Mykolaiv (Ukrainian: Миколаїв, IPA: [mɪkoˈlɑjiu̯] ⓘ; Russian: Николаев, romanized: Nikolayev [nʲɪkɐˈɫa(j)ɪf]) is a city and a hromada (municipality) in southern Ukraine.

The city of Mykolaiv, which provides Ukraine with access to the Black Sea, is the location of the most downriver bridge crossing of the Southern Bug river.

[4] Potemkin named the city after Saint Nicholas, the patron of seafarers, on whose day (6 December) he had obtained victory at the siege of Ochakov[5] in 1788.

The name Nikolaev is known from the legal order (writ) Number 1065 by Prince Potemkin to Mikhail Faleev [ru] dated 27 August 1789.

On 15 April 1924 the Plenum of the Central Administrative-Territorial Commission of the VUTSIK considered and rejected the petition of the Odesan executive committee.

[10] The area was populated throughout time by Scythians, ancient Greeks, Slavic tribes, hordes of nomads and free Zaporozhian Cossacks.

However, the intensive settlement of the Mykolaiv peninsula started in the last quarter of the 18th century already after the liberation of the northern Black Sea coast region from the Ottoman Empire.

[11] By the late 19th century, Mykolaiv's port ranked third in the Russian Empire (after Saint Petersburg and Odesa) in trade with foreign countries.

[12] By being in the area west of the Dnieper which was where Jews were legally allowed to reside (the Pale of Settlement), Mykolaiv became a major Jewish centre of the Russian Empire in the 19th century.

During the course of the 19th century, the Czarist governments largely banned Jews from living east of the Dnieper River.

In 1866 restrictions were lifted and the Jewish community of Mykolaiv developed rapidly but years later Jews suffered in the pogroms of May 1881 and April 1899.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson (the seventh leader in the Chabad-Lubavitch dynasty) was born in Mykolaiv on 18 April 1902.

[13] It was subsequently occupied in 1919 by French and Greek troops who had been attached to the French-commanded Armée d'Orient (1915–1919) in the course of the Greek Ukrainian campaign [ru] - which formed part of the Southern Russia campaign of 1918–1919 by the Allies of World War I during the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War.

On 28 March 1944 the city was liberated, in part because of Soviet Senior Lieutenant Konstantin F. Olshansky's marines and their daring raid during which the majority of his troops were killed.

In the post-war period Mykolaiv became one of the shipbuilding centers of the USSR, with three shipyards: Black Sea, 61 Kommunara, and Okean.

The asteroid 8141 Nikolaev (1982 SO4) was discovered in 1982 by Nikolai Chernykh at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory and was named in honor of the city.

[16] In March 2012, Mykolaiv gained international notoriety for lawlessness and police corruption following the rape and murder of Oksana Makar.

Pro-Ukrainians stopped them from taking over the administration building and destroyed the pro-Russian camp not far from it, after which the situation in the city became calm.

[26] Mykolaiv is located in a primarily flat terrain area, the fertile, grain-producing steppe region of southern Ukraine.

[50] The Soviet Government awarded Mykolaiv the Order of the Red Banner of Labour on 31 December 1970, for successfully fulfilling its assignments for the development of industrial production, in the USSR's five-year economic plan.

[52] Mykolaiv is a major shipbuilding center of Ukraine since the time of both the Russian Empire (1721–1917) and the now defunct Soviet Union (1922–1991) and an important river port.

[53] One of the largest industrial businesses in the city is the Mykolaiv Aluminia Factory (formerly part of Rusal and currently owned by Glencore), which produces aluminium oxide (alumina), raw material for the production of aluminum.

Nibulon (Ukrainian: Нібулон), one of Ukraine's biggest agriculture companies specialized in the production and exportation of grain such as wheat, barley and corn is headquartered in Mykolaiv.

[56] The Mykolaiv Armored Factory (owned by Ukroboronprom) has been a large repair facility for Ukraine's military since the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War.

Russian airline UTAir Aviation offers flights from Mykolaiv to Moscow (Vnukovo – VKO airport).

[62] Ukrainian private national bus companies Gyunsel and Avtoluks operate overnight buses from Kyiv to Mykolaiv seven nights per week.

The bridge connects the North coast of Mykolaiv to its Tsentralnyi District, located on the West Bank of the river.

Television programs that are broadcast in Mykolaiv include movies, news, dramas (some of which originated in other countries, such as Mexico and the US, and are dubbed), cartoons, and professional sporting events such as Ukrainian football (soccer).

[citation needed] The Mykolaiv students won two gold and bronze medals of the Cup of Ukraine on academic rowing.

[69] Mykolaiv is part of the International Black Sea Club and The World Council of Environmental Initiatives, since ICLEI).