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Kherson

Kherson
Херсон
Херсон-коллаж1.jpg
Flag of Kherson
Flag
Coat of arms of Kherson
Coat of arms
Kherson is located in Ukraine
Kherson
Kherson
Location of Kherson
Coordinates: 46°38′0″N 32°35′0″E / 46.63333°N 32.58333°E / 46.63333; 32.58333Coordinates: 46°38′0″N 32°35′0″E / 46.63333°N 32.58333°E / 46.63333; 32.58333
Country
Oblast
Municipality
City Rayons
 Ukraine
 Kherson Oblast
Kherson City
Dneprovski rayon
Suvorovski rayon
Komsomolski rayon
Founded 18 June 1778
Government
 • Mayor Volodymyr Mykolayenko (Independent)
Area
 • Total 135.7 km2 (52.4 sq mi)
Elevation 46.6 m (152.9 ft)
Population (2015)
 • Total 333,737
Postal code 73000
Area code(s) +380 552
Website www.city.kherson.ua

Kherson (Ukrainian: Херсо́н, Ukrainian pronunciation: [xɛrˈsɔn]) is a city in southern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Kherson Oblast (province), and is designated as its own separate raion (district) within the oblast. Kherson is an important port on the Black Sea and Dnieper River, and the home of a major ship-building industry. Estimated population as of 2007 was 329,000.

Since the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014, Kherson also houses the office of the Presidential representative of Ukraine in Crimea, which is headed by Nataliya Popovych.

Until 1774, the region belonged to the Crimean Khanate.

Kherson was founded in 1778 by Grigori Aleksandrovich Potemkin, on the orders of Catherine the Great. The city was built under the supervision of General Ivan Gannibal on the site of a small fortress called Aleksanderschanz. The name Kherson is a contraction of Chersonesos, an ancient Greek colony founded approximately 2500 years ago in the southwestern part of Crimea. One of the first buildings in the Kherson Fort was the Church of St. Catherine where Potemkin was eventually buried. The last tarpan was caught near Kherson in 1866. During World War II, Kherson was occupied by the German Army from 21 August 1941 to 13 March 1944. During the Ukrainian revolution of 2014 the city was the scene of riots against president Yanukovich during which the main Lenin statue of the city was toppled by protesters. After the revolution the city became relatively calm.


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Wikipedia

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