This one time capital of the Ukraine is the largest center of science and culture in Ukraine. There are more than 180 science-oriented organizations, 60 of which are scientific research institutes; more than 170 educational centers, 21 of which are rated as the highest educational institutions and the balance being special secondary education schools, the number of private and state owned higher education institutions has now reached 80. There are 49 cultural centers and institutions, among them 5 museums, a town art gallery, and six major theatres. There are more than 80 libraries in the town! These figures justify the opinion "Kharkov is intellect".
The town is situated in the north-eastern part of Ukraine, on the border of two landscape belts - forest-steppe and steppe, near the junction of the Lopan and the Udy rivers, that flow into the Seversky Donets. The territory of the town is a slightly rolling plane, grooved with river beds, clefts and valleys. Kharkov sits on five hills and five vales ranging from 344 to 643 feet above the sea level. At present, takes up 117 sq miles with 49 of these devoted to parks, gardens and green ways. In spite of its considerable size, the town's layout is tight with a well developed town transport network (underground, tram, trolley bus, bus, shuttle taxi) affording easy access to any part of the city.
There are many reasons why Kharkov deserves deference and attention and among them are its eventful history, it's rapid economic development, its rise to the cutting edge of advanced science in the 20th century, and its bright and manifold cultural life.
Any point of the globe which is bestowed with charm and appeal owes that appeal to the people living there and their deeds. This is also true in relation to Kharkov. The Kharkovites are not an idle people. They made their contribution to space exploration and aviation development, and to the improvement of farming methods in Ukraine. After the advent of independent Ukraine, the people of the city actively took up converting the arms industry to civil purposes, developing communications systems, creating joint ventures, reconstruction of light and heavy industry including machine tool construction, heavy engineering industry, power machinery construction, food production and the chemical industry.