Chernivtsi is a city in western Ukraine. It is situated on the upper course of the Prut River, and is the administrative center of Chernivtsi Oblast, which includes the Ukrainian part of Bukovina. Chernivtsi is also the administrative center of Chernivtsi Raion and hosts the administration of the Chernivtsi urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. At the time of the 2001 Ukrainian Census, the population of the city was 240,600. The current population is 265,471
Chernivtsi is viewed as one of Western Ukraine's main cultural centers. The city is also considered one of Ukraine's important educational and architectural sites. Inhabited by Early Slavic tribes since the 2nd or 5th century AD, the area in which present-day Chernivtsi is located became part of Kievan Rus' in the 9th-11th century. Chernivtsi was also part, for almost two centuries, of the Principality of Moldavia. Located on the border with Poland, the city flourished enjoying a high degree of autonomy. The city came under Turkish control in 1538, and was later devastated by the Russo-Turkish War.