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About Ukraine

Geography of Ukraine…

Ukraine is situated in the southeastern part of Europe. It is primarily made up of dark fertile soil steppes. The Crimean chain is found in its southernmost part. Mountainous areas are located in its southwest part. It is bordered by Slovakia, Poland and Hungary on the country’s west side. The Black Sea borders Ukraine in the south. The country is bordered by Russia in the northeast and Belarus in the north.

The Official Name:

Ukrainians formally call their country Ukrayina. The rest of the world calls the country Ukraine. It was previously called Ukrainian Socialists Soviet Republic, and Carpathian Ukraine.

Ukrainian Time:

Residents from other countries can derive Ukrainian time by adding two hours to the Coordinated Universal Time. For Daylight Saving Time from March to October, Ukrainian Time is three hours advance compared to UTC.  Ukrainian calling code is +380.

Cities in Ukraine:

The capital of Ukraine is Kiev (Kyiv). Other prominent cities in the country are Odessa, Kharkiv, Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk.

Climate in Ukraine:

Ukraine has two climatic zones. These are subtropical and moderate zones. The subtropical zone is situated along Crimea’s southern shore.

Demographics:

The people of Ukraine are officially called Ukrainians. In 2011, there were 45.6 million people in Ukraine. Several ethnic groups comprised the country’s diverse people. The most prominent among these groups are the Ukrainians, Russians, Poles, Jews, Crimean Tatars, Bulgarians, Belarusians, Hungarians and Moldovans.  The major religions in Ukraine are Ukrainian Orthodoxy, Greek Catholicism, Roman Catholicism, Islam and Judaism. Ukrainian is the official language of the country. Aside from this, the people also speak Russian and some other languages. The population is 98% literate.

Agricultural products:

Grain, sunflower seeds and sugar are the most significant agricultural products in Ukraine.

Natural resources:

The most relevant natural resources in Ukraine are oil, natural gas, salt, iron, gravel and coal. Ukraine is acknowledged as the primary source of brimstone and ozocerite in the planet.

About Ukraine Independence…

President Leonid Kravchuk promised to pursue the sovereignty of Ukraine in 1990 when he got appointed by the parliament of Ukraine. On August 24, 1991, Ukraine officially became independent. On December 1991, a new Commonwealth of Independent States got founded together by Russian, Belorussian and Ukrainian governments. The capital of such commonwealth was intended to be located in Belarus.

Ukraine’s newly formed government was unable to adequately improve the Soviet-era state-operated economy. Such economy was heavily bombarded by decreasing productivity, prevalence of unemployment and worsening inflation. On January 1994, the United States declared an agreement with Ukraine and Russia for the complete termination of the country’s nuclear arsenal. On October 1994, the country commenced an economic liberalization program. The country also shifted its central government towards Crimea. In 1995, the separatist head in Crimea got displaced, and the Constitution of Crimea became invalidated.

On June 1996, Ukraine’s remaining strategic nuclear warhead got transferred to Russia. The Ukrainian government also enacted a new constitution, which permitted the possession of private lands. On May 1997, the agreement regarding the Black Sea fleet’s future was formalized. The agreement states that Russian and Ukrainian ships would share the Sevastopol port within two decades.

History of Ukraine…

Until the 1600s, the country was called “Kievan Rus”. During the 9th century, Kiev acted as Eastern Europe’s primary cultural and political center. Kievan Rus attained the peak of its supremacy in 10th century. During that time, it absorbed Byzantine Christianity. Kievan dominance only lasted until 1240 because of Mongol invasion. Starting from the 13th and until the 16th century, Western Europe and Poland heavily influenced Kiev. Because of the 1596 Union of Brest-Litovsk compromise, Ukraine got separated into Catholic faithful and Orthodox Christians.

Ukraine sought the assistance of Muscovy’s czar in 1654 to defend the country from Poland. Ukrainians acknowledged Moscow’s sovereignty through the Treaty of Pereyaslav. Moscow considered the treaty as permission for dominating Kiev. The Russian Empire later obtained the state of Ukraine.

Ukrainians proclaimed their separation from Russia on January 28, 1918. After the declaration, warring years followed. Kiev was later defeated by the Red Army. In 1920, Ukraine was made into a Soviet republic. In the year 1922, it emerged as among USSR’s founders. During the 1930s, peasants explicitly disagreed with the Soviet authority’s implementation of collectivization. This caused the Soviet government to confiscate Ukraine’s grains. The confiscation caused a famine that killed at least 5,000,000 lives. When Second World War ended, Ukraine became among the most severely damaged Soviet republics.

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant malfunctioned on April 1986, and it resulted in the most devastating nuclear catastrophe in history. The Ukrainian government decided to terminate the reactor’s operation on October 29, 1991. Ukraine sought the support of other countries in completely dismantling the tragic power plant.

Ukraine1-620x267.jpg

Kiev City, Kyiv city, Ukraine
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Level 7

Re: About Ukraine - Kropyvnytskyi city

Kropyvnytskyi  is a city in central Ukraine located on the Inhul river, and is the administrative center of the Kirovohrad Oblast. Population: 232 052 (2015 est.)

Until recently (1939 – 2016) it was called Kirovohrád (Ukrainian: Кіровогра́д, [kirowɔˈɦrɑd]; Russian: Кировогра́д, Kirovográd) after the First Secretary of the Leningrad City Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) Sergei Kirov. Other names included Yelisavetgrad and Zinovyevsk.

The city is the birthplace of noted figures such as Grigory Zinoviev, Volodymyr Vynnychenko, Arseny Tarkovsky, African Spir and others.

Over its history, Kropyvnytskyi has changed its name several times. Presenting a letter of grant on January 11, 1752 to Major-General Jovan Horvat, the organizer of Nova Serbia settlements, the Empress Elizabeth of Russia ordered "to found an earthen fortress and name it Fort St. Elizabeth" (see On the Historical Meaning of the Name Elizabeth for Our City) (in Ukrainian). Thus simultaneously the future city was named in honour of its formal founder, the Russian empress, and also in honor of her heavenly patroness, St. Elizabeth.

The name Yelisavetgrad (usually spelled Elisavetgrad or Elizabethgrad in English language publications) is believed to have evolved as the amalgamation of the fortress name and the common Eastern Slavonic element "-grad" (Old/Church Slavonic "градъ", "a settlement encompassed by a wall"). Its first documented usage dates back to 1764, when Yelisavetgrad Province was organized together with the Yelisavetgrad Lancer Regiment.

Following the Russian Revolution and founding of the Soviet Union, in 1924 the city was renamed Zinovievsk, (also spelled Zinovyevsk), after Grigory Zinoviev, a Soviet statesman and one of the leaders of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks). He was born in Yelisavetgrad on September 20 (September 8 O.S.), 1883. At the time he was honored by the name, he was a member of the Politburo and the Chairman of the Comintern's Executive Committee.

On December 27, 1934, after the assassination of Sergei Kirov, Zinovievsk and other Soviet cities was renamed again - this time as Kirovo, and then as Kirovograd. The latter name appeared simultaneously with the creation of Kirovograd Oblast, on January 10, 1939 and was aimed at differentiating the region from Kirov Oblast in present-day Russia.

After Ukraine regained independence, the name of the city started to be spelled according to Ukrainian pronunciation as Kirovohrad. The previous Russified orthography remains widely used on account of the widespread use of the Russian language in the region.

Since 1991 numerous discussions had been held on the city's name. A number of activists supported returning the city to its original name, Yelisavetgrad (or now Yelysavethrad in Ukrainian transcription). Other suggestions for contemporary Ukraine included Tobilevychi (in honour of the Tobilevych family, the Coryphaei of the classic Ukrainian drama established in Yelisavetgrad in 1882); Zlatopil, from Ukrainian "золоте поле", literally "golden field"; and Stepohrad, Ukrainian for "city of steppes" (in recognition of the agricultural status of the city); Ukrayinsk or Ukrayinoslav, i.e. "the glorifying Ukraine one;" and Novokozachyn (to commemorate the semi-fabulous Cossack regiment which could have been quartered at the present-day city location).

