Kharkiv

Kharkiv, city, northeastern Ukraine. It lies at the confluence of the Uda, Lopan, and Kharkiv rivers. It was founded about 1655 as a military stronghold to protect Russia’s southern borderlands; part of the old kremlin wall survives. The centre of a region of fertile soils and rapid colonization in the 18th century, it quickly developed important trade and handicraft manufactures and became a seat of provincial government in 1732. Its nodal position was enhanced in the later 19th century by the opening of the adjacent Donets Basin coalfield, first reached by rail from Kharkiv in 1869. In that period Kharkiv’s own industries, especially engineering, grew rapidly. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Kharkiv was made the first capital of the Ukrainian S.S.R. but lost this function to Kyiv in 1934. In World War II this key junction was bitterly contested and changed hands several times, with very heavy destruction. The city was also the scene of heavy fighting during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Today Kharkiv retains its role as a communications centre: it is a large rail junction, with several trunk lines converging on it and a number of main-line stations. Kharkiv is also a node on the trunk highway system of Ukraine and Russia, with highways to Moscow, to Kyiv and western Ukraine, to Zaporizhzhya and Crimea, and to Rostov-na-Donu and the Caucasus. It has a major airport as well. It is the second largest city in Ukraine and is the centre of a metropolitan area comprising many satellite towns. The industrial structure of Kharkiv is headed by engineering. The city’s wide range of products has included diesel locomotives, machine tools, mining machinery, tractors and other agricultural machinery, bicycles, generators, steam turbines, and many electrical items. Light industries have produced foodstuffs and other consumer goods. Much of the power for industry and heating in the city derives from natural gas.

The great destruction of World War II made it possible for contemporary Kharkiv to be rebuilt as a city of broad streets, large apartment blocks, imposing, often ponderous administrative and office buildings, and large industrial plants. Among survivals of the past are the 17th-century Pokrovsky Cathedral, the 19th-century Patriarchal Cathedral, and the belltower commemorating the victory over Napoleon I in 1812.

Kharkiv is one of the most important cultural and educational centres of Ukraine. During the 19th century it was a hub of the Ukrainian cultural revival and the home base of the Kharkiv Romantic school of writers. In the early 20th century, as the capital of Soviet Ukraine, Kharkiv experienced exceptional development in the fields of literature, theatre, and scholarship. Today there are numerous institutions of higher education, including a university (founded in 1805) and polytechnic, medical, agricultural, and various engineering establishments. In addition, the city has a number of scientific research institutions, a park of physical culture, and a botanical garden. Kharkiv has a philharmonic hall, several theatres (the oldest of which dates from 1780), a planetarium, and a number of museums. Its subway system was opened in 1975. Pop. (2001) 1,470,902; (2021 est.) 1,433,886.