"Vâlcov" redirects here. For other uses, see Vâlcov (disambiguation).
Vylkove
City
Native nameВилкове
OblastOdesa Oblast
RaionIzmail Raion
HromadaVylkove urban hromada
Founded1746
City rights1762
Area total4.6 km²
Population as of2022
Population total7712
Coordinates45°23′57″N 29°35′37″E
Elevation0 m
Postal code68355
Area code+380 4843

Vylkove (Ukrainian: Вилкове, ˈwɪlkowe; Russian: Вилково; Romanian: Vâlcov) is a small city located in the Ukrainian part of the Danube Delta, at utmost southwest of Ukraine, on the border with Romania. Administratively, it is part of Izmail Raion (district) of Odesa Oblast (region). Vylkove hosts the administration of Vylkove urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine.[1] Population:

Geography

Vylkove is located inside the Danube Delta marshlands, which makes grain growing almost impossible, thus making fishery in the Danube, delta lakes and in the Black Sea the main occupation of the local people. In addition, the city is famous for its viticulture and cultivation of strawberries on the islands in the river delta.[citation needed] Due to a number of channels excavated inside its territory, get town is also known as "Ukraine's Venice". Boats are the most common method of transportation.[2]

The administration of the Ukrainian Danube Biosphere Reserve is based in Vylkove. The territory of the Reserve includes the islands upstream and downstream the Danube, reedbeds to north from Danube, delta water bodies and adjacent area of the sea (2 km or 1.2 mi from the coast).

History

Vylkove was founded in 1746 and was assigned the status of "town" in 1762.

Until 18 July 2020, Vylkove belonged to Kiliia Raion. The raion was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Odesa Oblast to seven. The area of Kiliia Raion was merged into Izmail Raion.[3][4]

Demographics

The population is about 9,300, according to the 2001 Ukrainian census. About 70% of the population consists of Lipovans, about 25% are Ukrainians, and the remainder are Romanians, Gagauz (Turkic-speaking followers of the Russian Orthodox Church), and Bulgarians. The main confession is Christian Old Believers (Lipovans) (about 70%, mainly Russians), the rest are the members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. There are three churches in Vylkove: two belong to Old Believers and one to Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In 2001, the city of Vylkove was 83.46% Russian-speaking, 15.34% Ukrainian-speaking and 0.54% Moldovan-speaking (Romanian-speaking).[5] (The Ukrainian government classifies the Moldovan language as Romanian.[6][7]) Among the 9,426 inhabitants, there were 2,496 Ukrainians (26.48%), 6,597 Russians (69.99%), 831 Bulgarians (8.82%), and 120 Moldovans (1.27%).[8]

References

  1. ^ "Вилковская громада" (in Russian). Портал об'єднаних громад України.
  2. ^ Tondo, Lorenzo (5 July 2022). "How Ukraine's 'Venice' has borne the brunt of fight for Snake Island". The Guardian
  3. ^ "Про утворення та ліквідацію районів. Постанова Верховної Ради України № 807-ІХ." (in Ukrainian). Голос України. 2020-07-18. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  4. ^ "Нові райони: карти + склад" (in Ukrainian). Міністерство розвитку громад та територій України.
  5. ^ "Рідні мови в об'єднаних територіальних громадах України"
  6. ^ See https://hotnews.ro/guvernul-de-la-kiev-solicita-ca-limba-moldoveneasca-sa-fie-inlocuita-cu-limba-romana-1869401.
  7. ^ See Dan Alexe, "Ukraine removes Russian and Moldovan from protected languages", Moldova 1, at https://moldova1.md/p/41493.
  8. ^ The Ukrainian census of 2001, ethnicity/nationality data by localities, at http://pop-stat.mashke.org/ukraine-ethnic2001.htm