KHARKIV

Russian Kharkov, also spelled Char'kov, city and administrative centre of Kharkiv oblast (province), 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. At that period Kharkiv's own industries, especially engineering, grew rapidly. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the establishment of the Ukrainian S.S.R. in 1917, Kharkiv was made its first capital but lost this function to Kiev in 1934. In World War II this key junction was bitterly contested and changed hands several times, with very heavy destruction. Today Kharkiv retains its role as a communications centre: it is the largest rail junction of Ukraine, with eight trunk lines converging on it and three main-line stations. Kharkiv is also a node on the trunk highway system of Ukraine and Russia, with highways to Moscow, to Kiev and western Ukraine, to Zaporizhzhya and the Crimea, and to Rostov-na-Donu and the Caucasus. It also has a major airport. It is the second largest city in Ukraine and is the centre of a metropolitan area comprising about 20 satellite towns. The industrial structure of Kharkiv is headed by engineering. The city's wide range of products includes diesel locomotives, machine tools, mining machinery, tractors and other agricultural machinery, bicycles, generators, steam turbines, and many electrical items. There are also light industries producing 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. Its university was founded in 1805. There are numerous other institutions of higher education, including 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. (1996 est.) 1,555,000. Russian Kharkov, also spelled Char'kov, oblast (province), northeastern Ukraine. The valley of the Donets River forms the axis of the oblast, which also covers the southern end of the Central Russian Upland. Most of the area is steppe; some forest-steppe with groves of oak and other deciduous trees occurs in the northwest. Soils are very fertile, and almost everywhere the natural vegetation has disappeared under the plow (there is severe gully erosion, especially on the uplands). A relatively high rural population density remains despite a steady decline in the number of rural dwellers since 1939. Grain production, especially winter wheat and corn (maize), predominates, taking up about half of the cropland; sugar beets, sunflowers, hemp, and tobacco are significant industrial crops. Cattle, pigs, and poultry are kept in large numbers, and dairying is well developed. The economy is overshadowed, however, by the huge industrial conurbation of the city of Kharkiv, in which half the oblast's population lives. Other communities are small and chiefly concerned with processing agricultural produce. Vast deposits of natural gas occur at Shebelynka and Yefremivske; the gas is piped to many cities of Ukraine and Russia. Area 12,100 square miles (31,400 square km). Pop. (1996 est.) 3,088,400.