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118-661: Valentyn Vasylyovych Silvestrov was born on 30 September 1937 in Kyiv , Ukrainian SSR , then part of the Soviet Union . Silvestrov began private music lessons when he was 15. After first teaching himself, he studied piano at the Kyiv Evening Music School from 1955 to 1958 whilst at the same time training to become a civil engineer . He attended the Kyiv Conservatory from 1958 to 1964, where he

236-520: A piano quintet , three piano sonatas , other piano pieces, chamber music, and vocal music (cantatas, songs, etc.) His works include: Silvestrov has recorded 10 albums on the ECM label. Kyiv Kyiv (also Kiev ) is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine . It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River . As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2,952,301, making Kyiv

354-429: A "fuzzy" term, as the idea itself of Eastern Europe is in constant redefinition. The solidification of the idea of an "Eastern Europe" dates back chiefly to the (French) Enlightenment . There are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region". A related United Nations paper adds that "every assessment of spatial identities is essentially a social and cultural construct ". While

472-463: A composers' meeting to protest the Soviet Union invasion of Czechoslovakia , Silvestrov chose to withdraw from the spotlight. In this period he began to reject his previously modernist style. Instead, he composed Quiet Songs (Тихі Пісні (1977)) a cycle intended to be played in private. Later, after the fall of the Soviet Union, he also began to compose spiritual and religious works influenced by

590-524: 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

708-891: A geopolitical concept that became known as the Eastern Bloc . This consisted of: With the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, the political landscape of the Eastern Bloc , and indeed the world, changed. In the German reunification , the Federal Republic of Germany peacefully absorbed the German Democratic Republic in 1990. In 1991, COMECON , the Warsaw Pact , and the Soviet Union were dissolved. Many European nations that had been part of

826-517: A gradualist manner, backed by the Soviets in many, but not all, cases. For a while, cooperative non-Communist parties were tolerated. The Communist governments nationalized private businesses, placing them under state ownership, and monitored the media and churches. When dividing up government offices with coalition partners, the Communists took control of the interior ministries, which controlled

944-434: A monopoly on managing and implementing a state's or federation's monetary policy. Besides monetary policy, some of them even perform the supervision of the financial intermediary system. In the case of a price stability function, the inflation rate, in the examined area, relatively quickly dropped to below 5% by 2000. In monetary policy the differences are based on the euro-zone: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia use

1062-455: A relatively high standard of living . This period is also called the east-central European golden age of around 1600. At the beginning of the 17th century, numeracy levels in eastern Europe were relatively low, although regional differences existed. During the 18th century, the regions began to catch up with western Europe, but did not develop as rapidly. Areas with stronger female autonomy developed more quickly in terms of numeracy. Serfdom

1180-521: A secret political society, the Brotherhood of Saint Cyril and Methodius, whose members put forward the idea of a federation of free Slavic peoples with Ukrainians as a distinct and separate group rather than a subordinate part of the Russian nation; the Russian authorities quickly suppressed the society. Following the gradual loss of Ukraine's autonomy, Kyiv experienced growing Russification in

1298-489: A separate chapter deals with public finances. Generally, they soon encountered the following problems: high inflation, high unemployment, low economic growth, and high government debt. By 2000 these economies were stabilized, and between 2004 and 2013 all of them joined the European Union. Most of the constitutions define directly or indirectly the economic system of the countries parallel to the democratic transition of

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1416-462: A set of seven works comprising 22 movements to be played in sequence (and lasting about 70 minutes), is intimate and elusive – the composer describes it as "melodies [...] on the boundary between their appearance and disappearance". Elements of Ukrainian nationalism occur in some of Silvestrov's works, most notably in his choral work Diptych . This work sets the strongly patriotic words of Taras Shevchenko 's 1845 poem Testament (Заповіт) , which has

1534-569: A significant national status in Ukraine, and Silvestrov dedicated it in 2014 to the memory of Serhiy Nigoyan , an Armenian-Ukrainian who died in the 2014 Hrushevskoho Street riots and is believed to have been the first Euromaidan casualty that led to the Revolution of Dignity . Silvestrov's principal and published works include 9 symphonies , poems for piano and orchestra, miscellaneous pieces for chamber orchestra, three string quartets ,

1652-419: A unique and delicate tapestry of dramatic and emotional textures, qualities which he suggests are otherwise sacrificed in much of contemporary music. "I do not write new music. My music is a response to and an echo of what already exists," Silvestrov has said. In 1974, under pressure to conform to both official precepts of socialist realism and fashionable modernism, and likewise to apologise for his walkout from

1770-528: Is Vitali Klitschko , who was sworn in on 5 June 2014, after he had won the 25 May 2014 Kyiv mayoral elections with almost 57% of the votes. Since 25 June 2014, Klitschko is also Head of Kyiv City Administration . Klitschko was last reelected in the 2020 Kyiv local election with 50.52% of the votes, in the first round of the election. Most key buildings of the national government are along Hrushevskoho Street ( vulytsia Mykhaila Hrushevskoho ) and Institute Street ( vulytsia Instytutska ). Hrushevskoho Street

1888-571: Is a subregion of the European continent . As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountains , whilst its western boundary is defined in various ways. Most definitions include the countries of Belarus , Russia , Ukraine , Moldova , and Romania while less restrictive definitions may also include some or all of

2006-405: Is in the oblast council building on ploshcha Lesi Ukrainky ("Lesya Ukrainka Square"). The growing political and economic role of the city, combined with its international relations, as well as extensive internet and social network penetration , have made Kyiv the most pro-Western and pro-democracy region of Ukraine; (so called) National Democratic parties advocating tighter integration with

2124-582: Is named after the Ukrainian academician, politician, historian, and statesman Mykhailo Hrushevsky , who wrote an academic book titled: "Bar Starostvo: Historical Notes: XV–XVIII" about the history of Bar, Ukraine . That portion of the city is also unofficially known as the government quarter ( урядовий квартал ). The city state administration and council is in the Kyiv City council building on Khreshchatyk Street. The oblast state administration and council

2242-536: Is nearly 44%, but the deviation is great because the lowest figure is close to 10% but the highest is 97%. The trend shows that the sovereign debt ratio to GDP in most countries has been rising. Only three countries are affected by high government debt: Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia (over 70% of the GDP), while Slovakia and Poland fulfill the Maastricht requirement but only 10% below the threshold. The contribution to cover

2360-572: Is not a strict determinant for Eastern Europe, where from Croatia to Poland and everywhere in between, the Latin alphabet is used. Greece's status as the cradle of Western civilization and an integral part of the Western world in the political, cultural and economic spheres has led to it being nearly always classified as belonging not to Eastern, but Southern or Western Europe. During the late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth centuries, Eastern Europe enjoyed

2478-573: Is overwhelmingly Orthodox, but is very rarely included in "Eastern Europe", for a variety of reasons, the most prominent being that Greece's history, for the most part, was more influenced by Mediterranean cultures and dynamics. The fall of the Iron Curtain brought the end of the Cold War east–west division in Europe, but this geopolitical concept is sometimes still used for quick reference by

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2596-593: Is predominantly Armenian Apostolic . The Eastern Orthodox Church has played a prominent role in the history and culture of Eastern and Southeastern Europe . To a lesser degree, forms of Eastern Protestantism and Eastern Catholicism have also been influential in Eastern Europe. Countries where Eastern Protestantism or Eastern Catholicism hold historical significance include Belarus, Croatia , Greece, Hungary , Lithuania , Poland , Romania, Russia, Slovakia , Slovenia and Ukraine. The schism refers to

2714-411: Is sometimes used for a more neutral grouping. Several definitions of Eastern Europe exist in the early 21st century, but they often lack precision and may be anachronistic. These definitions are debated across cultures and among experts, even political scientists , as the term has a wide range of geopolitical , geographical, cultural, and socioeconomic connotations. It has also been described as

2832-548: 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 from the Old East Slavic name *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

2950-799: The Achaemenid Persian , Parthian , and Sassanid Persian Empires. Parts of the Balkans and some more northern areas were ruled by the Achaemenid Persians as well, including Thrace , Paeonia , Macedon , and most of the Black Sea coastal regions of Romania , Ukraine , and Russia . Owing to the rivalry between the Parthian Empire and Rome , and later between Byzantium and the Sassanid Persians ,

3068-793: The Balkans , the Baltic states , the Caucasus , and the Visegrád group . The region represents a significant part of European culture ; the main socio-cultural characteristics of Eastern Europe have historically been defined by the traditions of the East Slavs and Greeks , as well as by the influence of Eastern Christianity as it developed through the Eastern Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire . Another definition

3186-672: The Battle on the Irpen' River and conquered the city. The Tatars , who also claimed Kyiv, retaliated in 1324–1325, so while Kyiv was ruled by a Lithuanian prince, it had to pay tribute to the Golden Horde . Finally, as a result of the Battle of Blue Waters in 1362, Algirdas , Grand Duke of Lithuania, incorporated Kyiv and surrounding areas into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania . In 1482, Crimean Tatars sacked and burned much of Kyiv. At

3304-611: The Central and Eastern European member states, including the Baltic states , that accessed in 2004 and after: in 2004 the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, and the Slovak Republic; in 2007 Bulgaria, Romania; and in 2013 Croatia. The economic changes were in harmony with the constitutional reforms: constitutional provisions on public finances can be identified and, in some countries,

3422-687: The East–West Schism of 1054, significant parts of Eastern Europe developed cultural unity and resistance to Catholic Western and Central Europe within the framework of the Eastern Orthodox Church , Church Slavonic language and the Cyrillic alphabet . The earliest concept of Europe as a cultural sphere (instead of simply a geographic term) was formed by Alcuin of York during the Carolingian Renaissance of

