Lviv

Lviv

Lviv (/ləˈviːv/ lə-VEEV or /ləˈviːf/ lə-VEEF; Ukrainian: Львів [ˈlʲwiu̯] ⓘ; see below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the sixth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of 717,500 (2022 estimate).[5] It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion,[6] and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine. Lviv also hosts the administration of Lviv urban hromada. It was named after Leo I of Galicia, the eldest son of Daniel, King of Ruthenia. Lviv emerged as the centre of the historical regions of Red Ruthenia and Galicia in the 14th century, superseding Halych, Chełm, Belz, and Przemyśl. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia[7] from 1272 to 1349, when it was conquered by King Casimir III the Great of Poland. From 1434, it was the regional capital of the Ruthenian Voivodeship in the Kingdom of Poland. In 1772, after the First Partition of Poland, the city became the capital of the Habsburg Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. In 1918, for a short time, it was the capital of the West Ukrainian People's Republic. Between the wars, the city was the centre of the Lwów Voivodeship in the Second Polish Republic. After the German-Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, Lviv was annexed by the Soviet Union.