page_title: Chernobyl
section_title: Etymology
hierarchical_section_title: Chernobyl / Etymology
caption_attribution_description: Chernobyl
context_page_description: Chernobyl, also known as Chornobyl, is a partially abandoned city in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, situated in the Ivankiv Raion of northern Kiev Oblast, Ukraine. Chernobyl is about 90 kilometres north of Kiev, and 160 kilometres southwest of the Belarusian city of Gomel. Before its evacuation, the city had about 14,000 residents, while around 1,000 people live in the city today.
  First mentioned as a ducal hunting lodge in 1193, the city has changed hands multiple times over the course of history. Jews were introduced to the city in the 16th century, and a now-defunct monastery was established near the city in 1626. By the end of the 18th century, Chernobyl was a major centre of Hasidic Judaism under the Twersky Dynasty, who left Chernobyl after the city was subject to pogroms in the early 20th century. The Jewish community was later destroyed during the Holocaust. Chernobyl was chosen as the site of Ukraine's first nuclear power plant in 1972, located 15 kilometres north of the city, which opened in 1977. Chernobyl was evacuated on 5 May 1986, 9 days after a catastrophic nuclear disaster at the plant, which was the largest nuclear disaster in history.
context_section_description: The city's name is the same as one of the Ukrainian names for Artemisia vulgaris, mugwort or common wormwood, which is Ukrainian: чорнобиль, romanized: chornóbyl' (or more commonly полин звичайний polýn zvycháynyy, 'common artemisia'). The name is inherited from Proto-Slavic *čьrnobylъ or Proto-Slavic *čьrnobyl, a compound of Proto-Slavic *čьrnъ 'black' + Proto-Slavic *bylь 'grass', the parts related to Ukrainian: чорний, romanized: chórnyy, lit. 'black' and било byló, 'stalk', so named in distinction to the lighter-stemmed wormwood A. absinthium.
  The name in languages used nearby is:
  Ukrainian: Чорнобиль, romanized: Chornobyl′, [tʃorˈnɔbɪlʲ] (listen)
  Belarusian: Чарнобыль, romanized: Charnobyl′, [t͡ʂarˈnɔbɨlʲ]
  Russian: Чернобыль, romanized: Chernobyl′, [tɕɪrˈnobɨlʲ].
  The name in languages formerly used in the area is:
  Polish: Czarnobyl, [tʂarˈnɔbɨl]
  Yiddish: טשערנאָבל‎, romanized: Tshernobl, [tʃɛrˈnɔbl̩].
caption: Chernobyl welcome sign
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA", "Image Make": "OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP.", "Image Model": "E-M5", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Aperture 3.6", "Image DateTime": "2013:09:06 01:45:13", "Image ExifOffset": "258", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/160", "EXIF FNumber": "71/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Standard Output Sensitivity", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2013:09:06 01:45:13", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2013:09:06 01:45:13", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "-7/10", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "925/256", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "21", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4608", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3456", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[12, 50, 7/2, 63/10]", "EXIF LensModel": "OLYMPUS M.12-50mm F3.5-6.3"}