Once upon a time, the ancient Russian city was an important center for the development of culture and statehood, the third after Kiev and Novgorod. For almost a hundred years it has been part of Ukraine and, apparently, all the best has been left behind. All that the population of Chernigov can be proud of now is the glorious past and historical monuments from there.
General information
The regional center, located on the right bank of the Desna River, is close to the confluence of the Strizhen River. The northernmost region of Ukraine borders on Russia (Bryansk region) and Belarus (Gomel region). Neighboring regions of the country: in the west is the Kiev region, to the east is the Sumy region, and to the south is the Poltava region.
The population of Chernihiv is 289, 400 people, according to 2018. 1.054 million people live in the region. Which represent all the major religious denominations of the country: Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Protestantism and Judaism.
The territory of the region is completely located on the East European Plain, which determines the flat character of the area with slight differences in elevation from 50 to 150 m relative to sea level. 1200 rivers flow through the region, the largest of which are the Dnieper, Desna and Oster.
Ancient history
Traces of human activity found in the region belong to the Neolithic era, and the first settlements to the Bronze Age, to the 2nd millennium BC. Starting from the 1st millennium, several settlements appeared on the banks of the Desna and Strizhnya, which quickly grew due to their location on the trade route. The first written mention in the "Tale of Bygone Years" is associated with the Kiev prince Oleg, who forced Byzantium to pay to give large Russian cities. There is no reliable data on how many people in Chernihiv, of those years, lived.
In 1024, it became the capital city of the principality, thanks to which it continues to grow rapidly. The second half of the 11th century saw the period of greatest prosperity of the Chernigov Principality. Eletsky (1060) and Ilyinsky (1069) monasteries were built. The area of the city reached 450 hectares, and the population of Chernihiv amounted to 40, 000 people.
In the 19th and first half of the 20th century
In 1801, Chernihiv became the administrative center of the educated Chernihiv province. During these years, the city had 705 houses in which 4, 000 people lived. After the abolition of serfdom, the population began to grow rapidly, due to the influx of peasants into urban enterprises. In 1897, the population was 27, 716 people. At the same time, electricity was carried out, two hospitals, 15 hotels, 9 taverns, a post and a telephone station worked. In 1913, 32 thousand people lived in the provincial center.
During the years of Soviet industrialization, many new industrial enterprises were built, including iron smelting, clinker and vinegar plants. A new power station, the Chernihiv-Gomel and Chernihiv-Ovruch railroads were built. The city employed 32 industrial enterprises, employing 1, 000 people. In the prewar 1939 year, 69, 000 people lived in the city.
Post-war reconstruction
During the years of occupation and war, the city was severely destroyed, 107 industrial buildings, a power station, railway facilities, and telephone communications were completely or completely destroyed. The regional center was rebuilt anew, and already in 1943, classes in schools resumed, and in 1944 at the teacher's institute. In 1949, the musical instrument factory was restored and started operating; by 1951, a railway bridge and a station were built.
The city was rebuilt according to the general plan, in 1950-1955 the center was reconstructed according to the project of architects P. Buklavsky I. Yagodovsky. New streets were built, new neighborhoods were built up with three and five-story houses. In total, by 1960, 300 thousand square meters had been built. housing. In 1959, the population of the city of Chernigov was 90 thousand people. By national composition: Ukrainians made up the very group of inhabitants -69%, Russians occupied a share of 20%, Jews - 8%, Poles-1%). By this time, pre-war industry was fully restored and the construction of new enterprises began..
The best Soviet years
In the sixties and seventies, the synthetic fiber plant, worsted-cloth factory, thermal power plant and many other industrial facilities started operating. New residential neighborhoods, cultural facilities, including the theater building named after T. G. Shevchenko and the Palace of Pioneers. By 1970, the population of the city of Chernihiv reached 159, 000 people.
In 1980, a new plan for the reconstruction of the city was adopted, the hotel complex "Gradetsky", the cinema "Victory", the building of the publishing complex and secondary school No. 12 were built. At this time, the city had 245 thousand inhabitants. Thanks to the construction of new industrial enterprises, an increase in output, the population continued to grow rapidly. In the last year of Soviet power, in 1989, the population of Chernigov amounted to 296, 000 people.
As part of independent Ukraine
After gaining independence, the industry of the city fell into a period of protracted crisis. According to the first all-Ukrainian census, the population of Chernigov amounted to 305 thousand people. This is the maximum registered number of inhabitants. In 2003, the Chernihiv Automobile Plant was organized on the basis of several closed enterprises. The company began to produce buses, and since 2010, trolleybuses.
In 2006, the population of Chernihiv decreased to 300, 000 people. In subsequent years, the number of inhabitants gradually decreased, mainly due to natural decline and migration outflow. In 2014, the city had 295.7 inhabitants. In recent years, a large number of people leave to work in Russia and European countries. In 2017, the population of Chernihiv decreased by 2, 200 people, amounting to 289, 400 people. Almost half of the decline in the population fell to a natural decline.
Area population
In the region there are 22 districts, 1530 settlements, including rural 1488. The largest cities are Chernihiv, Nizhyn and Priluki. The population of the region is about 1.054 million people, including urban residents - 678 thousand (approximately 64.35% of the total population), rural - 376 thousand (35.65%). About 28% or 297 thousand people live in the regional center, about 74 thousand people live in Nizhyn, and about 59 thousand live in the city of Priluki. The area was affected by processes characteristic of all developing countries:
- the proportion of the rural population is gradually decreasing, the level of urbanization in 2001 was 58.4%, and by now it has grown by 6%.
- residents of small cities are moving to megacities.
Ukraine is also characterized by a rather large labor migration of the population to Russia and Europe. Since 2001, the number of residents of the region has decreased by almost 200 thousand people. The population density of the Chernihiv region is 33.25 people per sq. Km.
The majority of the population of the region are Ukrainians, approximately 93.5%, of the total number of inhabitants, 5% live in Russians, 0.6% in Belarusians. In the cities, the ratio of nationalities is slightly different, since 24.5% of the population of Chernigov considers Russian their native language.
Economy of Chernihiv
In the largest regional industrial center - Chernigov, the main sectors of the economy are chemical, light and food. Here is one of the leading enterprises in the country's chemical industry - the Chernihiv Combine of Chemical Fiber. Which produces more than 70 types of products, including cord fabrics, polyamide yarns, polyamide granulates, polyamide monofilaments. Products are shipped to about 800 consumers in different countries of the world.
Other important enterprises for the population of Chernigov, in terms of ensuring employment, are: the CheZaRa radio equipment factory and the automobile plant. Chernihiv Automobile Plant produces buses and trolleybuses, although in recent years the volume of production is insignificant. The radio equipment factory specializes in the production of medical equipment. Since Soviet times, large enterprises of light industry continue to work - for the processing of wool, worsted-cloth and garment.