The President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, signed the bill banning Communist symbols on May 15, 2015, which required places associated with communism to be renamed within a six-month period.[3] On 25 October 2015 (during local elections) 76.6% of the Kirovohrad voters voted for renaming the city to Yelisavetgrad.[4] A draft law currently before the Ukrainian parliament would prohibit any names associated with Russian history since the 14th century, which would make the name Yelisavetgrad inadmissible as well. A committee of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) chose the name Inhulsk on 23 December 2015. This name is a reference to the nearby Inhul river. On 31 March 2016 the State Construction, Regional Policy and Local Self-Government committee of the Verkhovna Rada recommends to parliament to rename Kirovohrad to Kropyvnytskyi. This name is a reference to writer, actor and playwright Mark Kropyvnytskyi, who was born near the city. On 14 July 2016, the name of the city was finally changed to Kropyvnytskyi.

 

History
Developed around a military settlement, the city rose to prominence in the 19th century when it became an important trade centre, as well as a Ukrainian cultural leader with the first professional theatrical company in either Central or Eastern Ukraine being established here in 1882.

The history of the city foundation dates back to the year 1754 when St. Elizabeth’s fortress was built on the lands of former Zaporizka Sich in the upper course of the Inhul, Suhokleya and Biyanka Rivers. The historic name of the city Yelysavethrad was changed to Zinovyevsk in 1924, for Kirovo in 1934. The city was renamed Kirovohrad on the 10th of January, 1939.

The history of Kropyvnytskyi starts from the Fort of St. Elizabeth. This fort was built in 1754 by the will of the empress Elizabeth of Russia and it played a pivotal role in the new lands added to Russia by the Belgrad Peace Treaty of 1739. In 1764 the settlement received status of the center of the Elizabeth province, and in 1784 the status of chief town of a district, when it was renamed after the fort as Yelizavetgrad.

The Fort of St. Elizabeth was located on the crossroads of trade routes, and it eventually became a major trade center. The city has held regular fairs four times a year. Merchants from all over the Russian Empire have visited these fairs. Also, there were numerous foreign merchants, especially from Greece.

The first Ukrainian professional theater in Ukraine was built in Kropyvnytskyi in 1882. It was founded by Mark Kropyvnytsky, Tobilevych brothers and Maria Zankovetska.

Elizabethgrad was ravaged by famine in 1901 and its residents suffered more due to poor government response. The region is extremely fertile. However, a drought in 1892 and poor farming methods which never allowed the soil to recover, prompted a large famine that plagued the region. According to a 1901 New York Times article, the Ministry of the Interior denied that the persistence of famine in the region and blocked non-State charities from bringing aid to the area. The reporter wrote, "The existence of famine was inconvenient at a time when negotiations were pending for foreign loans." The governor of the Kherson region, Prince Oblonsky, refused to acknowledge this famine. One non-resident and non-State worker entered Elizabethgrad and could provided the New York Times with an eye-witness account.[10] He observed: general and acute destitution; deaths from starvation; widespread typhus (shows poverty), and little to no work to be found in the region.

In 1905 another riot flared, with Christians killing Jews and plundering the Jewish quarter. A contemporary account was reported in the New York Times on December 13, 1905.

During Soviet rule, the city economy was dominated by such enterprises as Chervona Zirka Agricultural Machinery Plant (current name Elvorti; which once provided more than 50% of the USSR need in tractor seeders), Hydrosila Hydraulic Units Plant, Radiy Radio Component Plant, Pishmash Typewriter Plant (de facto defunct nowadays) and others.

In World War II Kropyvnytskyi was occupied by Nazi Germany from 5 August 1941. It was subsequently recaptured by Soviet forces on 8 January 1944.

During the Ukrainian presidential election of 2004, the city got the country-wide notoriety because of mass election fraud committed by local authorities. It became known as District 100 (the community number according to Central Elections Committee).

 

Historical heritage

 

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Great Choral Synagogue in 2015
Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos in 2012
Kropyvnytskyi regional administration and Sergei Kirov monument (the latter was demolished in 2014)
Kropyvnytskyi city council
Security service building
Old court building
Osmyorkin museum
Early 20th century Art Nouveau architecture in Kropyvnytskyi
City main post office (2009)
Soviet apartment blocks near Inhul River

From 1878 to 1905 Oleksandr Pashutin was mayor of the city. Under his administration, the city made advances in education and medicine, construction of the water-supply system and several public buildings, introduction of the first tram, and establishing some market places. Yelizavethrad is noted for its architectural quality, with European-type sculpture and old windows. Surviving are a range of classical and modern monuments, Mooresque and Baroque palaces, and buildings that combine Gothic, Rococo and Renaissance motives. A high level of building technology of Yelizavethrad’s masters encourages construction and restoration these days.

