Vinnytsia

Vinnytsia
Вінниця

Vinnytsia's old water tower (now the War Veterans' Museum)

Flag
Coat of arms
Nickname(s): pearl of Podolia

Map of Ukraine with Vinnytsia highlighted.
Coordinates: 49°14′N 28°29′E / 49.233°N 28.483°ECoordinates: 49°14′N 28°29′E / 49.233°N 28.483°E
Country
Oblast
Raion		 Ukraine
Vinnytsia Oblast
Vinnytsia City Municipality
Founded 1363
Government
 • Head of City
Council		 Sergiy Morgynov (incumbent)
Area
 • City 79.94 km2 (30.87 sq mi)
Population (2013)
 • City 371,698
 • Density 5,066/km2 (13,120/sq mi)
 • Metro 660,000
Postal code 21000-
Area code(s) +380 43
Sister cities Birmingham, Kielce, Peterborough, Rybnytsia
Website www.vmr.gov.ua

Vinnytsia (Ukrainian: Ві́нниця, pronounced [ˈvʲinːɪt͡sʲɐ]; also known as Vinnytsya, Vinnitsa (Russian: Ви́нница), Vinnica (Polish: Winnica), German: Winniza, and Romanian: Vinnița) is a city in west-central Ukraine, located on the banks of the Southern Bug. It is the administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast and the largest city in the historic region of Podolia. Administratively, it is incorporated as a town of oblast significance. It also serves as an administrative center of Vinnytsia Raion, one of the 27 districts of Vinnytsia Oblast, though it is not a part of the district. Population: 371,698 (2013 est.)[1].

A historic town known since Middle Ages and a former Soviet Cold War-airbase, Vinnytsia is now an industrial center (particularly, dominated by the Roshen corporation), a growing international IT-outsource center and the headquarters of the Ukrainian Air Force. The city is also home to the RPC Fort, the largest Ukrainian firearms manufacturer.

Vinnytsia is considered the long-time political base for the current Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. He owns a local confectionery (as part of the Roshen Corporation) and was elected member of parliament from the local constituency for several convocations. However, contrary to some speculations, Poroshenko never lived in the city.

Geography

Vinnytsia is located about 260 km (160 mi) southwest of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, 429 km (267 mi) north-northwest of the Black Sea port city of Odessa, and 369 km (229 mi) east of Lviv.

It is the administrative center of the Vinnytsia Oblast (province), as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Vinnytsia Raion (district) within the oblast. The city itself is directly subordinated to the oblast.

The current estimated population is 370,100.

Climate

A long lasting warm summer with a sufficient quantity of moisture and a comparatively short winter is characteristic of Vinnytsia. The average temperature in January is −5.8 °C (21.6 °F) and 18.3 °C (64.9 °F) in July. The average annual precipitation is 638 mm (25 in).

Over the course of a year there are around 6–9 days when snowstorms occur, 37–60 days when mists occur during the cold period, and 3–5 days when thunderstorms with hail occur.

Climate data for Vinnytsia, Ukraine
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 11.6
(52.9)		 17.3
(63.1)		 22.3
(72.1)		 29.4
(84.9)		 32.2
(90)		 35.0
(95)		 37.8
(100)		 36.5
(97.7)		 31.5
(88.7)		 28.6
(83.5)		 19.9
(67.8)		 15.4
(59.7)		 37.8
(100)
Average high °C (°F) −1.4
(29.5)		 −0.3
(31.5)		 5.2
(41.4)		 13.4
(56.1)		 20.1
(68.2)		 22.7
(72.9)		 24.8
(76.6)		 24.3
(75.7)		 18.7
(65.7)		 12.4
(54.3)		 4.7
(40.5)		 −0.4
(31.3)		 12.0
(53.6)
Daily mean °C (°F) −5.1
(22.8)		 −3.3
(26.1)		 1.2
(34.2)		 8.3
(46.9)		 14.5
(58.1)		 17.4
(63.3)		 19.2
(66.6)		 18.6
(65.5)		 13.4
(56.1)		 7.8
(46)		 1.7
(35.1)		 −2.8
(27)		 7.7
(45.9)
Average low °C (°F) −6.7
(19.9)		 −6.1
(21)		 −2.2
(28)		 3.7
(38.7)		 9.1
(48.4)		 12.3
(54.1)		 14.1
(57.4)		 13.4
(56.1)		 8.9
(48)		 4.0
(39.2)		 −0.8
(30.6)		 −5.2
(22.6)		 3.7
(38.7)
Record low °C (°F) −35.5
(−31.9)		 −33.6
(−28.5)		 −24.2
(−11.6)		 −12.7
(9.1)		 −2.8
(27)		 2.5
(36.5)		 5.2
(41.4)		 1.5
(34.7)		 −4.5
(23.9)		 −11.4
(11.5)		 −24.6
(−12.3)		 −27.2
(−17)		 −35.5
(−31.9)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 29
(1.14)		 28
(1.1)		 30
(1.18)		 45
(1.77)		 50
(1.97)		 94
(3.7)		 83
(3.27)		 66
(2.6)		 64
(2.52)		 30
(1.18)		 37
(1.46)		 35
(1.38)		 591
(23.27)
Average snowfall cm (inches) 12
(4.7)		 12
(4.7)		 9
(3.5)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 1
(0.4)		 6
(2.4)		 40
(15.7)
Avg. rainy days 7 6 9 13 14 15 15 11 12 11 12 9 134
Avg. snowy days 13 12 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 10 50
Average relative humidity (%) 85 83 78 68 66 72 72 71 76 80 86 88 77.1
Mean monthly sunshine hours 58.9 70.6 114.7 171.0 248.0 255.0 266.6 260.4 195.0 133.3 57.0 40.3 1,870.8
Source #1: Pogoda.ru.net[2]
Source #2: Hong Kong Observatory.[3]

