Kiev

From Citizendium
Revision as of 16:04, 5 March 2014 by imported>Ro Thorpe
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This article is developing and not approved.
Main Article
Discussion
Related Articles  [?]
Bibliography  [?]
External Links  [?]
Citable Version  [?]
 
This editable Main Article is under development and subject to a disclaimer.

Kiev (Kyiv in Ukrainian) is the capital city of Ukraine, located in the north-central part of the country along the banks of the river Dnipro (Dnieper river), and has a population of about three million.

The Kiev [[oblast is the province surrounding the city of Kyiv.

Kyiv History

Following are some historical milestones of Kyivan 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 Scandinavia 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, and subsequent Stalinist famines killed many.
  • Early in the 1940s, the German invasion of World War II also 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.