, cheese, honey,

dairy products such as milk and home-made smetana (sour cream), caviar, cut flowers, housewares, tools and hardware,

and clothing. Each of the markets has its own unique mix of products. There is also a popular book market by the [[Petrivka

(Kyiv Metro)|Petrivka metro station]].

At the city's southern outskirts, near the historic Pyrohiv village, there is an outdoor museum, officially called the Museum of Folk Architecture and Life of Ukraine It has an area of 1.5

square kilometres. On this terrain, multiple "mini-villages" that represent the traditional countryside architecture of

various regions of Ukraine are built.

Kyiv also has numerous game attractions like bowling, carts, paintball, billiards and even shooting from real weapons.

See also: Category:Visitor attractions in Kyiv

Views of Kyiv

Economy

Kyiv, as the capital of Ukraine, has major administrative functions, with considerable status in the offices of the ministries

responsible for the economy of Ukraine. Factories in Kyiv are found in all parts of the city, with locations of major

concentrations of industrial organizations located to the west of the city center and on the left bank of the Dnieper River.

See also: Economy of Kyiv, Economy of Ukraine

Industrial organizations

The Kyiv engineering plants, create their equipment based on metal from the iron and steel areas of [[Dnipropetrovsk

Oblast#Economy|Dnipropetrovshchyna]] and the Donbas coalfield. These plants in Kyiv make equipment for

chemical works, such as conveyor lines for vulcanized rubber, linoleum, fertilizer factories, and also metal-

cutting machines. Other engineering products of Kyiv area include aircraft (see: Antonov), hydraulic elevators,

electrical instruments, armatures, river-and-sea crafts, motorcycles, and cinematography apparatuses.

Another important sector is the chemical industry, which produces resin products, fertilizers, plastics, and chemical fibers,

made at the Darnytsky Raion viscose plant on the left bank of Kyiv. Lumber milling and the production of

bricks and reinforced concrete items are another well developed industry. Consumer manufactured goods include cameras (see:

Kyiv-Arsenal (photo camera), thermos flasks, knitwear, footwear, a range of foodstuffs, and hand watches. Kyiv is also a

large publishing centre.

Power production

Kyiv is supplied by electricity primary from the Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Station, completed in 1968, just upstream of the

city at Vyshhorod, on the Kyiv Reservoir, and from Trypillia thermal electric station. Nowadays, all but a few

regions of Ukraine are interconnected by the Ukrainian electric power grid. Following the Chernobyl accident the

Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant located 100 km north of Kyiv has been closed. Kyiv also receives its power supply in the

form of natural gas, piped from Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhhorod pipeline.

Education

Kyiv hosts many universities, the major ones being Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University, the [[Kyiv Polytechnic

Institute|National Technical University "Kyiv Polytechnic Institute"]], and the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. The

total number of institutions of higher education in Kyiv approaches 200, allowing young people

to pursue almost any line of study.

There are about 500 general secondary schools, evening schools for adults, and specialist technical schools. Scientific

research is conducted in many of the institutes of the higher education and, additionally, in many research institutes

affiliated with the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences and several of [[Cabinet of

Ministers of Ukraine|Ukrainian industrial ministries]]. Kyiv is also noted for its research in medicine and computer science.

There are many libraries in the city with the Vernadsky library affiliated with the

Academy of Science being the largest and most important one.

See also: Category:Education in Kyiv

City name evolution

Currently, Kyiv is the traditional English name for the city, but the Ukrainianized version Kyiv is gaining usage.

As a prominent city with a long history, its English name was subject to gradual evolution. The early English spelling was

derived from Old East Slavic form Kijevъ (spelled Кієвъ). According to the legendary

account in the Primary Chronicle, the city is named after Kyi (Кий), who is said to have founded

the city with his brothers Shchek and Khoryv, and their sister Lybid'.

In the middle ages the city was mentioned in published sources as Kiou, Kiow, Kiew, Kiovia. On one of the

oldest English maps of the region Russiae, Moscoviae et Tartariae published by Ortelius (London, 1570) the city is

spelled as Kiou. On the map by Guillaume de Beauplan (1650) the name of the city was given as Kiiow, and the region

was named as Kÿowia. In English traveller Joseph Marshall's book Travels (London, 1772) the city is referred as

Kiovia.

The name Kyiv was used in print as early as in 1804 in the John Cary's "New map of Europe, from the latest

authorities" in "Cary's new universal atlas" published in London. The English travelogue titled New Russia: Journey from

Riga to the Crimea by way of Kyiv, by Mary Holderness was published in 1823. By 1883, the Oxford English Dictionary

included Kyiv in a quotation. This name was established on the basis of Russian orthography and

pronunciation , during a time when Kyiv was a city in a governorate of the Russian Empire.

At the same time the spelling Kyiv, romanized version of the Ukrainian name for the city

, has been used in English-language publications of the Ukrainian diaspora and in some academic publications

concerning Ukraine during much of the twentieth century. Newly-independent Ukraine declared Ukrainian the only [[official

language]] after 1991, and introduced a national Latin-alphabet standard for geographic names in 1995, establishing the use of

the spelling Kyiv in all official documents issued by the governmental authorities since October 1995. The spelling is

used by the United Nations, NATO, some foreign diplomatic missions and a number of media organizations, notably in

Canada. On October 3, 2006, the United States federal government changed its official spelling of the city name to

Kyiv. The alternate romanizations Kyyiv (BGN/PCGN transliteration) and Kyjiv (scholarly) are also

in use alongside Kyiv in English-language atlases. This, however, did not affect the usage of most major players in the

English language news media market: CNN, BBC, Associated Press and most major live and print media continue to use

Kyiv to this day.

