Mykolaiv
Mykolaiv (Template:Lang-uk, Template:Lang-ru, translit. Nikolayev; also referred to as or Mykolayiv, Nikolaev, or Nikolayev) is a major city in southern Ukraine.
It is the administrative center of the Mykolaiv Oblast (province), as well as the administrative center of both the Mykolaivsky and Zhovtnevy Raions (districts) within the oblast. The city itself is also designated as its own separate raion within the oblast, and is located 65 kilometers from the Black Sea along the estuary of the Southern Buh river (where it meets the Inhul River) at around 46°58′N 32°0′E / 46.967°N 32.000°E.
The current estimated population is 514,000 (as of 2001).
History
The town was founded in 1789 by the Governor General of Novorossiya Knyaz Potemkin initially as a shipyard called simply a New Shipyard on the Ingul river. Knyaz Potemkin signed an order to construct a shipyard on April 27, 1789, which is considered to be a city birth date. The shipyard was to serve for the repair of the Russian Navy ships in the Russo-Turkish war. Later Potemkin ordered the shipyard to be named Nikolaev to commemorate the date of fall of Ochakov to the Russian troops under his command on December 6, 1788, close to the day of Saint Nicholas (Nikolay) December 19, in the Russian Orthodox Church.
The history of the city has always been closely connected to the ship building.
The only Russian Navy aircraft carrier currently in commission, Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov, was built in Mykolaiv.
Economy
Today Mykolaiv is a major ship building center of Ukraine (as, earlier, of the whole Soviet Union) and an important riverport. The city has 3 major shipyards some of which capable of building large navy ships. Other important industries are mechanical engineering, power engineering, metallurgy and cosmetics.
External links
- mykolayiv.osp-ua.info - Mykolaiv City Administration website Template:Uk icon
- nikportal.net - NikolaevCity portal Template:Ru icon
- Wikimapia - Satellite map of Mykolaiv at Wikimapia