3540-727: The European Parliament noted that Armenia and Georgia may enter the EU in the future. Georgia and Armenia are seeking EU membership, with Georgia also seeking NATO membership alongside. There are two de facto republics with limited recognition in the South Caucasus region that exist under the presence of Russian military. Both states participate in the Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations : Former republics with limited recognition: Some European republics of

3658-760: 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

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3776-747: The Nordic-Baltic Eight regional cooperation forum whereas Central European countries formed their own alliance called the Visegrád Group . The Northern Future Forum , the Nordic Investment Bank , the Nordic Battlegroup , the Nordic-Baltic Eight and the New Hanseatic League are other examples of Northern European cooperation that includes the three countries collectively referred to as

3894-664: The Polesia woodland ecological zone, a part of the European mixed woods area, and the East European forest steppe biome . However, the city's unique landscape distinguishes it from the surrounding region. Kyiv is completely surrounded by Kyiv Oblast . Originally on the west bank, today Kyiv is on both sides of the Dnieper , which flows southwards through the city towards the Black Sea . The older and higher western part of

4012-576: 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 . Notable archaeologists of the area around Kyiv include Vikentiy Khvoyka . 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

4130-506: The UN 2011 evaluation, there were no risks of natural disasters in Kyiv and its metropolitan area . Kyiv has a warm-summer humid continental climate ( Köppen Dfb ). The warmest months are June, July, and August, with mean temperatures of 13.8 to 24.8 °C (56.8 to 76.6 °F). The coldest are December, January, and February, with mean temperatures of −4.6 to −1.1 °C (23.7 to 30.0 °F). The highest ever temperature recorded in

4248-487: The destruction of Kyiv . These events had a profound effect on the future of the city and on the East Slavic civilization . Before Bogolyubsky's pillaging, Kyiv had had a reputation as one of the largest cities in the world, with a population exceeding 100,000 at the beginning of the 12th century. In the early 1320s, a Lithuanian army led by Grand Duke Gediminas defeated a Slavic army led by Stanislav of Kyiv at

4366-598: The seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyiv is an important industrial, scientific, educational, and cultural center in Eastern Europe . It is home to many high-tech industries, higher education institutions, and historical landmarks. The city has an extensive system of public transport and infrastructure, including 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 , Kyiv, one of

4484-538: The 1920s Ukrainization as well as the migration of the rural Ukrainophone population made the Russophone city Ukrainian-speaking and bolstered the development of Ukrainian cultural life in the city; the Soviet industrialization that started in the late 1920s turned the city, a former centre of commerce and religion, into a major industrial, technological and scientific centre; the 1932–1933 Great Famine devastated

4602-406: The 1920s, but all of them (except Czechoslovakia and Finland) gave up democracy during the depression years of the 1930s, in favor of autocratic, strong-man or single-party states. The new states were unable to form stable military alliances, and one by one were too weak to stand up against Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union, which took them over between 1938 and 1945. Russia ended its participation in

4720-408: The 1990s: free-market economy (sometimes complemented with the socially [and ecologically] oriented sector), economic development, or only economic rights are included as a ground for the economy. In the case of fiscal policy, the legislative, the executive and other state organs (Budget Council, Economic and Social Council) define and manage the budgeting. The average government debt in the countries

4838-491: The 19th century, by means of Russian migration, administrative actions, and social modernization. At the beginning of the 20th century the Russian-speaking part of the population dominated the city centre, while the lower classes living on the outskirts retained Ukrainian folk culture to a significant extent. However, enthusiasts among ethnic Ukrainian aristocrats, soldiers, and merchants made attempts to preserve

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4956-734: The 5th century, marking the start of the Early Middle Ages . By contrast, the Eastern Roman Empire—the Byzantine Empire —had a survival strategy that kept it alive for another 1,000 years. The rise of the Frankish Empire in the west, and in particular the Great Schism that formally divided Eastern and Western Christianity in 1054, heightened the cultural and religious distinctiveness between Eastern and Western Europe. Much of Eastern Europe

5074-533: 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

5192-532: The 9th century, limited to the territories that practised Western Christianity at the time. "European" as a cultural term did not include many of the territories under the influence of Eastern Christianity until the early nineteenth century. A large section of Eastern Europe is formed by countries with dominant Orthodox churches, like Belarus , Bulgaria , Cyprus , Georgia , Greece , Moldova , Montenegro , North Macedonia , Romania , Russia , Serbia , and Ukraine , for instance, as well as Armenia , which

5310-742: The Baltic states. The South Caucasus nations of Armenia , Azerbaijan , and Georgia are included in definitions or histories of Eastern Europe. They are located in the transition zone of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. They participate in the European Union 's Eastern Partnership program, the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly , and are members of the Council of Europe , which specifies that all three have political and cultural connections to Europe. In January 2002,

