Lviv (in Ukrainian: Львів – Ľviv) is the principal city of western Ukraine. This city, so important to Polish culture, was founded in the 13th century during the reign of Duke of Halich and Vladimir, Daniel, and received the name of his son, Lev. Lvov and the whole Halich territories became Polish dominions under Casimir the Great. As early as in the 15th century Lvov was besides Przemyśl the main city of the Ruthenian voivodship and played for a long time the role of an important centre of first Ruthenian, and then Polish culture and science.
In 1356 Lviv was granted the Magdeburg charter, and a little later – the privilege to use the bi-weekly right of storage which gave the city a definitely privileged position in the Black Sea trade. In the 16th century the city received the right to send its delegates to the Sejm (Parliament). In 1658 it was granted noble rights which meant that the noble burghers were able to pursue their profession without a fear of losing their nobility. The city grew quickly and in the late 16th century became one of the richest in the Polish Republic. Besides Poles, Ruthenians and Jews, Lviv was the home of many Armenians, completely polonised as a rule, whose main activity was trade.
Lviv was the place where the first printed book in the Ukrainian language was published (in 1574) and where the Uspiensk Brotherhood worked and contributed so greatly to the Ruthenian community. And in 1661 the Polish Jesuits founded an Academy,
the predecessor of the Lviv University (the John Casimir University between the two World Wars, and the present Ivan Franko University). After the outbreak of World War II, on 22 September 1939 Lvov was captured by the Red Army. As a result of forged elections conducted on 22 October 1939, Lviv and the Polish parts of Ukraine and Belarus were incorporated into the USSR. The Soviet authorities persecuted the Polish residents of the city. After the German aggression against the USSR, Lviv became a district capital in the Generalgouvernement. On 27 July 1944, seized by the Red Army troops, Lviv was incorporated into the USSR by virtue of agreements concluded during and after World War II by representatives of the great powers. Since August 1991 – on the territory of Ukraine.
The city has developed the motor, machine, electrotechnical, chemical, food-processing, textile and cloth industries. It is an important railway and road junction. It has an airport.
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