Uzhhorod
Uzhhorod (, ), historically known as Ungvár (; ), is a city and municipality on the river Uzh in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistant from the Baltic, the Adriatic and the Black Sea (650–690 km) making it the most inland city in this part of Europe. It is the administrative center of Zakarpattia Oblast (region), as well as the administrative center of the Uzhhorod Raion (district) within the oblast. Name. The historical name of the city is Hungarian, Ungvár. The Ukrainian name Uzhhorod is a recent construct, and has been  used only since the beginning of the 20th century. The town is also known by several alternative names: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; . Uzhhorod. The city gets its name from the Uzh River, which divides the city into two parts (the old and new sections), while "horod" (город) or hrad, name of fortified settlements in Kyivan Rus’, is a dated Ukrainian word for "city", coming from Proto-Slavic "gordъ". Ungvár. Ungvár, also spelled Ongvár, Hungvár, and Unguyvar, is derived from "Ung", the Hungarian name for the Uzh (as well as the surrounding county) and "vár", meaning "castle, fort". History. Early history. White-Croat Ungvar (677 ). The city was founded by early Slavs, one tribe of whom was the White Croats, who settled the area of the modern Uzhhorod under Kuber in the second half of the first millennium AD. Warriors from Ukraine established the Ungvar fortress in 677 according to the Chronicon Pictum. The settlement was the center of a new Slavic principality headed by a dynasty descended from Porga's nephew Kubrat. In the 9th century, the fortified castle changed into a fortified early feudal town-settlement which according to Gesta Hungarorum was originally subject to the Old Bulgarian Prince Salan until falling to  Laborec, a ruler who was loyal to Great Moravia. Magyar conquest (895). Having been encouraged by Salan's men, Almos's Magyars who had arrived in the region from Kyiv (then known as Kevevara) stormed Ung fortress in 895 AD. They encountered no resistance from the original "Ungvarian" White-Croats under Laborec and, after capture, Laborec was beheaded on the banks of the Laborcy river that still carries his name. Having taken over the Ung-Var, Almos appointed his son Árpád as prince of Hunguaria and from Ung-Var all of his warriors were called Hungarians instead. 10th–15th centuries. After  the arrival of the Hungarians, the small town began to extend its borders. In 1241–1242 the Mongols of Batu Khan burnt the settlement. After, in 1248 the city was granted town privileges by the King Béla IV of Hungary. In the early 14th century, Uzhhorod showed strong resistance to the new Hungarian rulers of the Anjou dynasty. Although the majority of inhabitants were Hungarians, they wanted more freedom. From 1318 for 360 years, the Drugeths (Italian counts from the Kingdom of Naples) owned the town. During that period Philip Drugeth built Uzhhorod Castle. Together with the castle, the city began  to grow. From 1430, Uzhhorod became a free royal town. 16th–18th centuries. 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 Union of Ungvár was proclaimed and the Greek-Catholic church was established in Subcarpathia, in a ceremony held in the Ungvár castle by the Vatican Aegis. In 1707 Ungvár was the residence of Ferenc II Rákóczi, leader of the national liberation war of Hungarians against Vienna. From 1780 the city became the capital of the Greek  Catholic Eparchy and from 1776 the center of a newly created school district. 19th century. The beginning of the 19th century was characterized by economic changes, including the first factories in the city. The greatest influence on Ungvár 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 to shake off the suzerainty of the Austrian Empire and to have authority over their own people. 27 March 1848 was officially celebrated in the city as the overthrow of the monarchy in Hungary. It is now  celebrated in Hungary on 15 March. In 1872 the first railway line opened, linking the city to the important railway junction of Chop, then known as Csap. 20th century. 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. Since Jews were not counted as ethnicity (as defined by language), rather only religious group, this Austrian-Hungarian census does not specifically mention the Jewish population, which was significant, and represented about 31% of the total population in 1910. At 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. The First World War slowed down the tempo of city development. On 10 September 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 First Vienna Award in 1938, Uzhhorod was given back to Hungary from which it was separated after WWI. In 1941 the Jewish population reached 9,576. On 19 March 1944, Germans troops entered the city. They  established a "Judenrat" (Jewish council) and set up two ghettos, at the Moskovitz brickyard and Gluck lumberyard. During May 1944, all Jews were deported to Auschwitz in five different transports and subsequently murdered. Only a few hundred Jews survived. On 27 October 1944, the city was captured by the troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front of the Red Army. Thousands of ethnic Hungarians were killed, expelled, or else taken to work in Soviet forced labor camps. The Hungarian majority population was decimated in order to strengthen the Soviet and Ukrainian right to the city. This period brought significant changes. On  the outskirts of Uzhhorod new enterprises were constructed and the old enterprises were renewed. On 29 June 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. Since 1991 Uzhhorod has become one of 24 regional capitals within Ukraine. Of these, Uzhhorod is the smallest and westernmost. 21st century. In 2002, 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. Climate. Uzhhorod has a humid continental climate (Köppen: "Dfb") with cool to cold winters and warm summers. The coldest month is January with an average temperature of while the warmest month is July with an average temperature of . The coldest temperature ever recorded is and the warmest temperature was . Average annual precipitation is , which is evenly distributed throughout the year though the summer months have higher precipitation. On average, Uzhhorod  receives 2023 hours of sunshine per year. Demographics. According to the Ukrainian 2001 census, the population of Uzhhorod included: Transportation. The city is served by Uzhhorod railway station and has railway connections with Chop and Lviv. It is also served by Uzhhorod International Airport. Sport. The city was home to the SC Rusj Užhorod football club from 1925. Contemporary side FC Hoverla Uzhhorod made their debut in the Ukrainian Premier League in 2001, but dissolved in 2016 due to money issues. In 2020 professional football matches at the highest levels of Ukraine returned to Uzhhorod since the 2020–21 season FC  Mynai plays its home matches in the Avanhard Stadium. FC Uzhhorod currently in Ukrainian Second League also plays its matches at Avanhard Stadium. International relations. Uzhhorod is currently twinned with: