Kherson

Kherson
Херсон
City of regional significance

Flag
Coat of arms
Kherson
Location of Kherson
Kherson
Kherson (Ukraine)
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  Ukraine
Oblast  Kherson Oblast
City Raions Kherson City
Dneprovski rayon
Suvorovski rayon
Komsomolski rayon
Founded 18 June 1778
Government
 • Mayor Volodymyr Mykolayenko (Independent)[1]
Area
 • Total 135.7 km2 (52.4 sq mi)
Elevation 46.6 m (152.9 ft)
Population (2015)
 • Total 294,941
 • Density 2,200/km2 (5,600/sq mi)
Postal code 73000
Area code(s) +380 552
Website city.kherson.ua

Kherson (Ukrainian: Херсо́н, Ukrainian pronunciation: [xɛrˈsɔn]) is a city in southern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Kherson Oblast (province), and is designated as a city of oblast significance. Kherson is an important port on the Black Sea and Dnieper River, and the home of a major ship-building industry. Its population was 294,941 (2015 est.)[2].

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.[3]

History

Grigory Potemkin
Early Ukrainian coat of arms
Kherson Musical school

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.

Demographics

Ethnicity

As of Ukrainian National Census (2001), the ethnic groups living within Kherson were:

The ethnic groups living within Kherson as of the 1926 Census:

Languages

Languages1897[4]2001[5]
Ukrainian19.6%53.4%
Russian47.2%45.3%
Yiddish29.1%
Polish1.7%
German0.7%

Population

Year Population
1790 24,000
1926 58,000
1939 97,000
1959 158,000
1981 361,000
2004 354,000
2007 329,000

Administrative divisions

Kherson Town Hall, now city art museum

There are three city raions.

  • Suvorov Raion, central and oldest district of the city, named after the Russian General Suvorov. Includes department's: Tavrіjs'kij, Pіvnіchnij and Mlini.
  • Dnipro Raion, named after the Dnieper river. Includes departments: HBK, Tekstil'nij, Sklotara, Slobіdka, Vojenka, Skhіdnij.
  • Korabelnyi Raion. Includes department's: Shumens'kij, Korabel, Zabalka, Sukharne, Zhitloselishche, Selishche — 4, Selishche — 5.

Climate

Under the Köppen climate classification, Kherson has a humid continental climate (Dfa).[6]

Climate data for Kherson
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 15.2
(59.4)		 18.6
(65.5)		 22.7
(72.9)		 32.0
(89.6)		 37.7
(99.9)		 39.5
(103.1)		 40.5
(104.9)		 40.7
(105.3)		 33.3
(91.9)		 32.0
(89.6)		 21.8
(71.2)		 16.5
(61.7)		 40.7
(105.3)
Average high °C (°F) 1.4
(34.5)		 2.3
(36.1)		 7.7
(45.9)		 15.7
(60.3)		 22.3
(72.1)		 26.4
(79.5)		 29.2
(84.6)		 28.9
(84)		 22.8
(73)		 15.6
(60.1)		 7.7
(45.9)		 2.8
(37)		 15.2
(59.4)
Daily mean °C (°F) −1.7
(28.9)		 −1.3
(29.7)		 3.2
(37.8)		 10.1
(50.2)		 16.1
(61)		 20.4
(68.7)		 22.9
(73.2)		 22.3
(72.1)		 16.7
(62.1)		 10.4
(50.7)		 4.1
(39.4)		 −0.2
(31.6)		 10.3
(50.5)
Average low °C (°F) −4.5
(23.9)		 −4.5
(23.9)		 −0.5
(31.1)		 4.9
(40.8)		 10.1
(50.2)		 14.6
(58.3)		 16.8
(62.2)		 16.0
(60.8)		 11.3
(52.3)		 5.9
(42.6)		 1.0
(33.8)		 −2.8
(27)		 5.7
(42.3)
Record low °C (°F) −26.3
(−15.3)		 −24.4
(−11.9)		 −20.2
(−4.4)		 −7.9
(17.8)		 −1.5
(29.3)		 5.8
(42.4)		 9.2
(48.6)		 6.6
(43.9)		 −5.0
(23)		 −7.6
(18.3)		 −16.2
(2.8)		 −22.2
(−8)		 −26.3
(−15.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 29
(1.14)		 30
(1.18)		 29
(1.14)		 32
(1.26)		 40
(1.57)		 52
(2.05)		 44
(1.73)		 35
(1.38)		 42
(1.65)		 32
(1.26)		 38
(1.5)		 33
(1.3)		 436
(17.17)
Average rainy days 9 7 9 12 11 11 9 6 9 9 12 10 114
Average snowy days 11 10 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.3 4 8 39
Average relative humidity (%) 86 83 78 69 66 66 63 62 69 77 85 87 74
Mean monthly sunshine hours 62.0 84.8 148.8 213.0 269.7 309.0 325.5 319.3 231.0 136.4 84.0 34.1 2,217.6
Mean daily sunshine hours 2.0 3.0 4.8 7.1 8.7 10.3 10.5 10.3 7.7 4.4 2.8 1.1 6.1
Source #1: Pogoda.ru.net[7]
Source #2: Deutscher Wetterdienst (sun, 2004–2012)[8]

