Ternopil, known until 1944 mostly as Tarnopol, is a city in western Ukraine, located on the banks of the Seret River. Ternopil is one of the major cities of Western Ukraine and the historical regions of Galicia and Podolia. The population of Ternopil was estimated at 225,004 (2022 estimate).
Founded as a border fortress of the Kingdom of Poland, the city remained property of several noble families and became an important centre of trade, but suffered from numerous attacks by Turks, Tatars and Zaporozhian Cossacks. After a period of decline, it saw a new period of development in the 19th century thanks to its role as a transit location between the Austrian monarchy and Russian Empire. During the early 20th century Ternopil was the only city in Galicia where Ukrainians were more numerous than Poles. During and immediately after World War I the city experienced periods of Russian, Ukrainian and Soviet rule, before being incorporated by Interwar Poland. During the Second World War Ternopil was occupied by Soviet and German troops and suffered severe damage. In the aftermath of the war, it was incorporated into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, a member republic of the USSR. Since 1991 Ternopil has been part of independent Ukraine.
The city is the administrative center of Ternopil Oblast (region), as well as of surrounding Ternopil Raion (district) within the oblast. It hosts the administration of Ternopil urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine.
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History
The city was founded in 1540 by Polish commander and Hetman Jan Amor Tarnowski. Its Polish name, Tarnopol, means 'Tarnowski's city' and stems from a combination of the founder's family name and the Greek term polis. The city served as a military stronghold and castle protecting the eastern borders of Polish Kingdom from Tatar raids. On 15 April 1540, the King of Poland, Sigismund I the Old, in Kraków gave Tarnowski permission to establish Tarnopol, near Sopilcze (Sopilche). In 1570, the city passed to the Ostrogski family, and in 1623 to the Zamoyski family. During the Khmelnytsky Uprising, many residents of the city joined the ranks of the Cossack forces. During the 1672–1676 Polish–Ottoman War, Tarnopol was almost completely destroyed by Turkish forces of Ibrahim Shishman Pasha in 1675, then rebuilt by Aleksander Koniecpolski.
A period of decline followed, during which the city suffered from the rebellion of Bar Confederation, and in 1770 its population was significantly reduced by a cholera epidemic. In 1772, after the First Partition of Poland, the city came under Austrian rule. In 1809, after the War of the Fifth Coalition, the city came under Russian rule, incorporated into the newly created Ternopol krai, but in 1815 returned to Austrian rule in accordance with the Congress of Vienna. In 1870 Tarnopol was connected by railway with Lemberg and Pidvolochysk. During the late 19th and early 20th century it was the only urban locality in Galicia, where ethnic Ukrainians formed a majority compared to Poles. In 1898 a Ukrainian language gymnasium was opened in the city. Among notable representatives of the Ukrainian national movement active in Ternopil during that period were Oleksander Barvinsky and Volodymyr Luchakivskyi.
During World War I, the city passed from German and Austro-Hungarian forces to Russia several times. In 1916 a Ukrainian theatre and a number of schools teaching in the Ukrainian language were opened. In 1917 the city and its castle were burned down by fleeing Russian forces. After the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Ternopil was proclaimed part of the West Ukrainian People's Republic on 11 November 1918. After Polish forces captured Lwów during the Polish-Ukrainian War, Tarnopol became the country's temporary capital. After the Act of Union between the West Ukrainian Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic, Ternopil formally became part of the UPR. On 15 July 1919, the city was captured by Polish forces. In July and August 1920, the Red Army captured Ternopil in the course of the Polish-Soviet War, and the city served as the capital of the short-lived Galician Soviet Socialist Republic. Under the terms of the Riga treaty, the area remained under Polish control.
Geography
Climate
Ternopil has a moderate continental climate with cold winters and warm summers.
Demographics
Historical population
According to the 2001 Ukrainian census, Ternopil city and Ternopil Oblast are homogeneously populated by ethnic Ukrainians. Both Ternopil city and Ternopil Oblast are also homogeneously Ukrainian-speaking.
Starting from the city's foundation and until the 20th century its demographics were dominated by Ukrainians, Poles and Jews. In 1900 44,3% of Ternopil's population belonged to Jewish religion, with most of the rest being Ukrainians and Poles. By 1939 the Jewish population had declined to 39,3%, the number of Poles had risen to 39,7% and Ukrainians comprised 19,2% of the population.
The city's population underwent a radical change following the establishment of the Soviet regime, and by 1959 78% of its inhabitants were Ukrainians, 15% - Russians, meanwhile the share of Poles had declined to 5%.
Modern situation
National breakdown of Ternopil Oblast (total population 1,138,500):
Ukrainians: 1,113,500 (97.8%)
Russians: 14,250 (1.2%)
Poles: 3,800 (0.3%)
Native languages in Ternopil:
Ukrainian language: 94.8%
Russian language: 3.37%
Belarusian language: 0.07%
Polish language: 0.04%
According to a survey conducted by the International Republican Institute in 2023, 98% of the city's population spoke Ukrainian at home and 1% spoke Russian.
Economy
Ternopil is a centre for the light industry, food industry, radio-electronic and construction industries. In the Soviet and early post-Soviet period, a harvester plant and a porcelain factory operated in the city.
Transport
Ternopil is an important railway hub with connections to most major railway stations of Ukraine. The city lies on the M12 international highway connecting western and central regions of Ukraine. Trolleybus lines and a bus station are active in the city. Water transport operates on Ternopil artificial lake mostly for tourist purposes. An airport was opened for civilian traffic in 1985, but ceased commercial operations in 2010.
