Oleksandriia
Oleksandriia ( ) is a city located in Oleksandriia Raion, Kirovohrad Oblast (region) in central Ukraine. Administratively, Oleksandriia serves as the administrative center of Oleksandriia Raion (district). Oleksandriia also hosts the administration of Oleksandriia urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. In 2001 it had a population of 93,357, and including the villages (selo) and urban type settlements in the city municipality a population of 103,856. Current population: . History. The city is first mentioned in 1746, as the settlement "Usivka" (, ). The official record of the settlement is dated 1754 when the Saint Elizabeth fortress was built in the region (today  Kropyvnytskyi). During the establishment of the Russian colony of New Serbia in 1752–64, the 3rd Company of New Serbia was quartered in Usivka Pandurs. In place of Usivka the (sconce) "Bechey" (after the Serbian city of Bečej) encampment was established. In 1784 the Russian government gave the settlement a Hellenic name of Aleksandriysk and later Aleksandriya (locally as Oleksandriya). In 1806–1922, Oleksandriya was a county (uyezd) seat. (During World War II) on 6 August 1941 the Red Army of the Soviet Union left the city to the Nazi Germany Wehrmacht without fight. During the Nazi occupation, the city lost almost  its entire Jewish population (est. ~2,500). The Nazi administration also executed over 5,500 Soviet prisoners of war as part of the Nazi stance on the issue of the Soviets not signing the 1929 Geneva Convention. The city was recovered by the Soviet armed forces on 6 December 1943. Until 18 July 2020, Oleksandriia was designated as a city of oblast significance and belonged to Oleksandriia Municipality. It was the administrative center of Oleksandriia Raion even though it did not belong to the raion. As part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Kirovohrad Oblast  to four, Oleksandriia Municipality was merged into Oleksandriia Raion. Climate. Climate of Oleksandriia is classified as humid continental (Köppen classification: Dfb). Winter is cold and mild. Summer is hot. Coldest month is January (average temperature -5 °C), hottest month is July (average temperature 21.5 °C). With no dry season, winters are snowy and summers are rainy. The wettest month is June (66 mm), the driest is March (30 mm). Average annual precipitation is 526 mm. Places of interest. A popular place to visit in the town is Oleksandriia's square, known as Soborna Square ("Соборна площа"). Twin towns . Oleksandriia is twinned with: