The city is located on the right bank of Dnieper River (specifically at the Kremenchuk Reservoir), about 200 km (124 mi) south of the nation's capital, Kyiv.

Cherkasy is situated on the high right bank of the Dnipro River, in the middle of the Kremenchuk Reservoir.

Summers are dry and warm (the average temperature in July is +19.8 °C (67.6 °F)), with occasional highs reaching +35 °C (95 °F).

The city itself is mostly clean of nuclear pollution from the Chernobyl disaster, although the northernmost part of Cherkasy may have been influenced a little.

[14] This number is decreasing because of rising mortality rate, socio-economic situation, and the suburbanisation process in the region.

The city was influenced by the cruel social and economical experiments of Soviet authorities and by World War II.

In 1384 the city was recognized as a fortified town on the southern edge (of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania), forming along with Vinnytsia, Bratslav and Kaniv part of a defensive line against Crimean Tatars.

During the 15th and 16th centuries Cherkasy was one of the main centres that helped the Cossacks in the peopling of the Ukrainian south.

Citizens took part in military campaigns against Tatars and Turks, including operations led by Ivan Pidkova (died 1578).

During that time Cherkasy's Regiment was one of the most powerful military units and took part in all of the battles for Bohdan Khmelnytsky army.

Cherkasy remained part of Poland, but territories east of the Dnieper River including left-bank Ukraine and Zaporizhia were secured for Muscovy.

While in the Polish Kingdom the city was a seat of the county (powiat) which belonged to a greater unit – the Kyiv Voivodeship of the Lesser Poland Province until 1793.

Since the beginning of the 19th century the city was planned by Russian architect, civil engineer and town planner of Scottish descent, William Heste.

Sugar, tobacco, metalwork, mechanical engineering and trade industries were at peak development at that time.

Architect William Heste made a general development plan for the city, which involved building square blocks with straight streets.

After that, however, the city changed its ruler at least 18 times – during the civil war it was conquered by hetman Pavlo Skoropadskyi, then again by Bolsheviks, later by Nykyfor Hryhoriv.

As with all villages and towns in the area, it was a victim of man-made famine in 1932–1933 (Holodomor) and a Great Purge (a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union organised by Joseph Stalin in 1936–1938).

In the 1960s Cherkasy became the chemical giant of the Ukrainian SSR, after "Azot" (the biggest nitrogen fertilizer producing plant), "Khimvolokno" (artificial fiber manufacturing plant), "Khimreaktyv" (chemical reagents for military purposes) and many others were built in the city.

This makes the city a big transport hub, serving the longest dyke in Ukraine (15 km) with rail and road on it.

A lot of big and powerful factories and plants were privatized but couldn't survive in a competitive market.

Some enterprises changed their profile – several (3) factories and plants around the city were united under the "Bogdan Corporation" and started production of buses and cars.

Trolleybuses started serving the city in 1965, and now are operating on 10 routes, from approximately 6 am till 11 pm.

One of the most important railway junctions in Ukraine, is located 23 kilometres (14 miles) from Cherkasy, in the city of Smila, where the Kyiv–Dnipro and Odesa–Moscow rail routes cross.

The previously extensive riverboat service along the Dnieper featuring the Raketa hydrofoil ships no longer exists, limiting river transport to cargo and tour boats and private pleasure craft.

The city has 4 modern movie theatres – "Salut" (a very old building, was the first cinema in Cherkasy), "Ukraine", "Dnipro Plaza" and "Lubava".

Since 2003, Cherkasy hosts international bike festival "Tarasova Gora", which gathers bikers from Ukraine, Russia, and other European countries.

The city is a home to numerous newspapers, among which are "Antenna", "Molod' Cherkashchyny", "Vechirni Cherkasy", "Akcent", "Nova Doba", "Misto", "Cherkasky Kray" etc.

Every year more than 200 sport events, contests, competitions, tournaments are held in the city, with total of 10,000 participants.

Some contests that were held recently include: Other sport achievements are: During its whole history Cherkasy was destroyed and rebuilt numerous times.

The system of streets and squares in the old part of the city is one of the few monuments to the city-building art of 19th century Ukraine.