page_title: Kiev
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Kiev / History
caption_attribution_description: Bohdan Khmelnytsky Entering Kyiv.
context_page_description: Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. Its population in July 2015 was 2,887,974, making Kiev the seventh-most populous city in Europe.
  Kiev is an important industrial, scientific, educational and cultural center of Eastern Europe. It is home to many high-tech industries, higher education institutions, and historical landmarks. The city has an extensive system of public transport and infrastructure, including the Kiev Metro.
  The city's name is said to derive from the name of Kyi, one of its four legendary founders. During its history, Kiev, one of the oldest cities in Eastern Europe, passed through several stages of prominence and obscurity. The city probably existed as a commercial center as early as the 5th century. A Slavic settlement on the great trade route between Scandinavia and Constantinople, Kiev was a tributary of the Khazars, until its capture by the Varangians in the mid-9th century. Under Varangian rule, the city became a capital of the Kievan Rus', the first East Slavic state.
context_section_description: Kiev, one of the oldest cities of Eastern Europe, played a pivotal role in the development of the medieval East Slavic civilization as well as in the modern Ukrainian nation.
  The first known humans in the region of Kiev lived there in the late paleolithic period (Stone Age). The population around Kiev during the Bronze Age formed part of so-called Tripillian culture, as witnessed by objects found in the area. During the early Iron Age certain tribes settled around Kiev that practiced land cultivation, husbandry and trading with the Scythians, and with ancient states of the northern Black Sea coast. Findings of Roman coins of the 2nd to the 4th centuries suggest trade relations with the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire. The carriers of Zarubintsy culture are considered the direct ancestors of the ancient Slavs who later established Kiev. Notable archaeologists of the area around Kiev include Vikentiy Khvoyka.
  Scholars continue to debate about the period in which the city was founded: some date the founding to the late 9th century, other historians have preferred a date of 482 AD. In 1982, the city celebrated its 1,500th anniversary. According to archaeological data, the foundation of Kiev dates to the second half of the 5th century and the first half of the 6th century. There is also a claim to find reference to the city in Ptolemy's 2nd-century work as Metropolity.
  Legendary accounts tell of the origin of the city; one legend features a founding family, members of a Slavic tribe (Polans): the leader Kyi, the eldest, his brothers Shchek and Khoryv, and also their sister Lybid, who allegedly founded the city (See the Primary Chronicle). According to the Chronicle, the name Kyiv/Kiev means "belonging to Kyi". Another legend states that Saint Andrew passed through the area (1st century), and where he erected a cross, a church was built. Since the Middle Ages an image of Saint Michael represented the city as well as the duchy.
  There is little historical evidence pertaining to the period when the city was founded. Scattered Slavic settlements existed in the area from the 6th century, but it is unclear whether any of them later developed into the city. On the Ptolemy's map there are shown several settlements along the mid-stream of Borysthenes among of which is Azagarium. Some historians believe that it could be the old Kiev. However, according to the 1773 "Dictionary of Ancient Geography" of Alexander Macbean, the settlement corresponds to modern city of Chernobyl. Just south of Azagarium, there is another settlement of Amadoca, which supposedly was the capital of Amadoci people living in area between marshes of Amadoca in the west and Amadoca mountains in the east.
  Another name related Kiev mentioned in history, origin of which is not completely clear, is Sambat and has something to do with the Khazar Empire. As previously stated the Primary Chronicle mentions that residents of Kiev told Askold that "there were three brothers Kii, Shchek and Khoriv. They founded this town and died, and now we are staying and paying taxes to their relatives the Khazars". In his book De Administrando Imperio Constantine Porphyrogenitus, mentioning the caravan of small-cargo boats assembled annually before the capital city on the Dnieper, writes, "They come down the river Dnieper and assemble at the strong-point of Kiev (Kioava), also called Sambatas". In addition to that at least three Arabic speaking 10th century geographers who traveled the area mention the city of Zānbat as the chief city of the Russes, among which are Ahmad ibn Rustah, Abu Sa'id Gardezi, and an author of the Hudud al-'Alam. The texts of those authors were discovered by Russian orientalist Alexander Tumansky. The etymology of Sambat has been argued by many historians including Grigoriy Ilyinsky, Nikolay Karamzin, Jan Potocki, Nikolay Lambin, Joachim Lelewel, Guðbrandur Vigfússon and many others. The historian Julius Brutzkus in his work "The Khazar Origin of Ancient Kiev" hypothesizes that both Sambat and Kiev are of Khazar origin meaning "hill fortress" and "lower sett
caption: Cossack Bohdan Khmelnytsky entering Kiev after the Khmelnytsky Uprising against Polish domination. Painting by Mykola Ivasiuk
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