Kyiv

Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both banks of the Dnieper River. As of January 2022, the population of Kyiv was 2,952,301, making it the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyiv is an important industrial, scientific, educational, and cultural center. It is home to high-tech industries, higher education institutions, and historical landmarks. The city has an extensive public transport system, which includes the Kyiv Metro.

The city's name is said to derive from the name of Kyi, one of its four legendary founders. During its history. One of the oldest cities in Eastern Europe, it has passed through several stages of prominence and obscurity. It probably existed as a commercial center as early as the 5th century. A Slavic settlement on the great trade route between Scandinavia and Constantinople, it was a tributary of the Khazars, until its capture by the Varangians (Vikings) in the mid-9th century. Under Varangian rule, the city became a capital of Kievan Rus', the first East Slavic state. During the Siege of Kiev (1240), Kyiv was left in ruins; it lost most of its influence for the centuries to come.

Kyiv grew into a centre of Eastern Orthodox learning during the 16th century. It prospered during the Russian Empire's Industrial Revolution in the late 19th century, becoming a centre of industry, commerce, and administration. In 1918, the Ukrainian People's Republic declared independence from the Russian Republic after the October Revolution, and Kyiv became the new republic's capital. Following the Ukrainian-Soviet and Polish-Soviet wars, Kyiv became part of the Ukrainian SSR, of which it became the capital in 1934. The city suffered significant destruction during World War II, but recovered after the war as the Soviet Union's third-largest city.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and Ukrainian independence in 1991, during the country's transformation into a market economy and electoral democracy, Kyiv has continued to be Ukraine's largest and wealthiest city. It has lost its dependence on the armaments industry, which has adversely affected the city's science and technology sectors, but the growth of the services and finance sectors has facilitated funding for the development of housing and urban infrastructure.

Name

• English: Kyiv ( KEE-iv, KEEV) or Kiev ( KEE-ev)
• Ukrainian: Київ, romanized: Kyiv, pronounced [ˈkɪjiu̯]
• Russian: Киев, romanized: Kiyev, pronounced [ˈkʲi(j)ɪf]

The traditional etymology, stemming from the Primary Chronicle, is that the name is a derivation of Kyi (Ukrainian: Кий, Russian: Кий, rom.: Ky or Kiy), the legendary eponymous founder of the city. According to Oleg Trubachyov's etymological dictionary, the name derives from the Old East Slavic *Kyjevŭ gordŭ (literally, "Kyi's castle", "Kyi's gord"), from Proto-Slavic *kyjevъ. This etymology has been questioned, for instance by Mykhailo Hrushevsky, who called it an "etymological myth", and meant that the names of the legendary founders are in turn based on place names. According to the Ukrainian-Canadian linguist Jaroslav Rudnyckyj, the name can be connected to the Proto-Slavic root *kyjь, but should be interpreted as meaning "stick, pole" as in its modern Ukrainian equivalent Кий. The name should in that case be interpreted as "palisaded settlement".

Kyiv is the official romanized Ukrainian name for the city, and it is used for legislative and official acts. Kiev is the traditional English name for the city, but because of its historical derivation from the Russian name, Kiev lost favor with many Western media outlets after the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2014 in conjunction with the KyivNotKiev campaign launched by Ukraine to change the way that international media were spelling the city's name.

History

The first known humans in the region of Kyiv lived there in the late Paleolithic period (Stone Age). The population around Kyiv during the Bronze Age formed part of the so-called Trypillian culture, as evidenced by artifacts from that culture found in the area. During the early Iron Age certain tribes settled around Kyiv that practiced land cultivation, husbandry and trading with the Scythians and ancient states of the northern Black Sea coast. Findings of Roman coins of the 2nd to the 4th centuries suggest trade relations with the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire.

Origins

Scholars continue to debate when the city was founded: The traditional founding date is 482 CE, so the city celebrated its 1,500th anniversary in 1982. Archaeological data indicates a founding in the sixth or seventh centuries, with some researchers dating the founding as late as the late 9th century.

There are several legendary accounts of the origin of the city. One tells of members of a Slavic tribe (Eastern Polans), brothers Kyi (the eldest, after whom the city was named), Shchek, Khoryv, and their sister Lybid, who founded the city (See the Primary Chronicle). Another legend states that Saint Andrew passed through the area in the 1st century. Where the city is now he erected a cross, where a church later was built. Since the Middle Ages an image of Saint Michael has represented the city as well as the duchy.

There is little historical evidence pertaining to the period when the city was founded. Scattered Slavic settlements existed in the area from the 6th century, but it is unclear whether any of them later developed into the city. On the Ptolemy world map there are several settlements indicated along the mid-stream of Borysthenes, among which is Azagarium, which some historians believe to be the predecessor to Kyiv.

However, according to the 1773 Dictionary of Ancient Geography of Alexander Macbean, that settlement corresponds to the modern city of Chernobyl. Just south of Azagarium, there is another settlement, Amadoca, believed to be the capital of the Amadoci people living in an area between the marshes of Amadoca in the west and the Amadoca mountains in the east.

Another name for Kyiv mentioned in history, the origin of which is not completely clear, is Sambat, which apparently has something to do with the Khazar Empire. The Primary Chronicle says the residents of Kyiv told Askold "there were three brothers Kyi, Shchek, and Khoriv. They founded this town and died, and now we are staying and paying taxes to their relatives the Khazars". In De Administrando Imperio, Constantine Porphyrogenitus mentions a caravan of small cargo boats which assembled annually, and writes, "They come down the river Dnieper and assemble at the strong-point of Kyiv (Kioava), also called Sambatas".

At least three Arabic-speaking 10th century geographers who traveled the area mention the city of Zānbat as the chief city of the Russes. Among them are ibn Rustah, Abu Sa'id Gardezi, and an author of the Hudud al-'Alam. The texts of those authors were discovered by Russian orientalist Alexander Tumansky. The etymology of Sambat has been argued by many historians, including Grigoriy Ilyinsky, Nikolay Karamzin, Jan Potocki, Nikolay Lambin, Joachim Lelewel, and Guðbrandur Vigfússon.

The Primary Chronicle states that at some point during the late 9th or early 10th century Askold and Dir, who may have been of Viking or Varangian descent, ruled in Kyiv. They were murdered by Oleg of Novgorod in 882, but some historians, such as Omeljan Pritsak and Constantine Zuckerman, dispute that, arguing that Khazar rule continued as late as the 920s, leaving historical documents such as the Kievan Letter and Schechter Letter.

Other historians suggest that Magyar tribes ruled the city between 840 and 878, before migrating with some Khazar tribes to the Carpathian Basin. The Primary Chronicle mentions Hungarians passing near Kyiv. Askold's Grave was previously known as "Uhorske urochyshche" (Hungarian place).

According to the aforementioned scholars the building of the fortress of Kyiv was finished in 840 under the leadership of Keő (Keve), Csák, and Geréb, three brothers, possibly members of the Tarján tribe. The three names appear in the Kyiv Chronicle as Kyi, Shchek, and Khoryv and may be not of Slavic origin, as Russian historians have always struggled to account for their meanings and origins. According to Hungarian historian Viktor Padányi, their names were inserted into the Kyiv Chronicle in the 12th century, and they were identified as old-Russian mythological heroes.