Kiev

Kiev redirects here. For other uses, see Kiev (disambiguation).

Kyiv or Kiev

Kyiv (formerly spelled Kiev) is the capital city of Ukraine, located in the north-central part of the country, within the Kyiv oblast (province), and situated along the banks of the river Dnipro (Dnieper River).

The Kyiv (Kiev) oblast is the province surrounding the city of Kyiv.

History

Legend has it that Kyiv was founded about 500 CE by three brothers -- Ky, Khoriv, and Shchek -- along with their sister Lybid.

Around 900 CE, King Oleh from Scandanavia seized power over the city, starting the Kyivan Rus' dynasty. (The term rus' means red-haired.)

For 100 years the region expanded as a riverine trade route, sending fur, honey, and slaves south to Constantinople, and receiving luxury goods in return.

Around 1000 CE, King Volodymyr married into Constantinople royalty and forcibly converted the people of Kyiv from paganism to Orthodox Christianity.

Subsequently Yaroslav the Wise (Volodymyr's son) expanded Kyiv into a major sociopolitical and economic center.

Mongol raiders sacked Kyiv in 1240, and the city languished and shrank.

About 1800, czarist policies encouraged an influx of Russian immigration, boosting the population considerably.

In the early 1900s, the Bolshevik Revolution resulted in many Red versus White battles in and around Kyiv.

Early in the 1940s, the German invasion of World War II destroyed many lives, both military and civilian.

Around 1990, as the Soviet Union crumbled, Ukrainians agitated for independence, ultimately leading to the peaceful democratic Orange Revolution in the first decade of the 21st Century.

External Links

Useful links include:

http://kiev.usembassy.gov/main_eng.html

http://www.uazone.net/gallery/Kyiv.html

http://www.kyivpost.com/

http://kievukraine.info/

http://www.kiev.info/

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