Chernivtsi (Чернівці, Romanian: Cernăuţi, German: Czernowitz, Polish: Czerniowce, Hungarian: Csernovic, Yiddish: Chernovits, Russian: Черновцы, Chernovtsy) is a city in Northern Bukovina, Ukraine, capital of the Chernivets'ka oblast'.
History
From 1775, the city was a part of the Austrian province of Bukovina. When Austria-Hungary was dissolved in 1918, the area around Chernivtsi became part of Romania, and this relationship continued until 1940 when it was occupied by the USSR. During the WWII the territory was returned to Romania and regained by the Soviet Union again, as part of the Ukrainian SSR. Since 1991, it is has been part of Ukraine.
It was the site of the first Yiddish language conference.
Population
The population of the city, as of January 1, 1998, is approximately 295,000 residents. Among these, there are some 172,000 Ukrainians, 46,000 Russians, 29,000 Romanians (divided into 16,000 Romanians and 13,000 Moldavians), 7,000 Poles, and others.
In Romania, the city is considered to have an illustrious history as one of Romania's greatest cultural and educational centres.
In May 1999, Romania opened its consulate general in the city.
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