References

1. ^ Ukraine City Populations. URL accessed July 28, 2006 Cite error: The named reference "Citypop." was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
2. ^ Beijing official website URL accessed on July 28, 2006 Cite error: The named reference "Beijing" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
3. World Weather Information Service URL accessed July 29, 2006
4. In an absense of historic records the "accepted" date of foundation is often subject to non-historic or even political speculations. Still, the Kyiv article in Encyclopedia Britannica states: " The village that became the modern city may have been founded as early as the 6th century AD." The Columbia Encyclopedia in Kyiv states: "It probably existed as a commercial center as early as the 5th cent."
5. Robert Conquest. The harvest of sorrow: Soviet collectivization and the terror-famine. New York; Oxford. Oxford University Press, 1986
6. Ukrcensus.gov.ua - Kyiv city URL accessed on June 20, 2006
7. According to the official 2001 census data approximately 75% of Kyiv's population responded 'Ukrainian' to the native language (ridna mova) census question, and roughly 25% responded 'Russian'. On the other hand, when the question 'What language do you use in everyday life?' was asked in the 2003 sociological survey, the Kyivans' answers were distributed as follows: 'mostly Russian': 52%, 'both Russian and Ukrainian in equal measure': 32%, 'mostly Ukrainian': 14%, 'exclusively Ukrainian': 4.3%.
   "What language is spoken in Ukraine?". Welcome to Ukraine. 2003/2. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); line feed character in |publisher= at position 12 (help).
8. "Kyiv: the city, its residents, problems of today, wishes for tomorrow.", Zerkalo Nedeli, April 29 - May 12, 2006. [http://www.zerkalo- nedeli.com/ie/show/596/53322/ in Russian], in Ukrainian
9. Workpermit.com ULR accessed on July 30, 2006
10. Kyiv.info URL accessed on June 20, 2006
11. See also: [http://www.kpt.Kyiv.ua/ Kyivpastrans official website] URL accessed on July 28, 2006
12. Template:Ru icon Archunion.com.ua URL accessed on June 20, 2006
13. Template:Ru icon [http://www.airport- borispol.Kyiv.ua/rus/actual/razvit.html Airport Borispol Official Site] URL accessed on June 20, 2006
14. See also:Kyiv University official website URL accessed on July 28, 2006
15. See also: [http://ntu-kpi.Kyiv.ua/ KPI official website] URL accessed on July 28, 2006
16. See also: Kyiv-Mohyla Academy official website URL accessed on July 28, 2006
17. See also: [http://www.osvita.org.ua/highedu/? cmd=search&HS%5breg%5d=2&HS%5bp_i%5d=5&HS%5bbutton%5d=go Osvita.org URL accessed on June 20, 2006]
18. See also: NASU official website URL accessed on July 28, 2006
19. [http://www.nbuv.gov.ua/eng/ The Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine]
20. U.S. Alters Its Spelling of Ukraine City, ABC News URL accessed on January 15, 2007

Bibliography:

• Marshall, Joseph. Travels Through Germany, Russia, and Poland in the Years 1769 and 1770. London: J. Almon, 1772;

reprint, New York: Arno Press and the New York Times, 1971. ISBN 0-405-02763-X

• Holderness, Mary (1827). New Russia: Journey from Riga to the Crimea, by way of Kyiv; with some account of the colonization, and the manners and customs of the colonists of New Russia; to which are added notes relating to the Crim Tatars. London: Sherwood, Jones,. LCCN 49-0. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); line feed character in |title= at position 117 (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
• "Kyiv: the city, its residents, problems of today, wishes for tomorrow". Zerkalo Nedeli. April 29 – May 12, 2006.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: date format (link). Available online

in Russian and in Ukrainian

External links

General

• Official Kyiv city administration webportal
• Wikimapia - Satellite view of Kyiv
• Kyiv sites catalogue
• Kyiv & [http://www.pbase.com/enigmawmn/gallery/Kyiv_view/ Kyiv From

Above] - additional views of the city center

• KyivUA webportal
• Kyiv in Old Postcards
• Template:Wikitravel

Kyiv or Kyiv?

Official documents:

• Kyiv or Kyiv? - Resolution of the Ukrainian commission for legal terminology
• [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2006/74784.htm U.S. Board of Geographic Names Decision to Change Official Spelling of

Kyiv to Kyiv] Non-official documents:

• Kyiv or Kyiv? Turin or Torino? — CBC News article about use of city

names

• Fred Weir, Kyiv or Kyiv: language an issue in Ukraine, [[The Christian

Science Monitor]], June 28, 2000

Template:Kyiv Template:Ukraine

ru-sib:Киев

• Kyiv
• Cities in Ukraine
• Capitals in Europe
• 5th century establishments
• Hero Cities of the Soviet Union
• Holy cities
• Place names with multiple spellings
• Rus settlements