Transport

Rail

Kherson Railway Station

Kherson is connected to the national railroad network of Ukraine. There are daily long-distance services to Kiev, Lviv and other cities.

Air

Kherson is served by Kherson International Airport providing both passport and customs control. It operates a 2,500 x 42-meter concrete runway, accommodating Boeing 737, Airbus 319/320 aircraft, and helicopters of all series.

The official airport website is http://www.airport.kherson.ua and additional info can be found at http://www.aisukraine.net.

Education

Kherson Marine school

There are 77 high schools as well as 5 colleges. There are 15 institutions of higher education.

Main sights

St. Catherine's Cathedral, Kherson
  • The Church of St. Catherine – was built in the 1780s, supposedly to Ivan Starov's designs, and contains the tomb of Prince Potemkin.
  • Jewish cemetery – Kershon has a large Jewish community which was established in the mid-nineteenth century.[9] From 1959 until 1990 there was no synagogue in Kherson. Since then, both Jewish life and Kherson have really grown and developed in an atmosphere of peace.[10] Nevertheless, the Jewish cemetery has regularly suffered from acts of vandalism. The graves have been repeatedly covered with trash and the tombstones destroyed and desecrated. On 6 April 2012, an act of vandalism, at the Jewish cemetery, occurred on the most important festival in the Jewish calendar, the festival of Passover. The fire, which was set, immediately spread over an area of about 700 square meters and caused severe damage to the graves and tombstones.[11]
  • Kherson TV Tower – a famous construction located in the city.
  • Adziogol Lighthouse – a hyperboloid structure designed by V.G.Shukhov, 1911

Notable people

Moshe Sharett

Twin cities

References

  1. ↑ "Incumbent mayor Mykolayenko reelected in Kherson". interfax.com.ua. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  2. ↑ "Чисельність наявного населення України (Actual population of Ukraine)" (PDF) (in Ukrainian). State Statistics Service of Ukraine. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  3. ↑ Official website Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine.. Presidential representative of Ukraine in Crimea.
  4. ↑ Национальный состав населения городов (по языку) Archived 13 August 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Всероссийская перепись населения 1897
  5. ↑ Ukrainian census in Kherson Oblast. State Statistics Service.
  6. ↑ Peel, M. C. and Finlayson, B. L. and McMahon, T. A. (2007). "Updated world map of the Köppen–Geiger climate classification" (PDF). Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 11: 1633–1644. doi:10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007. ISSN 1027-5606. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 February 2012.
  7. ↑ "Pogoda.ru.net" (in Russian). May 2011. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  8. ↑ "Klimatafel von Chersson (Kherson) / Ukraine" (PDF). Baseline climate means (1961-1990) from stations all over the world (in German). Deutscher Wetterdienst. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  9. ↑ "KHERSON". JewishEncyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  10. ↑ Zalman, Nelson. "Anti-Semitic Incitement, Poor Economy Have Kherson's Jews Worried". Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch. Archived from the original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  11. ↑ "Вандалы подпортили светлый еврейский праздник Песах". Bagnet.org. Archived from the original on 10 April 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  12. ↑ Levy, Clifford J. "Georgi A. Arbatov, a Bridge Between Cold War Superpowers, Is Dead at 87" Archived 6 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine., The New York Times, 2 October 2010. Accessed 4 October 2010.

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