5428-567: The Cold War Era. The following countries are labelled Southeast European by some commentators, though others still consider them to be Eastern European. Partially recognized states : Despite being frequently classified as a Central Asian country, about 4% of Kazakhstan 's territory, situated west of the Ural River , geographically lies in Eastern Europe, thus technically making it a transcontinental country . Ancient kingdoms of

5546-737: The Dnieper River forms a branching system of tributaries , isles, and harbors within the city limits. The city is close to the mouth of the Desna River and the Kyiv Reservoir in the north, and the Kaniv Reservoir in the south. Both the Dnieper and Desna rivers are navigable at Kyiv, although regulated by the reservoir shipping locks and limited by winter freeze-over. In total, there are 448 bodies of open water within

5664-607: The Empire and the major centre of commerce in its southwest. In the turbulent period following the 1917 Russian Revolution , Kyiv became the capital of several successive Ukrainian states and was caught in the middle of several conflicts: World War I , during which German soldiers occupied it from 2 March 1918 to November 1918, the Russian Civil War of 1917 to 1922, and the Polish–Soviet War of 1919–1921. During

5782-412: The European Union receive most votes during elections in Kyiv. In a poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology in the first half of February 2014, 5.3% of those polled in Kyiv believed "Ukraine and Russia must unite into a single state", nationwide this percentage was 12.5. The Dnieper River naturally divides Kyiv into the Right Bank and the Left Bank areas. Historically on

5900-453: The First World War in March 1918 and lost territory, as the Baltic countries and Poland became independent. The region was the main battlefield in the Second World War (1939–45), with German and Soviet armies sweeping back and forth, with millions of Jews and others killed by the Nazis in the Generalplan Ost , and millions of others killed by disease, starvation, and military action, or executed after being deemed as politically dangerous. During

6018-455: The First World War was the breakup of the Russian, Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman empires, as well as partial losses to the German Empire. A surge of ethnic nationalism created a series of new states in Eastern Europe, validated by the Versailles Treaty of 1919 . Poland was reconstituted after the partitions of the 1790s had divided it between Germany, Austria, and Russia. New countries included Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine (which

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6136-466: 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

6254-401: The Kyiv Chronicle in the 12th century, and they were identified as old-Russian mythological heroes. The city of Kyiv stood on the trade route between the Varangians and the Greeks . In 968 the nomadic Pechenegs attacked and then besieged the city . By 1000 CE the city had a population of 45,000. In March 1169, Grand Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky of Vladimir-Suzdal sacked Kyiv , leaving

6372-431: The Parthians would invade the region several times, although it was never able to hold the area, unlike the Sassanids who controlled most of the Caucasus during their entire rule. The earliest known distinctions between east and west in Europe originate in the history of the Roman Republic . As the Roman domain expanded, a cultural and linguistic division appeared. The mainly Greek-speaking eastern provinces had formed

6490-486: The Soviet Union declared or regained their independence ( Belarus , Moldova , Ukraine , as well as the Baltic States of Latvia , Lithuania , and Estonia ). Czechoslovakia peacefully separated into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993. Many countries of this region joined the European Union , namely Bulgaria , the Czech Republic , Croatia , Estonia, Hungary , Latvia, Lithuania, Poland , Romania , Slovakia and Slovenia . The term "EU11 countries" refer to

6608-402: The Soviet army. It included the German Democratic Republic (also known as East Germany), formed by the Soviet occupation zone of Germany. All the countries in Eastern Europe adopted communist modes of control by 1948. These countries were officially independent of the Soviet Union, but the practical extent of this independence was quite limited. Yugoslavia and Albania had Communist control that

6726-476: The Soviet collapse, adversely affecting science and technology, but new sectors of the economy such as services and finance facilitated Kyiv's growth in salaries and investment, as well as providing continuous funding for the development of housing and urban infrastructure. Kyiv emerged as the most pro-Western region of Ukraine; parties advocating tighter integration with the European Union dominate during elections . The traditional etymology, stemming from

6844-413: The Soviet period, became the Bogomolets National Medical University in 1995. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Imperial Russian Army and ecclesiastical authorities dominated city life; the Russian Orthodox Church had involvement in a significant part of Kyiv's infrastructure and commercial activity. In the late 1840s the historian, Mykola Kostomarov (Russian: Nikolai Kostomarov ), founded

6962-442: The abolition of serfdom in Russia in 1861. Emancipation meant that the ex-serfs paid for their freedom with annual cash payments to their former masters for decades. The system varied widely country by country, and was not as standardized as in Western Europe. Historians, until the 20th century, focused on master-serf economic and labor relations, portraying the serfs as slave-like, passive, and isolated. 20th century scholars downplayed

7080-465: 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

7198-425: 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

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7316-449: The boundaries of Kyiv, which include the Dnieper itself, its reservoirs, and several small rivers, dozens of lakes and artificially created ponds. They occupy 7949 hectares. Additionally, the city has 16 developed beaches (totalling 140 hectares) and 35 near-water recreational areas (covering more than 1,000 hectares). Many are used for pleasure and recreation, although some of the bodies of water are not suitable for swimming. According to

7434-416: The buildings on the Khreshchatyk , the main street of the city, where German military and civil authorities had occupied most of the buildings; the buildings burned for days and 25,000 people were left homeless. Allegedly in response to the actions of the NKVD, the Germans rounded up all the local Jews they could find, nearly 34,000, and massacred them at Babi Yar in Kyiv on 29 and 30 September 1941. In

7552-446: The candidate countries Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia as Central and Eastern European . UNESCO , EuroVoc , National Geographic Society , Committee for International Cooperation in National Research in Demography , and the STW Thesaurus for Economics place the Baltic states in Northern Europe , whereas the CIA World Factbook places the region in Eastern Europe with a strong assimilation to Northern Europe . They are members of

7670-508: 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

7788-399: The city again suffered significant damage, and Nazi Germany occupied it from 19 September 1941 to 6 November 1943 . Axis forces killed or captured more than 600,000 Soviet soldiers in the great encircling Battle of Kyiv in 1941. Most of those captured never returned alive. Shortly after the Wehrmacht occupied the city, a team of NKVD officers who had remained hidden dynamited most of

7906-428: The city became a capital of Kievan Rus' , the first East Slavic state. Completely destroyed during the Mongol invasions in 1240, the city lost most of its influence for the centuries to come. Coming under Lithuania , then Poland and then Russia , the city would grow from a frontier market into an important centre of Orthodox learning in the sixteenth century, and later of industry, commerce, and administration by

8024-406: The city border the Polesian Lowland . Kyiv expanded into the Dnieper Lowland on the left bank ( to the east ) as late as the 20th century. The whole portion of Kyiv on the left bank of the Dnieper is generally referred to as the Left Bank ( Лівий берег , Livyi bereh ). Significant areas of the left bank Dnieper valley were artificially sand-deposited, and are protected by dams. Within the city

8142-420: The city sits on numerous wooded hills ( Kyiv Hills ), with ravines and small rivers. Kyiv's geographical relief contributed to its toponyms , such as Podil ("lower"), Pechersk ("caves"), and uzviz (a steep street, "descent"). Kyiv is a part of the larger Dnieper Upland adjoining the western bank of the Dnieper in its mid-flow, and which contributes to the city's elevation change. The northern outskirts of

8260-422: The city was 39.4 °C (102.9 °F) on 30 July 1936. The coldest temperature ever recorded in the city was −32.9 °C (−27.2 °F) on 11 January 1951. Snow cover usually lies from mid-November to the end of March, with the frost-free period lasting 180 days on average, but surpassing 200 days in some years. The municipality of the city of Kyiv has a special legal status within Ukraine compared to

8378-409: The city was subdivided into 4 parts: Pechersk , Starokyiv, and the first and the second parts of Podil . In 1833–1834 according to Tsar Nicholas I 's decree, Kyiv was subdivided into 6 police raions ( districts ); later being increased to 10. In 1917, there were 8 Raion Councils ( Duma ), which were reorganised by bolsheviks into 6 Party-Territory Raions. Eastern Europe Eastern Europe

8496-472: The city's name. 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

8614-541: 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

8732-646: The city. However, the prevailing south wind blew most of the radioactive debris away from Kyiv. In the course of the collapse of the Soviet Union the Ukrainian parliament proclaimed the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine in the city on 24 August 1991. In 2004–2005, the city played host to the largest post-Soviet public demonstrations up to that time, in support of the Orange Revolution . From November 2013 until February 2014, central Kyiv became

8850-489: 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

8968-487: The common currency. The economies of this decade – similar to the previous one – show a moderate inflation. As a new phenomenon, a slight negative inflation (deflation) appeared in this decade in several countries (Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia), which demonstrates sensitivity regarding international developments. The majority of the constitutions determine the national currency, legal tender or monetary unit. The local currency exchange rate to

9086-528: The eastern geographical boundaries of Europe are well defined, the boundary between Eastern and Western Europe is not geographical but historical, religious and cultural, and is harder to designate. The Ural Mountains , Ural River , and the Caucasus Mountains are the geographical land border of the eastern edge of Europe. E.g. Kazakhstan , which is mainly located in Central Asia with

9204-605: The empire's most important religious figures, but until the 19th century, the city's commercial importance remained marginal. In 1834, the Russian government established Saint Vladimir University, now called the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv after the Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko (1814–1861). (Shevchenko worked as a field researcher and editor for the geography department). The medical faculty of Saint Vladimir University, separated into an independent institution in 1919–1921 during

