From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rivne
Location
Government
Oblast	Rivne Oblast
Mayor	Viktor Chaika
Geographical characteristics
Area	58.24 km²
Population  - City  - Density	249,900 (2004) 4,274/km²
Coordinates	50°58′N, 26°13′E
Other infoformation
Founded	First mentioned in 1283
Area code	+380 362
Municipal website

Rivne (Ukrainian: Рівне; pre 1991 and in Russian: Ровно, Rovno; Polish: Równe) is a historic city in western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Rivne Oblast (province), as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Rivnensky Raion (district) within the oblast. The city itself is also designated as its own separate raion within the oblast.

Rivne is an important transportation hub, with the international Rivne Airport, and rail links to Zdolbuniv, Sarny and Kovel, as well as highways linking it with Brest, Kiev and Lviv.

The current estimated population is around 249,900 (as of 2004).

Contents 1 History 2 Industry 3 Attractions 3.1 Buildings 3.2 Memorials 4 Famous people from Rivne 5 External links

Rivne was first mentioned in 1283 as one of the inhabited places of Halych-Volhynia. From the second half of the 14th century it was under the Great Duchy of Lithuania and from 1569 in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1492 the city was granted Magdeburg rights. Following the partition of Poland, in 1793 Rivne became a part of Russian Empire, and in 1797 it was declared as a regional town of the Volyn Guberniya.

During World War I and the period of chaos shortly after, it was briefly under German, Ukrainian, Bolshevik, and Polish forces. In April-May of 1919 Rivne served as the temporary capital of Ukrainian People's Republic. At the conclusion of the conflict, in accordance with the Riga Peace Treaty of 1921 it became a part of Poland for the period between the two World Wars.

In 1939, as a result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the partition of Poland, the Western Ukraine was annexed by the Soviet Union and reunited with the Ukrainian SSR, and from December of the same year Rivne became the centre of the newly established Rivne Oblast. On June 28, 1941 Rivne was captured by the Nazi German invaders, who later established the city as the administrative centre of Reichskommissariat Ukraine. At the time, roughly a half of Rivne's inhabitants were Jewish; of these, about 23000 were taken to a pine grove in Sosenki and killed between the 6th and the 8th of November. A ghetto was established for the remaining 5,000 Jews. In July 1942, its population was sent some 70 kilometres north to Kostopol where they were killed; the ghetto was subsequently liquidated.

Following the invasion, partisan resistance immediately began, and a whole division under the command of D.N.Medvedev and espionage agent N.I.Kuznetsov participated in raids on the Nazi occupiers. Also in the city itself there were underground patriotic organisations under command of T.F.Novak, P.M.Miryushchenko, and N.M.Ostafova, and in the Rivno Oblast an underground oblast-committee was active under the first secretary V.A. Begma. The city was finally liberated by the Red Army on February 2, 1944.

In 1958 a TV tower began broadcasting in the city; in 1969 the first trolley ran through the city; in 1969 Rivne airport was opened. In 1983 the city celebrated its 700th anniversary.

During the Soviet time the provincial town was transformed into a massive industrial centre of the republic. There were two significant factories built, Machine building and Metal processing factory, capable of producing high-voltage apparatus, tractor spare parts and others, and Chemical factory, as well as a synthetic materials fabric. Light industry, presented by a linen plant and a textile fabric, as well as food industry, presented by milk and meat factories and a vegetable preservation fabric have also received development. In addition the city became a production centre for furniture and other building materials.

Being an important cultural centre, Rivne hosts a pedagogical, and a hydro-engineering institutes, as well as a faculty of the Kiev State Institute of Culture, and Medical and musical as well as Automobile construction, Soviet trade, textile, agricultural and cooperative polytechnic colleges. The city has a Historical museum and a museum dedicated to the Hero of the Soviet Union N.I.Kuznetsov.

Following the fall of the Soviet Union the monument for the Soviet time hero D.N.Medvedev was removed, and N.I.Kuznetsov monument was moved to another location within the city. Instead, in order to reflect the controversial history of the region the monuments for "Soldiers died in the honour of Ukraine", and "Soldiers died in military battles" were installed.

• Ancient Church of Assumption (1756)
• Cathedral of the Intercession (2001)
• Cathedral of the Ascension (1890)
• A classicism-style gymnasium building (1839)
• During Soviet times the centre of the city from Lenin street to Peace Avenue (1963 architects R.D. Vais and O.I. Filipchuk) was completely rebuilt with Administrative and Public buildings in neo-classical, Stalinist style.

• Heroes of the Great Patriotic War (1948 by I.Ya. Matveenko)
• N.I. Kuznetsov (bronze and granite, 1961 by V.P Vinaikin)
• Victims to Fascism (1968 by A.I. Pirozhenko and B.V. Rychkov, architect-V.M.Gerasimenko)
• Memorial of Battle glory (1975 by M.L. Farina, architect-N.A. Dolgansky)
• Jewish Victims of the Holocaust (ca. 1991)

• Sophie Irene Loeb, a U.S. journalist and social-welfare advocate.
• Mira Spivak, a member of the Canadian Senate representing the province of Manitoba
• Serhiy Honchar, a professional road racing cyclist
• Dan Ben Amotz, an Israeli writer

• (Ukrainian) Rivne, Rovno - my native City
• (Ukrainian) Official website of Rivne City Council and Rivne City Administration
• (Ukrainian) Non-Official website of Rivne City
• (Russian) Rivne Trolleybus

Administrative divisions of Rivne Oblast, Ukraine
Administrative center:  Rivne
Raions	Bereznivskyi · Demydivskyi · Dubenskyi · Dubrovytskyi · Hoshchanskyi · Koretskyi · Kostopilskyi · Mlynivskyi · Ostrozkyi · Radyvylivskyi · Rivnenskyi · Rokytnivskyi · Sarnenskyi · Zarichnenskyi · Zdolbunivskyi
Cities	Berezne · Dubno · Dubrovytsia · Korets · Kostopil · Kuznetsovsk · Ostroh · Radyvyliv · Rivne · Sarny · Zdolbuniv
Urban-type settlements	Demydivka · Hoshcha · Mlyniv · Rokytne · Sosnove · Tuczyn · Zarichne · more...
Villages	Mezhirichi · more...

v • d • e Administrative divisions of Ukraine
Capital: Kiev
Oblasts	Cherkasy · Chernihiv · Chernivtsi · Dnipropetrovsk · Donetsk · Ivano-Frankivsk · Kharkiv · Kherson · Khmelnytskyi · Kiev · Kirovohrad · Luhansk · Lviv · Mykolaiv · Odessa · Poltava · Rivne · Sumy · Ternopil · Vinnytsia · Volyn · Zakarpattia · Zaporizhia · Zhytomyr
Cities with special status	Kiev City · Sevastopol City
Autonomous Republic	Autonomous Republic of Crimea
Administrative centers	Cherkasy · Chernihiv · Chernivtsi · Dnipropetrovsk · Donetsk · Ivano-Frankivsk · Kharkiv · Kherson · Khmelnytskyi · Kiev City · Kirovohrad · Luhansk · Lutsk · Lviv · Mykolaiv · Odessa · Poltava · Rivne · Sevstopol City · Simferopol · Sumy · Ternopil · Uzhhorod · Vinnytsia · Zaporizhia · Zhytomyr