The history of Kropyvnytskyi consists of memorable events and biographies of famous people. One of the creators of the unsurpassed modern architectural ensemble of the historical centre of the city of Yelisavethrad, Y. Pauchenko was born and lived here. Such noted architects as A. Dostoyevskyi and O. Lishnevskyi worked here, too. P. Kalnyshevsky fought for the Cossacks’ freedom on these lands, M. Pirohov laid the foundation of field surgery, M. Kutuzov planned his military operations. Kirovohraders listened to the lectures of the outstanding slavist V. Hryhorovych, and inherited the fundamental investigations of the native land carried out by the ethnographer, historian, archeologist V. Yastrebov.

In different periods of time the history of our region was connected with the names of the famous Ukrainian writer, playwright, publicist and statesman V. Vynnychenko, the poet, literary and cultural critic Y. Malanyuk, the physicist-theoretician, the Nobel Prize laureate I. Tamm, the scientist and inventor, one of the creators of the legendary "Katyusha” G. Langeman, the composer Y. Meytus, the pianist and pedagogue G. Neigauz, the artist and painter O. Osmiorkin, the poet and translator A. Tarkovskyi, the public and cultural figure, memoirist, patron of the arts Y. Chykalenko, the composer, pianist, pedagogue, musician and publicist K. Shymanovskyi, Ukrainian writer, dramatist and script-writer Y. Yanovskyi.

Symbols

Three blue stripes crossed in the middle of the fortress plan symbolize the fortification location at the confluence of the Inhul, Suhukleya and Biyanka rivers. The crimson colour favoured by Cossacks refers to the fortress being situated on the lands of Zaporozky Cossacks. Golden ears together with a golden field on the shield are symbols of the fertile lands and agricultural wealth of the region.

The shield is held by storks, which symbolize happiness, fertility, and love for the native land. The golden tower in the form of a crown expresses that this coat of arms belongs to the regional centre. The motto “With peace and good” placed on the azure stripe emphasizes the same idea. All the details of the flag correlate with the main elements of the shield on the coat of arms of the city.

 

Administrative status
Today Kropyvnytskyi is a city of oblast significance with 244,000 inhabitants. It is divided into two districts — Fortechnyi and Podilskyi. The urban-type settlement of Nove is part of the Fortechnyi district. Kropyvnytskyi serves as the administrative center of Kirovohrad Raion, though administratively it does not belong to the raion.

Famous people from Kropyvnytskyi

Irina Belotelkin, artist and fashion designer
Olesya Dudnik, Soviet gymnast
Israel Fisanovich, Soviet Navy submarine commander, hero of the Soviet Union
Grigory Gamarnik, USSR, world champion (Greco-Roman lightweight), world championship silver
Moses Gomberg, chemist
Boris Hessen, historian of science
Andrei Kanchelskis, Russian-Ukrainian footballer
Zevulun "Zavel" Kwartin, Jewish cantor.
Jake Marmer, Jewish poet best known for Umtza, an avant-garde take on Passover.
Heinrich Neuhaus, Soviet pianist and pedagogue of German descent
Leon (Lev) Némirovsky, wealthy Russian, then Parisian émigré, banker; father of novelist Irène Némirovsky
Victor Orly, French painter, born in Kirovohrad.
Maurice Podoloff, American Hockey League and National Basketball Association pioneer/executive
Valeriy Porkujan, Soviet footballer
Andriy Rusol, football player
African Spir (or Afrikan Spir), philosopher
Alexei Suetin, Soviet-Russian International Grandmaster of chess and author
Arseny Tarkovsky, Russian poet
John Wegner (1887–1976), artist
Grigory Zinoviev, Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet Communist politician
Aaron Bodansky, biochemist
Dmytro Mykhaylenko, footballer
Nadiia Korinetska, Ukrainian artist and writer. Currently representing Ukraine in United States of America.

My Contribution - Ukraine, Kropivnitskij https://goo.gl/maps/3oEGDaB98hJ2