9322-835: The establishment of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in 1596. However, the concept of Eastern Catholicism itself predates this. Since the Great Schism of 1054, Europe has been divided between Catholic (and later additionally Protestant ) churches in the West, and the Eastern Orthodox Christian (often incorrectly labelled "Greek Orthodox") churches in the east. Due to this religious cleavage, Eastern Orthodox countries are often associated with Eastern Europe. A cleavage of this sort is, however, often problematic; for example, Greece

9440-557: The evils and emphasize the complexities. Before 1870, the industrialization that had started to develop in Northwestern and Central Europe and the United States did not extend in any significant way to the rest of the world. Even in Eastern Europe, industrialization lagged far behind. Russia , for example, remained largely rural and agricultural, and its autocratic rulers kept the peasants in serfdom. A major result of

9558-580: The fall of the Berlin Wall, continued to feel a moral duty to support states that have not been "liberated from the tyranny of capitalism". This shared duty collapsed when most of the former Soviet satellites abandoned socialism and adopted capitalism. EuroVoc , a multilingual thesaurus maintained by the Publications Office of the European Union , classifies Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, plus

9676-599: The final stages of World War II the future of Eastern Europe was decided by the overwhelming power of the Soviet Red Army, as it swept the Germans aside. It did not reach Yugoslavia and Albania, however. Finland was free but forced to be neutral in the upcoming Cold War. Throughout Eastern Europe, German-speaking populations were expelled to the reduced borders of Germany in one of the largest ethnic cleansing operations in history. Regions where Germans had formed

9794-522: The finances for common needs is declared, the principle of just tax burden-sharing is supplemented sometimes with special aspects. Tax revenues expose typically 15–19 % of the GDP, and rates above 20% only rarely can be found. The state audit of the government budget and expenditures is an essential control element in public finances and an important part of the concept of checks and balances. The central banks are independent state institutions, which possess

9912-1167: The former Soviet Union are considered a part of Eastern Europe: Unrecognized states : The term "Central Europe" is often used by historians to designate states formerly belonging to the Holy Roman Empire , the Habsburg Empire , and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . In some media, "Central Europe" can thus partially overlap with "Eastern Europe" of the Cold War Era. The following countries are labelled Central European by some commentators, though others still consider them to be Eastern European. Some countries in Southeast Europe can be considered part of Eastern Europe. Some of them can sometimes, albeit rarely, be characterized as belonging to Southern Europe , and some may also be included in Central Europe . In some media, "Southeast Europe" can thus partially overlap with "Eastern Europe" of

10030-576: The geopolitical impact of the "iron curtain": From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe: Warsaw , Berlin , Prague , Vienna , Budapest , Belgrade , Bucharest , and Sofia . Eastern Europe after 1945 usually meant all the European countries liberated from Nazi Germany and then occupied by

10148-523: The highly urbanized Hellenistic civilization . In contrast, the western territories largely adopted the Latin language . This cultural and linguistic division was eventually reinforced by the later political east–west division of the Roman Empire . The division between these two spheres deepened during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages due to a number of events. The Western Roman Empire collapsed in

10266-481: The historical break of communion and theology between the Eastern (Orthodox) and Western (Catholic) churches. Later developments meant that the divide was no longer solely between Catholic and Orthodox churches. From the 16th century, both Western and Eastern forms of Protestantism began to emerge in Europe. Additionally, Eastern Catholic Churches began to spread in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries, following

10384-565: The increased role played by the rulers of Bohemia and Poland . The conquest of the Byzantine Empire , center of the Eastern Orthodox Church , by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century, and the gradual fragmentation of the Holy Roman Empire (which had replaced the Frankish empire) led to a change of the importance of Catholic / Protestant vs. Eastern Orthodox concept in Europe. Armour points out that Cyrillic -alphabet use

10502-621: The last three months of 1919, Kyiv was intermittently controlled by the White Army . Kyiv changed hands sixteen times from the end of 1918 to August 1920. From 1921 to 1991, the city formed part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic , which became a founding republic of the Soviet Union in 1922. The major events that took place in Soviet Ukraine during the interwar period all affected Kyiv:

10620-407: The local majority, creating upheaval regarding demands of self-determination. Romania, Bulgaria, and Albania likewise were independent. Many of the countries were still largely rural, with little industry and only a few urban centres. Nationalism was the dominant force but most of the countries had ethnic or religious minorities who felt threatened by majority elements. Nearly all became democratic in

10738-570: The local police. They also took control of the mass media, especially radio, as well as the education system. They confiscated and redistributed farmland, and seized control of or replaced the organizations of civil society, such as church groups, sports, youth groups, trade unions, farmers' organizations, and civic organizations. In some countries, they engaged in large-scale ethnic cleansing, moving ethnic groups such as Germans, Poles, Ukrainians and Hungarians far away from where they previously lived, often with high loss of life, to relocate them within

10856-652: The local population majority were re-settled with Polish- or Czech-speakers. The region fell to Soviet control and Communist governments were imposed. Yugoslavia, Albania (and later Romania) had their own Communist regimes independent of Moscow. The Eastern Bloc at the onset of the Cold War in 1947 was far behind the Western European countries in economic rebuilding and economic progress. Winston Churchill, in his well-known "Sinews of Peace" address of 5 March 1946, at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri , stressed

10974-489: The media. Another definition was used during the 40 years of Cold War between 1947 and 1989, and was more or less synonymous with the terms Eastern Bloc and Warsaw Pact . A similar definition names the formerly communist European states outside the Soviet Union as Eastern Europe. Historians and social scientists generally view such definitions as outdated or relegated. Many former Communist states in this region, although their formal alliances were severed by

11092-561: The months that followed, thousands more were taken to Babi Yar where they were shot. It is estimated that the Germans murdered more than 100,000 people of various ethnic groups, mostly civilians, at Babi Yar during World War II. Kyiv recovered economically in the post-war years, becoming once again the third-most important city of the Soviet Union. The catastrophic accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986 occurred only 100 km (62 mi) north of

11210-435: The most western parts of it located west of the Ural River , also shares a part of Eastern Europe. In the west, however, the historical and cultural boundaries of "Eastern Europe" are subject to some overlap and, most importantly, have undergone historical fluctuations, which makes a precise definition of the western geographic boundaries of Eastern Europe and the geographical midpoint of Europe somewhat difficult. After

11328-549: The names of the legendary founders are in turn based on place names. According to the Canadian Ukrainian 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 romanized official Ukrainian name for

11446-570: The native culture in Kyiv, by clandestine book-printing, amateur theatre, folk studies, etc. During the Russian industrial revolution in the late 19th century, Kyiv became an important trade and transportation centre of the Russian Empire, specialising in sugar and grain export by railway and on the Dnieper river . By 1900, the city had also become a significant industrial centre, with a population of 250,000. Landmarks of that period include

11564-590: The new post-war borders of their respective countries. Under Stalin's direct instructions, these nations rejected grants from the American Marshall Plan . Instead, they joined the Molotov Plan , which later evolved into the Comecon (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance) . When NATO was created in 1949, most countries of Eastern Europe became members of the opposing Warsaw Pact , forming

11682-842: The nineteenth. The city prospered again during the Russian Empire's Industrial Revolution in the late 19th century. In 1918, when the Ukrainian People's Republic declared independence from the Russian Republic after the October Revolution there, Kyiv became its capital. From the end of the Ukrainian-Soviet and Polish-Soviet wars in 1921, Kyiv was a city of the Ukrainian SSR , and made its capital in 1934. The city suffered significant destruction during World War II but quickly recovered in

11800-558: The old town and the prince's hall in ruins. He took many pieces of religious artwork - including the Theotokos of Vladimir icon - from Vyshhorod. In 1203, Prince Rurik Rostislavich and his Kipchak allies captured and burned Kyiv. In the 1230s, the city was besieged and ravaged several times by different Rus princes. The city had not recovered from these attacks when, in 1240, the Mongol invasion of Rus' , led by Batu Khan , completed

11918-512: The oldest cities in Eastern Europe, passed through several stages of prominence and obscurity. The city probably existed as a commercial center as early as the 5th century. A Slavic settlement on the great trade route between Scandinavia and Constantinople , Kyiv was a tributary of the Khazars , until its capture by the Varangians ( Vikings ) in the mid-9th century. Under Varangian rule,

12036-552: The other administrative subdivisions of the country . The most significant difference is that the city is considered as a region of Ukraine (see Regions of Ukraine ). It is the only city that has double jurisdiction. The Head of City State Administration – the city's governor – is appointed by the president of Ukraine , while the Head of the City Council – the mayor of Kyiv – is elected by local popular vote. The mayor of Kyiv

12154-410: The part of the migrant population not registered for ration cards; and Joseph Stalin 's Great Purge of 1937–1938 almost eliminated the city's intelligentsia In 1934, Kyiv became the capital of Soviet Ukraine. The city boomed again during the years of Soviet industrialization as its population grew rapidly and many industrial giants were established, some of which exist today. In World War II ,

12272-490: The postwar years, remaining the Soviet Union 's third-largest city. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and Ukrainian independence in 1991, Kyiv remained Ukraine's capital and experienced a steady influx of ethnic Ukrainian migrants from other regions of the country . During the country's transformation to a market economy and electoral democracy , Kyiv has continued to be Ukraine's largest and wealthiest city. Its armament-dependent industrial output fell after

12390-519: The primary location of Euromaidan . During the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian forces attempted to seize Kyiv but were repelled by Ukrainian forces on the outskirts of the city; Kyiv itself escaped major damage. Following the Russian retreat from the region in April 2022, Kyiv has been subject to frequent air strikes . Geographically, Kyiv is on the border of

