Zhytomyr (Ukrainian: Житомир [ʒɪˈtɔmɪr] ⓘ; see below for other names) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine.

Zhytomyr was also the location of Ozerne airbase, a key Cold War strategic aircraft base 11 kilometres (6.8 miles) southeast of the city.

Important economic activities of Zhytomyr include lumber milling, food processing, granite quarrying, metalworking, and the manufacture of musical instruments.

This date, 884, is cut into a large stone of the ice age times, standing on the hill where Zhytomyr was founded.

After the Union of Lublin (1569) the city was incorporated into the Crown of the Polish Kingdom and in 1667, following the Treaty of Andrusovo, it became the capital of the Kiev Voivodeship.

Following the privilege of King Sigismund III Vasa, Zhytomyr had the right for two fairs a year.

The Nazi regime in what they called the "Zhytomyr General District" became what historian Wendy Lower describes asa laboratory for… Himmler's resettlement activists… the elimination of the Jews and German colonization of the East—transformed the landscape and devastated the population to an extent that was not experienced in other parts of Nazi-occupied Europe besides Poland.

[While]… [u]ltimately, the exigencies of the war effort and mounting partisan warfare behind the lines prevented Nazi leaders from fully developing and realizing their colonial aims in Ukraine… In addition to the immediate destruction of all Jewish communities, Himmler insisted that the Ukrainian civilian population be brought to a 'minimum.

During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Zhytomyr and the surrounding area were subjected to several Russian air and missile strikes, such as the 2 March airstrike which damaged residential buildings, a thermal electricity plant, and two hospitals, killing at least two and injuring more than a dozen.

The printing of Hebrew books was permitted only in these two cities during the monopoly of Hebrew printing from 1845 to 1862, and both were chosen as the seats of the two rabbinical schools which were established by the government in 1848 in pursuance of its plans to force secular education on the Jews of Russia in accordance with the program of the Teutonized Russian Haskalah movement.

The latter remained at the head of the school until it was closed (together with the one at Vilnius) in 1873 because of its failure to provide rabbis with a secular education who would be acceptable to the Jewish communities.

In the four months beginning with Himmler's 25 July 1942 orders, "all of Ukraine's shtetls and ghettos lay in ruins; around 3,000[20] Jewish men, women, and children were murdered by stationary and mobile SS-police units with local Ukrainian auxiliaries.

[22] Monuments of historical, cultural and religious significance in the city of Zhytomyr include: In 1996, the Memorial to the Victims of Fascism was erected in Bohunia by the sculptor Yosyp Tabachnyk (a memorable location of the Bohunіa concentration camp for prisoners of war).

Zhytomyr lies in a unique natural setting; all sides of the city are surrounded by ancient forests through which flow the Teteriv, Kamianka, Kroshenka and Putiatynka rivers.

Just behind the building (that is to the west of Sobornyi Square) is a small quiet park, bearing the name of Zamkova Gora (Castle Mountain) and containing a monument-type boulder with an inscription stating that this is a place where Zhytomyr was founded.

The old part of Zhytomyr is on three rocky hills over the river Kamianka: Okhrimova, Zamkova, and Petrovska.

The old town is surrounded by new housing estates, the names of which are often borrowed from the former suburban villages or reflect the longstanding occupations common in these places.

A puppet theatre is nestled in the middle of the street, while the building of the Zhytomyr City Council is at its southern end.

Several small coffee houses and cafés have sprung up here recently, frequented by locals from all walks of life and of all ages.

The best-known park of Zhytomyr is named after Yuri Gagarin, in the south of the city, at the left (northern) bank of the Teteriv River.

The factory has been one of the main repair facilities in Ukraine since the start of the Russo-Ukrainian War, running on 3 shifts.

In September 2014 it was announced that the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine had placed a ₴280 million order with the factory.

Railways connect Koziatyn with Zhytomyr (through Berdychiv), Korosten, Zviahel, Korostyshiv and Fastiv.

Common kinds of public transport shuttling within Zhytomyr are trolleybuses, buses, and minibuses.

The total length of Zhytomyr city electric transport routes (trolleybuses and trams) is 275 km.

Zhytomyr is the first city in Ukraine to implement e-ticket system in all municipal public transport.