Kharkiv

Flag

Coat of arms

Kharkiv^[1] also known as Kharkov, is a city in Ukraine, the capital of Kharkiv Oblast. It is the second largest city in Ukraine. It is in the east of Ukraine and has a very well developed economy. It was founded in 1655 and the population as of 2010 was 1,449,000.

Kharkiv was also the first city in Ukraine where the Soviet power was proclaimed and Soviet government was formed.

History

The city was established in 17th century by Cossacks.

In 1745 became the governorate capital. Kharkiv has the university since 1805, technical high school since 1885.

The population in 1897 was 173,989. It consisted of Russians (63.2%), Ukrainians (25.9%), Jews (5.7%), Poles (2.3%), Germans (1.35%) etc.

Kharkiv was the capital of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1919 to 1934.

Before the Nazi invasion Kharkiv was the great industrial center. It had 1.5 mln people.

In 1941, October 25 the city was occupied by German troops. 1943, August 23 became the day of liberation of Kharkiv by the Red Army.

In 1973 metro in Kharkiv was open.

In 2022-2023 Kharkiv was bombed during the Putin’s gang invasion.

Demographics

Notable people

Mikhail Koshkin, the Soviet tank designer, chef designer of the T-34 tank.
Ilya Mechnikov, Russian zoologist. He won the 1908 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Victor Skumin, Russian professor, philosopher, writer, psychologist, psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and medical doctor.
Katya Soldak, born 1977 in Kharkiv, journalist for Forbes, documentary filmmaker (The Long Breakup), and author who currently lives in New York City.

Kharkiv Media

The Intercession Cathedral with bell tower and Ozeryanskaya church (right) built in Kharkiv in 1689
The first railway station in Kharkiv was built in 1869
A 19th-century view of Kharkiv, with the belltower of the Assumption Cathedral dominating the skyline
The Derzhprom building in the late 1920s.
Starved peasants on the street during the Holodomor in Kharkiv, 1933.
Plan of Kharkov showing tram lines, 1930
A memorial to 23 August 1943, the end of German occupation during World War II
Kharkov ca. 1980-1981. ?.
Mirror Stream fountain