Uzhhorod Ужгород Uzhgorod
A panoramic view of Uzhhorod and the Greek Catholic Cathedral in the centre of the image
Coat of arms
Map of Zakarpattia Oblast with Uzhhorod.
Uzhhorod Location of Uzhhorod
Coordinates: 48°37′00″N 22°18′00″E / 48.6166667°N 22.3°E / 48.6166667; 22.3Coordinates: 48°37′00″N 22°18′00″E / 48.6166667°N 22.3°E / 48.6166667; 22.3
Country Oblast Raion	Ukraine Zakarpattia Oblast Uzhhorod Municipality
Founded	9th century
Government
• Mayor	Viktor Pohorielov
Area
• Total	31.56 km2 (12.19 sq mi)
Elevation	169 m (554 ft)
Population (2010)
• Total	116,400
• Density	3,662/km2 (9,480/sq mi)
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Postal code	88000
Area code(s)	+380 312
Sister cities	Békéscsaba
Website	umr.uzhgorod.ua

Uzhhorod or Uzhgorod (Ukrainian: Ужгород pronounced [ˈuʒɦoˌrɔd]; Hungarian: Ungvár; Slovak: Užhorod; Russian: Ужгород, German: Ungwar, Ungarisch Burg; Polish: Użhorod; Romanian: Ujhorod) is a city located in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. It is the administrative center of the Zakarpattia Oblast (region), as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Uzhhorodskyi Raion (district) within the oblast. The city itself is also designated as its own separate raion within the oblast.

The city gets its name from the Uzh River, which divides the city into two halves (the old and new sections). Uzh (Уж) means ringed snake (Natrix natrix), and horod (город) is Rusyn for city, coming from Old Slavonic grad (градъ). However, this name is a recent construct, and has been used only since the beginning of the 20th century. Before then, the city was known as Ungvar, also spelled Ongvar, Hungvar, and Unguyvar.

The city's name is spelled Ужгород in Rusyn, Ukrainian and Russian, transliterated "Uzhhorod" from Rusyn and Ukrainian, "Uzhgorod" from Russian. Until the end of the 20th century, the city was known in English as Uzhgorod.

Uzhhorod is located at 48°37′N 22°18′E / 48.617°N 22.3°E / 48.617; 22.3. Its population in 2004 was 111,300.

History[link]

Early history[link]

The best known of the first city founders are early Slavs. One of their tribes – White Croats – settled the area of the modern Uzhhorod in the second half of the first millennium AD. During the 9th century a fortified castle changed into a fortified early feudal town-settlement, which became the centre of a new Slavonic principality, at the head of which was a legendary prince Laborets, who was vassal of Great Moravia.

In 895 AD Hungarian tribes, headed by their leader Árpád, stormed the Hungvar fortress. The forces were not equal and Laborets was defeated and beheaded on the banks of the river that still carries his name.

After the arrival of the Hungarians, the small town began to extend its borders. In 1241–1242 the Tatars of Batu Khan burnt the settlement. In the early 14th century Uzhhorod showed strong resistance to the new Hungarian rulers of the Anjou dynasty. From 1318 for 360 years, the Drugeths (Italian counts) owned the town. During that period Philip Drugeth built Uzhhorod Castle. Together with the castle the city began to grow. By 1430, Uzhhorod acquired some privileges from the king and was officially called "The Privileged City of Ungvar" and became capital of Ung County.

Greek Catholic Cathedral, Uzhhorod

During the 16–17th centuries there were many handicraft corporations in Uzhhorod. In this period the city was engaged in the religious fight between primarily Protestant Transylvania and Catholic Austria. In 1646 the Uzhhorod Union was proclaimed and the Greek-Catholic church was established in Subcarpathia, in a ceremony held in the Uzhhorod castle by the Vatican Aegis. In 1707 Uzhhorod was the residence of Ferenc II Rákóczi, the leader of the national-liberation war of the Hungarian people.

The beginning of the 19th century was characterized by economic changes, including the first factories in the city. The greatest influence on Uzhhorod among the political events of the 19th century was made by the Hungarian Revolution of 1848-1849, during which the native Hungarian nobility sought both get free of the Austrian Empire and to assert their right to dominate all other peoples of Hungary. March 27, 1848 was officially celebrated in the city as the overthrow of the monarchy in Hungary.

In 1872 the first railway line opened, linking the city to the important railway junction of Chop.

Twentieth century[link]

According to the 1910 census, the city had 16,919 inhabitants, of which 13,590 (80.3%) were Magyars, 1,219 (7.2%) Slovaks, 1,151 (6.8%) Germans, 641 (3.8%) Rusyns and 1.6% Czechs.^[1] In the same time, the municipal area of the city had a population composed of 10,541 (39.05%) Hungarians, 9,908 (36.71%) Slovaks, and 5,520 (20.45%) Rusyns.^[2]

The First World War slowed down the tempo of city development. On September 10, 1919 Subcarpathia was officially allocated to the Republic of Czechoslovakia. Uzhhorod became the administrative center of the territory. During these years Uzhhorod developed into an architecturally modern city. After the Munich Treaty, Uzhhorod became part of the Slovak half of the new Czecho-Slovak state.

