MAP OF LVIV UKRAINE
Lviv is the largest city in Western Ukraine and the sixth-largest city in Ukraine overall, with a population of 717,510 (2021 Lviv is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine.Named in honour of Leo, the eldest son of Daniel, King of Ruthenia, it was the capital of the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia[5] from 1272 to 1349, when it was conquered by King Casimir III the Great of Poland. From 1434, it was the regional capital of the Ruthenian Voivodeship in the Kingdom of Poland. In 1772, after the First Partition of Poland, the city became the capital of the Habsburg Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. In 1918, for a short time, it was the capital of the West Ukrainian People's Republic. Between the wars, the city was the centre of the Lwów Voivodeship in the Second Polish Republic.
After the German-Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, Lviv became part of the Soviet Union, and in 1944–46 there was a population exchange between Poland and Soviet Ukraine. In 1991, it became part of the independent nation of Ukraine.
Lviv serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion and had the status of city of oblast significance before that designation was abolished in 2020. It has the administration of Lviv urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Lviv is divided into six raions (districts), each with its own administrative bodies:
Halych district (Галицький район, Halytskyi raion)
Zaliznytsia district (Залізничний район, Zaliznychnyi raion), literally railway neighborhood
Lychakiv district (Личаківський район, Lychakivs'kyi raion)
Sykhiv district (Сихівський район, Sykhivs'kyi raion)
Franko district (Франківський район, Frankivs'kyi raion), named after Ivan Franko.
Shevchenko district (Шевченківський район, Shevchenkivs'kyi raion), named after Taras Shevchenko.
Notable suburbs include Vynnyky (місто Винники), Briukhovychi (селище Брюховичі), and Rudne (селище Рудне).
Lviv residents live 75 years on average, and this age is 7 years longer than the average age in Ukraine and 8 years more than the world average (68 years). In 2010 the average life expectancy was 71 among men and 79.5 years among women. The fertility rates have been steadily increasing between 2001 and 2010; however, the effects of low fertility in the previous years remained noticeable even though the birth rates grew. There is an acute shortage of young people under the age of 25. In 2011, 13.7% of Lviv's population consisted of young people under 15 years and 17.6% of persons aged 60 years and over. Market (Rynok) Square is a major tourist attraction in Lviv.
Due to a comprehensive cultural programme and tourism infrastructure (having more than 8,000 hotel rooms, over 1300 cafes and restaurants, free WI-Fi zones in the city centre, and good connection with many countries of the world), Lviv is considered one of Ukraine's major tourist destinations. The city had a 40% increase in tourist visits in the early 2010s; the highest rate in Europe.
The most popular tourist attractions include the Old Town, and the Market Square (Ukrainian: Ploshcha Rynok) which is an 18,300 m2 (196,980 sq ft) square in the city centre where the City Hall is situated, as well as the Black House (Ukrainian: Chorna Kamyanytsia), Armenian Cathedral, the complex of the Dormition Church which is the main Orthodox church in the city; the St. Peter and Paul Church of the Jesuit Order (one of the largest churches in Lviv); along with the Korniakt Palace, now part of the Lviv History Museum.
Other prominent sites include the Latin Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary; St. George's Cathedral of the Greek-Catholic Church; the Dominican Church of Corpus Christi; Chapel of the Boim family; the Lviv High Castle (Ukrainian: Vysokyi Zamok) on a hill overlooking the centre of the city; the Union of Lublin Mound; the Lychakivskiy Cemetery where the notable people were buried; and the Svobody Prospekt which is Lviv's central street. Other popular places include Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet, the Potocki Palace, and the Bernardine Church. Outdoor sculptures in the city commemorate many notable individuals and topics reflecting the rich and complex history of Lviv. There are monuments to Adam Mickiewicz, Ivan Franko, King Danylo, Taras Shevchenko, Ivan Fedorov, Solomiya Krushelnytska, Ivan Pidkova, Mykhailo Hrushevskyi, Pope John Paul II, Jan Kiliński, Ivan Trush, Saint George, Bartosz Głowacki, the monument to the Virgin Mary, to Nikifor, The Good Soldier Švejk, Stepan Bandera, Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, and many others.
During the interwar period there were monuments commemorating important figures of Polish history. Some of them were moved to the Polish Recovered Territories after World War II, like the monument to Aleksander Fredro, which now is in Wrocław, the monument of King John III Sobieski, which after 1945 was moved to Gdańsk, and the monument of Kornel Ujejski, which is now in Szczecin. A book market takes place around the