Kyiv (Ukrainian: Київ) is the capital and largest city of Ukraine with - officially - approximately 3 million inhabitants (unofficially up to 4 million inhabitants). The city was founded on the banks of Dnipro River. The transliteration of the city's name from Ukrainian is "Kyiv", and this variation is used in official English language materials in Ukraine, major English-speaking countries and international organizations. City's name spelling is a sensitive political topic for many Ukrainians, since outdated "Kiev" spelling is based on the Russian transliteration that was prevalent during the Soviet occupation and therefore reminds of Russian influence over Ukraine. It's recommended to use Kyiv when in Ukraine not to hurt anybody's feelings. Same applies for using "Ukraine" instead of outdated "the Ukraine".
Ukrainians are very proud of their capital's role in establishing European civilization in Eastern Europe.
Kyiv is one of the oldest cities in Eastern Europe, dating back to the 5th century, although settlements at this location existed much earlier. By the late 9th century, Kyiv had become the de facto capital of an emerging Eastern Slavic state. Between the 10th and early 13th centuries, the city reached its golden age as the capital of the first Ukrainian state known today as Kyivan Rus, (Rus-Ukraine). This state created the religious and cultural foundations for modern Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia.
In the middle of the 13th century, Kyivan Rus was overrun by the Mongols. Later that century, Kyiv became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1569 the city was absorbed into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and in 1654 it was liberated from that Commonwealth by the Cossack, Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, who then promptly signed the city over to Russia. This action continues to be a sore point for Ukrainian nationalists.
In 1775, Kyiv was annexed by the Russian Empire. The city remained under Russian rule, with brief but uncertain periods of independence between 1918 and 1920. Over these two centuries, Kyiv experienced growing Russification and Russian immigration. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, it became the capital of independent Ukraine and is now discovering its place as a large European capital.
It is generally acknowledged that the population is over 3,000,000 (2006 estimates). About 85% claim Ukrainian ethnicity and about 12% Russian. However, the census numbers are believed to be unreliable so these percentages must be taken with a pinch of salt. There are many minorities in the city, including Armenians, Azeris, Belarussians, Jewish, Georgians, Polish, Romanians and Tatars. Since 2001, not only has the population of Kyiv increased, but also the percentage of people claiming Ukrainian ethnicity. This is probably a result of the strong nationalist movement centered in Kyiv during the Orange Revolution (October 2004 to January 2005).
Officially, all signs are in Ukrainian only. Since 2011, signs with Latin transliteration have been installed in the city center. Although many people continue to speak Russian, even most of these are ethnically Ukrainian. Hearing Ukrainian on the streets is now increasingly common. Although many Russian language-learning programs offer trips to the city, the usefulness of these trips is decreasing as the Ukrainian language in now in resurgence and the main language of the city again, after having been rarely heard since the beginning of the 20th century when it was discouraged by occupying Russian authorities.
According to the national census taken in 2001, about 93% of the population has a secondary education, and nearly 46% received higher education.
Average temperatures are a maximum of 26ºC (79ºF) with a minimum of 15ºC (59ºF) in summer and a maximum of -2°C (28ºF) with a minimum of -8ºC (17ºF) in winter. Spring and autumn can be very brief. Heat waves featuring temperatures as high as 38ºC (100ºF) are not common but not unheard of in the summer months and brief but potent cold spells with temperatures as low as -20ºC (-4ºF) are not uncommon in winter.
In general the people in Kyiv are hospitable and will be eager to help you. However, if you don't have a knowledge of Ukrainian or Russian you may find service in restaurants and shops difficult, although this will change with time as more people begin to study English.
Kyiv can seem quite interesting to the western tourist, as most signposts are in Cyrillic script. It is still largely a city where very few people know English, and the likelihood of encountering an English speaker is low - but not impossible. For the non-Russian or Ukrainian speaker, it's quite possible to get around easily, and it is a very interesting city to explore. It never hurts to speak English. Often, a shop assistant will ask customers who can speak English to act as translators.
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