Higher education
Universities include:
West Ukrainian National University
Ternopil Ivan Pul'uj National Technical University
Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatyuk National Pedagogical University
Ternopil State Medical University
Main sights
Ternopil Regional Art Museum
Ternopil Drama Theater
Church of the Exaltation of the Cross, Ternopil
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of The Blessed Virgin Mary
The sanctuary of Our Lady of Zarvanytsia with a miraculous icon of the 13th century called icon of the Mother of God of Zarvanytsia, sanctuary of Greek-Catholic rite. Located about 40 km from Ternopil, celebrated on 22 July.
Notable people
Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz (1890–1963), Polish philosopher and logician, researched model theory
Henryk Baranowski (1943–2013), Polish theatre, opera and film director, actor, playwright and poet
Vasyl Barvinsky (1888–1963), Ukrainian composer, pianist, conductor and musicologist
Eugeniusz Baziak (1890–1962), Archbishop of Lviv and apostolic administrator of Kraków.
Natalia Buchynska (born 1977), singer, brought up in Ternopil.
Mykola Bychok (born 1980), Ukrainian Greek Catholic cardinal and bishop
Vitaly Derekh (1987–2022), Ukrainian journalist and soldier
Mariia Dilai (born 1980), Ukrainian artist, designer, and social activist
Ihor Duda (1940–2025), Ukrainian art historian, local historian, teacher, editor, restorer, and cultural activist
Alexandre Eremenko (born 1954), Ukrainian-American mathematician
Daria Chubata (born 1940), Ukrainian physician, author and social activist
Mykola Chubatyi (1889-1975), historian of Ukrainian Church
Cyryl Czarkowski-Golejewski (1885–1940), aristocratic Polish landowner and Katyn massacre victim
Charlotte Eisler (1894-1970), Austrian singer and pianist with the Second Viennese School
Sport
Olga Babiy (born 1989), Ukrainian chess player and Woman Grandmaster
Petr Badlo (born 1976), Ukrainian football manager and former footballer with 470 club caps
Olha Maslivets (born 1978), Russian windsurfer who competed at four Summer Olympics
Ihor Semenyna (born 1989), Ukrainian football midfielder with 330 club caps
People from Ternopil Oblast
Aleksander Brückner, (1856 in Berezhany – 1939), Polish scholar of Slavic languages and literature
Ihor Gereta (1938–2002), Ukrainian archaeologist, public and political figure, and art historian
Volodymyr Hnatiuk (1871 in Velesniv, Buchach – 1926), Ukrainian writer, literary scholar, journalist and ethnographer
Bohdan Lepky (1872-1941), Ukrainian writer, poet and artist
Ivan Horbachevsky (1854-1942), Ukrainian chemist and politician active in Austria-Hungary, Minister of Healthcare of Cisleithania
Josyf Slipyj (1892-1984), Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest, Metropolitan of Lviv and Halych
Solomiya Krushelnytska (1872 in Biliavyntsi — 1952), Ukrainian soprano
Bohdan Lepky (1872 in Krehulets – 1941), Ukrainian writer, poet, scholar, public figure, and artist
Ivan Pului (1845 in Hrymailiv – 1918), physicist and inventor, developed use of X-rays for medical imaging
Casimir Zeglen (1869 near Tarnopol - 1927), Polish-American engineer, inventor of commercial bulletproof vest
Methodius (Kudriakov) (1949-2015), metropolitan of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.
Serhiy Prytula (born 1981 in Zbarazh), Ukrainian TV show host, political activist, founder of Charity Foundation of Serhiy Prytula
Lived in Ternopil
Sofia Yablonska (1907-1971), Ukrainian-French travel writer, photographer and architect
Les Kurbas (1887-1937), Ukrainian theatre director and actor, founder of the first Ukrainian theatre in Ternopil
International relations
Ternopil is twinned with:
Erftstadt, Germany since 2023
Sliven, Bulgaria
Yonkers, United States (since 1991)
Elbląg in Poland (since 1992)
Chorzów, Poland
Prudentopolis, Brazil
Batumi, Georgia
Former twin towns include:
Tarnów in Poland
Pinsk in Belarus
Stadium naming controversy
In 2021, Ternopil created international outrage, especially in the Jewish community, by deciding to name a city stadium in honor of Nazi collaborator Roman Shukhevych. Shukhevych was the military leader of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army during World War II and was known for his collaboration with the Nazi regime as well as his responsibility for the massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia. As a result, the City Council of Tarnów decided to suspend its partnership with Ternopil.
Joel Lion, the Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine, expressed Israel’s strong objection to the city's choice to name the stadium in honor of Roman Shukhevych. Lion wrote, "We strongly condemn the decision of Ternopil city council to name the City Stadium after the infamous Hauptman (Captain) of the SS 201st Schutzmannschaft Roman Shukhevych and demand the immediate cancellation of this decision".
The Eastern Europe Director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Efraim Zuroff wrote,
"It is fully understandable that Ternopil seeks to honor those who fought against Soviet Communism, but not those behind the mass murder of innocent fellow citizens." in a statement attempting to convince Ternopil to reconsider the "renaming of its stadium in honor of Nazi collaborator, Hauptmann of the SS Schutzmannschaft 201, Roman Shukhevych, an active participant in the mass murder of Jews and Poles in World War II."
Russo-Ukrainian War
In June 2022, due to the full-scale Russian invasion and missile strikes from the territory of Belarus, Ternopil suspended its partnership with the city of Pinsk.
Festivals
An international open-air music festival called Faine Misto has been held annually near Ternopil for two to four days in July since 2013.