This major cultural, scientific and industrial center was the capital of Soviet Ukraine from 1919 to 1934. Now Kharkov in terms of population is in second place in the country. Despite the economic difficulties in Ukraine, the number of residents in the city is growing due to the migration influx.
General information
The city of Kharkiv is the largest agglomeration of eastern Ukraine, it is the administrative center of the region of the same name. It is located in the north-east of the country near the confluence of two rivers with the names Lopan and Uda. The urban area stretches from north to south for 24 km, from east to west - for 25 km and covers an area of 310 square meters. km. There are about 2.5 thousand avenues, streets, alleys and squares in the village.
A significant part of the city (approximately 55% of the area) is located on elevated areas at a level of 105-192 meters. The hilly area is located on the border of two natural zones - forest-steppe and steppe.
The population of Kharkov is more than 1.45 million people as of the beginning of 2018. The city, together with suburbs and villages, forms its own agglomeration with a population of more than 2 million people. North of Kharkov (26 km away) is the Russian border (Belgorod region).
Since Soviet times, it has been the largest center of mechanical engineering, including tank, tractor, and turbine building. There are 142 research institutions and 45 institutions of higher education in the city.
Foundation of the settlement
The modern city was built on an elevated plateau on the site of an ancient Russian settlement. There are many underground passages on the watershed of the rivers. Initially, a small fortress of the Muscovite kingdom arose in this place, which was supposed to withstand the raids of nomads. According to a document dated 1630, Little Russians from the Dnieper Polish and Little Russian cities moved to the wooden town.
Approximately in 1653, settlers from the Right-Bank Ukraine and the Dnieper region settled here, who fled to the Russian state from the Ruins of the uprising of Hetman Bogdan Khmelnitsky. In 1654-1656, a small prison was rebuilt into a real fortress. Therefore, the official date of foundation of the city is 1654. The population of Kharkov in 1655 was 587 adult combat-ready men. In those days, only the representatives of the stronger sex were taken into account in the census, women and children were not subject to registration.
Population
In 1765, a province was established with the center in Kharkov. After that, the population of the citybegan to grow rapidly. Industry began to develop rapidly. By the beginning of the 19th century, about 70 industrial enterprises were operating here. The city then had a population of 13,584.
In connection with further industrialization, a large influx of people from the countryside began. In the last pre-revolutionary year, there were 362,672 inhabitants in Kharkiv.
In the first decades of Soviet power, the active development of mechanical engineering, especially military, began. In 1939, there were already 833,000 Kharkovites. In November 1962, one million inhabitants officially lived in Kharkov. In the last year of Soviet rule, a maximum population of 1,621,600 was reached. In the first decades of independence, the number of inhabitants was constantly decreasing.
The population of Kharkiv in 2018 was 1,450.1 thousand people, according to the Main Department of Statistics of the region. In the previous year, the number of inhabitants increased by 11,046 people, with a decrease due to natural causes by 7,656 people.
Ethnic composition
Since ancient times, Kharkiv has been a multinational city, the ethnic composition of the population was first documented in 1897. Interesting fact. Then the nationality was determined by the linguistic principle. The official data is as follows.
At that time in Kharkov the national composition of the population was dominated by:
- Great Russians (Russians) - 63.2%;
- Ukrainians -25.9%;
- Jews -5.7%;
- Poles - 2, 3%;
- Germans -1, 35%.
Less than one percentwere Tatars, Belarusians and Armenians. A large Jewish community traditionally lived in the city, almost completely destroyed during the years of occupation. It practically recovered in the post-war period and decreased again during the period of emigration in 1980-1990.
Today representatives of 111 nationalities live in Kharkiv. The share of Ukrainians in the population is constantly growing, especially in recent decades. If in 1939 their number was 48.5%, in 1989 - 50.38%, then according to the 2001 census it increased to 60.99%.
The city has one of the largest Armenian diasporas in the country, which numbers about 70 thousand people. Most of them arrived in Kharkiv during the collapse of the Soviet Union.