Uzhhorod's former synagogue, now the Philharmonic Orchestra.

Bercsényi Palace in Uzhhorod Castle.

Uzhhorod Orthodox Cathedral

The Uzhhorod Central Rail Terminal.

After the Vienna Award in 1938, Uzhhorod was transferred to Hungary.^[1]

On October 27, 1944 the city was captured by the troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front of the Red Army. ^[2]

This period brought significant changes. At the outskirts of Uzhhorod new enterprises were constructed and the old enterprises were renewed.^[3] On June 29, 1945 Subcarpathian Ukraine was annexed by the Soviet Union and became a westernmost part of the Ukrainian SSR. That year the Uzhhorod State University (now Uzhhorod National University) was also opened. Since January 1946 Uzhhorod was the center of newly formed Zakarpatska oblast.^[4]

Since 1991 Uzhhorod has become one of 23 regional capitals within Ukraine. Of these, Uzhhorod is the smallest and westernmost.

In 2002, after some controversy,^{[by whom?]} a bust of Tomáš Masaryk, Czechoslovakia's first president, was unveiled in a main square of the city. A similar bust was unveiled in 1928 on the 10th anniversary of Czechoslovak independence, but was removed by the Hungarians when they took over the region in 1939.^[5]

Climate[link]

Uzhhorod has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification: Dfb), near on the borderline of the oceanic climate (Cfb) with cool to cold winters and warm summers. The coldest month is January with an average temperature of −1.7 °C (28.9 °F) while the warmest month is July with an average temperature of 20.9 °C (69.6 °F)^[3].The coldest temperature ever recorded is −28.2 °C (−18.8 °F) and the warmest temperature was 38.6 °C (101.5 °F). Average annual precipitation is 748 millimetres (29.4 in), which is evenly distributed throughout the year though the summer months have higher precipitation ^[3]. On average, Uzhhorod receives 1950 hours of sunshine per year^[4]

Demographics[link]

According to the Ukrainian 2001 census, the population of Uzhhorod included:^[5]

• Ukrainians (including Rusyns) (77.8%)
• Russians (9.6%)
• Hungarians (6.9%)
• Slovaks (2.2%)
• Roma (1.5%)

Transport[link]

Uzhhorod has a railway station which consists of Uzhhorod-1 (Uzhhorod Central Rail Terminal), Uzhhorod-2, Uzhhorod-3, Domanynci stations.

Uzhhorod has an international airport: Uzhhorod International Airport. Airport code: UDJ. It is one of the biggest airports in Ukraine. Has one terminal. There are flights to Kiev and Budapest .

The public transportation is well developed. There are buses and microbuses on about 50 routes.

International relations[link]

Twin towns — Sister cities[link]

Uzhhorod is currently twinned with:

• Békéscsaba, Hungary
• Nyíregyháza, Hungary
• Szombathely, Hungary
• Moscow, Russia
• Oryol, Russia
• Corvallis, United States
• Darmstadt, Germany, since 1992^[6]
• Košice, Slovakia, since 1993 ^[7]
• Krosno, Poland, since 2008^[8]
• Jarosław, Poland, since 2002 ^[9]
• Česká Lípa, Czech Republic
• Satu Mare, Romania^[10]

Wooden Greek-Catholic church in the Museum of Folk Architecture.

Notable residents[link]

• Vladimir Koman, a Ukrainian-born, Hungarian football player
• János Erdélyi, a Hungarian poet, critic, author, philosopher and ethnographist
• Shlomo Ganzfried, an Orthodox rabbi and posek
• Józef Kasparek, a Polish lawyer, historian and political scientist
• Mikhail Kopelman, a violinist
• Samuel Lipschütz, a chess player and author
• Yozhef Sabo, a Soviet football player of Hungarian ethnicity
• Avhustyn Voloshyn, a Subcarpathian politician, teacher, and essayist
• Gregory Zatkovich, first governor of Carpathian Ruthenia

See also[link]

• Zakarpattia Oblast
• Category:Uzhhorod

References[link]

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Find more about Uzhhorod on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Definitions and translations from Wiktionary
	Images and media from Commons
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	Quotations from Wikiquote
	Source texts from Wikisource
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• Uzhhorod city site
• Uzhhorod in old postcards

v t e Administrative divisions of Zakarpattia Oblast Administrative center: Uzhhorod Districts Berehove Irshava Khust Mizhhirya Mukachevo Perechyn Rakhiv Svaliava Tiachiv Uzhhorod Velykyi Bereznyi Volovets Vynohradiv Cities Major cities Chop Berehove Mukachevo Khust Uzhhorod Other cities Irshava Perechyn Rakhiv Svaliava Tiachiv Vynohradiv List of: urban-type settlements — villages