Kirovograd

Kirovograd, a city in central Ukraine, is the capital of Kirovograd region. The population of the city is 270,000. It's situated on the Ingul River.

Located on the fertile Dnepr River upland, where grains, sugar beets and sunflowers are grown, Kirovograd is an agricultural, trade and machine-building center and a highway hub. It has a rail depot and an airport.

Known for its large farm machinery plant, the city also produces food products, consumer goods and building materials.

Educational institutions in Kirovograd include the institute of agricultural machine building, teacher training institute and the pilot school. There's a music and drama theater, a puppet theater, a philharmonic orchestra, and a regional museum here.

Kirovograd has churches built the 19th century and part of the old fortress erected in 1754 and called St. Elizabeth. Founded on Zaporozhye Cossack territory by the Russian imperial government, the fortress protected settlers on Russia's southern frontier from the raids of Ottoman Turks and the Crimean Tatars. It served as a base for operations against the Ottoman Empire from 1768 to 1774 during Russian-Turkish Wars.

The town that grew up around the fortress was named Yelizavetgrad in 1775. Major growth occurred after the railroad was built here in the late 1860s and the British-owned Ellworthy farm-machinery plant was established in 1874.

The city was renamed Zinovyevsk in 1924, Kirovo in 1934, and Kirovograd in 1939.

Take a personal romance tour to Kirovograd, Ukraine, and you'll definitely have a good time meeting beautiful Ukrainian ladies!