History

Vinnytsia has been an important trade and political center since the fourteenth century, when Fedir Koriatowicz, the nephew of the Lithuanian Duke Algirdas, built a fortress (1363) against Tatar raiders on the banks of the Southern Bug. The original settlement was built and pupulated by Aleksander Hrehorovicz Jelec, hetman under Lithuanian Prince Švitrigaila. Aleksander Hrehorowicz Jelec. He built the fort, which he commanded as starosta afterwards. Between 1569 and 1793 the town was a part of Poland and in this period, for a short time between 1672 and 1699 was a part of Turkey. After Second Partition of Poland in 1793 Russia annexed the city and the region. Russia moved to expunge the Roman Catholic religion – Catholic churches in the city (including what is now the Transfiguration Cathedral) were converted to Russian Orthodox churches.

In 1943, the invading Germans exumed almost 10,000 people, mostly male Ukrainians, from mass graves in Vinnytsia. The majority of the executions happened during the Stalinist Great Purge between 1937-1938 in the Vinnytsia massacre.

Adolf Hitler sited his easternmost headquarters Führerhauptquartier Werwolf near the town and spent a number of weeks there in 1942 and early 1943.

Nazi atrocities were committed in and near Vinnytsia by Einsatzgruppe C. Estimates of the number of victims run as high as 28,000. This included the virtual extinction of the town's large Jewish population. One infamous photo, The Last Jew of Vinnytsia, shows a member of Einsatzgruppe D about to execute a Jew kneeling before a mass grave.[4] The text The Last Jew of Vinnytsia was written on the back of the photograph, which was found in a photo album belonging to a German soldier.

In 1959, the United States Government reported that the Soviet Union had built an school in Vinnytsia for training KGB infiltrators in how to live in the United States. A mock-up of an entire American small town was built, complete with American-style stores, movie theater, houses, restaurants, American vehicles, and a small college campus that served as the classrooms of the school.[5][6]

Constructions

Mansion-museum[7] of Nikolay Pirogov.
Fountain Roshen[8] is the only one in Ukraine and the largest floating fountain in Europe, built in the river Southern Buh in Vinnytsia City near Festivalny Isle (Campa Isle)
Vinnitsa Regional Museum and Vinnitsa Regional Art Museum[9] (on the right)

Transport

Air

Havryshivka International Airport (IATA: VIN, ICAO: UKWW) is situated near Vinnytsia.[10][11] Since the end of World War II, Vinnytsia has been the home for major Soviet Air Forces base, including an airfield, a hospital, arsenals, and other military installations. The headquarters of the 43rd Rocket Army of the Strategic Rocket Forces was stationed in Vinnytsia from 1960 to the early 1990s.[12] The 2nd Independent Heavy Bomber Aviation Corps, which later became 24th Air Army, was also stationed in Vinnitsa from 1960 to 1992. The Ukrainian Air Force Command has been based in Vinnytsia since 1992.

Notable people from Vinnytsia

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Vinnytsia is twinned with:[13]

Gallery

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Чисельність наявного населення України (Actual population of Ukraine)" (in Ukrainian). State Statistics Service of Ukraine. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  2. ↑ "Pogoda.ru.net" (in Russian). May 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  3. ↑ Climatological Information for Vinnitsa, Ukraine, Hong Kong Observatory. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  4. ↑ "The last Jew in Vinnitsa [1941", World's Famous Photos, Retrieved on 2010-08-26.
  5. ↑ Author Unknown, (1959, April 27), RUSSIA: Iowa in the Ukraine, 'Time Magazine', Retrieved from http://content.time.com/
  6. ↑ "Small Town Espionage - 1960 Soviet Spy School / CIA Educational Documentary - WDTVLIVE42". YouTube. 2012-07-20. Retrieved 2014-07-17.
  7. ↑ "The national Pirogov's estate museum". Pirogov.com.ua. Retrieved 2014-07-17.
  8. ↑ "About fountain :: Europe’s largest floating fountain". Fountainroshen.com. Retrieved 2013-01-05.
  9. ↑ Vinnitsa Regional Art Museum
  10. ↑ IATA: Airline and Airport Code Search. Enter code VIN in Search by Location Code, accessed 7 November 2011.
  11. ↑ Information about the airport at airport-data.com. Accessed 7 November 2011.
  12. ↑ "43rd Missile Army". Ww2.dk. Retrieved 2011-09-16.
  13. ↑ "Vinnytsia Twin Cities".
  14. ↑ "Kardeş Şehirler". Bursa Büyükşehir Belediyesi Basın Koordinasyon Merkez. Tüm Hakları Saklıdır. Retrieved 2013-07-27.

External links

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