12508-406: The railway infrastructure, the foundation of numerous educational and cultural facilities, and notable architectural monuments (mostly merchant-oriented). In 1892, the first electric tram line of the Russian Empire started running in Kyiv (the third in the world). Kyiv prospered during the late 19th century Industrial Revolution in the Russian Empire, when it became the third most important city of

12626-573: The region included Orontid Armenia , Caucasian Albania , Colchis and Iberia (not to be confused with the Iberian Peninsula in Western Europe ), of which the former two were the predecessor states of Armenia and Azerbaijan respectively, while the latter two were the predecessor states of modern-day Georgia . These peripheral kingdoms were, either from the start or later on, incorporated into various Iranian empires, including

12744-506: The style of Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox liturgical music. Silvestrov traced his eventual rejection of avant-garde techniques back to his years in the Kyiv Conservatory. When presented one of his radical works Lyatoshynsky asked him: "Do you like this?", and while he replied affirmatively "that question became ingrained in my soul". Silvestrov's recent cycle for violin and piano, Melodies of Instances ( Мелодії Миттєвостей ),

12862-631: The time of the Lithuanian rule, the core of the city was located in Podil and there was a Lithuanian Kyiv Castle  [ uk ] with 18 towers on the Zamkova Hora which served as a residence of Vladimir Olgerdovich , Grand Prince of Kyiv , and subsequently of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania (e.g. Vytautas ). With the 1569 Union of Lublin , when the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

12980-647: The treaty never went into operation. Occupied by Russian troops since the 1654 Treaty of Pereyaslav , Kyiv became a part of the Tsardom of Russia from 1667 on the Truce of Andrusovo and enjoyed a degree of autonomy. None of the Polish-Russian treaties concerning Kyiv have ever been ratified. In the Russian Empire , Kyiv was a primary Christian centre , attracting pilgrims , and the cradle of many of

13098-672: The western right bank of the river, the city expanded into the left bank only in the 20th century. Most of Kyiv's attractions as well as the majority of business and governmental institutions are on the right bank. The eastern "Left Bank" is predominantly residential. There are large industrial and green areas in both the Right Bank and the Left Bank. Kyiv is further informally divided into historical or territorial neighbourhoods, each housing from about 5,000 to 100,000 inhabitants. The first known formal subdivision of Kyiv dates to 1810 when

13216-654: Was soon absorbed by the Soviet Union), Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia. Austria and Hungary had much-reduced boundaries. The new states included sizeable ethnic minorities, which were to be protected according to the League of Nations minority protection regime. Throughout Eastern Europe, ethnic Germans constituted by far the largest single ethnic minority. In some areas, as in the Sudetenland , regions of Poland , and in parts of Slovenia , German speakers constituted

13334-544: Was a prevalent status of agricultural workers until the 19th century. It resembled slavery in terms of lack of freedom, with the distinction that the landowners could not buy and sell serfs separately from the specific plots of land that they were permanently attached to. The system emerged in the 14th and 15th century, the same time it was declining in Western Europe. The climax came in the 17th and 18th century. The early 19th century saw its decline, marked especially by

13452-482: Was created by the Cold War , as Europe was ideologically divided by the Iron Curtain , with "Eastern Europe" being synonymous with communist states constituting the Eastern Bloc under the influence of the Soviet Union . The term is sometimes considered to be pejorative, through stereotypes about Eastern Europe being inferior (poorer, less developed) to Western Europe ; the term Central and Eastern Europe

13570-745: Was established, the Lithuanian-controlled lands of the Kyiv region ( Podolia , Volhynia , and Podlachia ) were transferred from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland , and Kyiv became the capital of Kyiv Voivodeship . The 1658 Treaty of Hadiach envisaged Kyiv becoming the capital of the Grand Duchy of Rus' within the Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth , but this provision of

13688-689: Was independent of the Kremlin. The communists had a natural reservoir of popularity in that they had destroyed the Nazi invaders. Their goal was to guarantee long-term working-class solidarity. The Soviet secret police, the NKVD , working in collaboration with local communists, created secret police forces using leadership trained in Moscow. This new secret police arrived to arrest political enemies according to prepared lists. The national Communists then took power in

13806-549: Was invaded and occupied by the Mongols . During the Ostsiedlung , towns founded under Magdeburg rights became centers of economic development and scattered German settlements were founded in parts of Eastern Europe. Introduction of German town law is often seen as a second great step after introduction of Christianity at the turn of the first and second millennia. The ensuing modernization of society and economy allowed

13924-591: Was taught musical composition by Borys Lyatoshynsky , and harmony and counterpoint by Levko Revutsky . He then taught at a music studio in Kyiv . Silvestrov was a freelance composer in Kyiv from 1970 to 2022, when he fled from Ukraine following the Russian invasion in February . He lives in Berlin. Silvestrov is perhaps best known for his post-modern musical style; some, if not most, of his works could be considered neoclassical and post-modernist. Using traditional tonal and modal techniques, Silvestrov creates

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