Vinnytsia

Vinnytsia (ˈvɪnɪts(j)ə,_ˈviːn- ; Вінниця, ˈʋinːɪtsjɐ) is a city in western Ukraine, located on the banks of the Southern Bug. It serves as the administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast. It is the largest city in the historic region of Podillia. It also serves as the administrative center of Vinnytsia Raion, one of the six raions of Vinnytsia Oblast. It has a population of The city's roots date back to the Middle Ages. It was under Lithuanian and Polish control for centuries. From 1653 to 1667, Vinnytsia was a regimental city of the Hetman state, and in 1793, it was ceded to the Russian Empire. During the 1930s and early 1940s, the city was the site of massacres, first during Stalin's purges and then during the Holocaust in Ukraine and the Nazi occupation. A Cold War–era airbase was located near the city. Currently, Vinnytsia is developing as one of the most comfortable cities for life in independent Ukraine. The name of Vinnytsia appeared for the first time in 1363. It is assumed that the name is derived from the old Slavic word "Vino", meaning "a bride price." This name can be explained by the fact that Vinnytsia and the surrounding land were captured by Lithuanian Duke Algirdas in the 14th century, and then, they were given to his nephews. In addition to the Ukrainian Вінниця (Vinnycja), in other languages of the region, the name of the city is Vinnica, Winnica, Vinica, Winniza, Vinița and Vinitse. English sources used the Russian-derived Vinnitsa from the early 19th century until the 1990s and Winnica or Winnicza (from Polish) before that, reflecting the ultimate political authorities of those respective eras. Vinnytsia is located about southwest of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, north-northwest of the Black Sea port city of Odesa, and east of Lviv. It is the administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast (province), as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Vinnytsia Raion within the oblast. The city itself is directly subordinated to the oblast. The city has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfb).