What is Mykolaiv?
[[File:Mykolayiv, Namyv.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Mykolaiv, view of ''Namyv'' [[microdistrict]].]] [[File:Flag of Mykolaiv.svg|thumb|250px|Flag of Mykolaiv]] [[File:Coat of arms of Nikolayev.svg|right|250px|thumb|Blazon of Mykolaiv]] '''Mykolaiv''' ({{lang-uk|Миколаїв}}, also referred to as or '''Mykolayiv, Nikolaev,''' or '''Nikolayev'''; {{lang-pl|Mikołajów}}) is a major [[city]] in southern [[Ukraine]]. The city is located 65&nbsp;[[kilometer]]s from the [[Black Sea]] along the [[estuary]] of the [[Southern Buh]] river (where it meets the [[Inhul]] River) at around {{coord|46|58|N|32|0|E|region:UA_type:city(514,000)}}. Population 430,000 (as of [https://www.ukr.net/news/details/mikolayiv/104259498.html Estimate 2024]). == Administrative status == It is the [[Capital city|administrative center]] of the [[Mykolaiv Oblast]] ([[Oblast|province]]), as well as of both the [[Mykolaivsky Raion|Mykolaivsky]] and [[Zhovtnevy Raion|Zhovtnevy]] [[raion]]s (districts) within the oblast. However, Mykolaiv is a [[Administrative divisions of Ukraine|city of oblast subordinance]], thus being subject directly to the oblast authorities rather to the raion administration housed in the city itself. == History == The town was founded in [[1789]] by the Russian [[Guberniya|Governor General]] of [[Novorossiya]] [[Knyaz]] [[Grigori Aleksandrovich Potemkin|Potemkin]] initially as a shipyard called simply a ''New Shipyard on the Ingul river''. Knyaz Potemkin signed an order to construct a shipyard on [[August 27]], 1789, which is considered to be a city birth date. The shipyard was to serve for the repair of the [[Russian Navy]] ships in the [[Russo-Turkish War, 1787-1792|Russo-Turkish war]]. Later Potemkin ordered the shipyard to be named ''Nikolaev'' to commemorate the date of fall of [[Ochakov]] to the Russian troops under his command on [[December 6]], [[1788]], close to the day of [[Saint Nicholas]] ''(Nikolay)'' December 19, in the [[Russian Orthodox Church]]. [[File:Prospekt Lenina (Mykolaiv).jpg|thumb|left|250px|View of th