Vylkove (, ; ; ) is a small

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

located in the Ukrainian part of the

Danube Delta The Danube Delta (, ; , ) is the second largest river delta in Europe, after the Volga Delta, and is the best preserved on the continent. Occurring where the Danube, Danube River empties into the Black Sea, most of the Danube Delta lies in Romania ...

, at utmost southwest of

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, on the border with

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. Administratively, it is part of

Izmail Raion Izmail Raion (; ; ) is a raion (administrative division) in Odesa Oblast in southwestern Ukraine. Its administrative center is the town of Izmail. It is in the historical region of Budjak in southern Bessarabia. Population: On 18 July 2020, as ...

(

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

) of

Odesa Oblast Odesa Oblast (), also referred to as Odeshchyna (Одещина), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, located along the northern coast of the Black Sea. Its administrative centre is the city of Ode ...

(

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

). Vylkove hosts the administration of

Vylkove urban hromada Vylkove urban hromada () is a hromada (municipality) in Ukraine, in Izmail Raion of Odesa Oblast. The administrative center is the city of Vylkove. Population: Until 18 July 2020, the hromada belonged to Kiliia Raion. The raion was abolished in ...

, one of the

hromada In Ukraine, a hromada () is the main type of municipality and the third level Administrative divisions of Ukraine, local self-government in Ukraine. The current hromadas were established by the Cabinet of ministers of Ukraine, Government of Uk ...

s of Ukraine. Population:

Geography

Vylkove is located inside the

marshlands, which makes grain growing almost impossible, thus making

fishery Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life or, more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a., fishing grounds). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish far ...

in the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

, delta lakes and in the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

the main occupation of the local people. In addition, the city is famous for its

viticulture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...

and cultivation of strawberries on the islands in the

river delta A river delta is a landform, archetypically triangular, created by the deposition of the sediments that are carried by the waters of a river, where the river merges with a body of slow-moving water or with a body of stagnant water. The creat ...

. 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. 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,

reedbed A reedbed or reed bed is a natural habitat found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions and estuaries. Reedbeds are part of a succession from young reeds colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground. As ...

s to north from Danube, delta water bodies and adjacent area of the sea ( 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 Kiliia Raion () was a raion (district) in Odesa Oblast of Ukraine. It was part of the historical region of Bessarabia. Its administrative center was the city of Kiliia. The small sector of the Danube Delta that lies in Ukraine lied partially in th ...

. The raion was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of

raion A raion (also spelt rayon) is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet states. The term is used for both a type of subnational entity and a division of a city. The word is from the French (meaning 'honeycomb, department'), and is c ...

s of Odesa Oblast to seven. The area of Kiliia Raion was merged into Izmail Raion.

Demographics

The population is about 9,300, according to the

2001 Ukrainian census The 2001 Ukrainian census is to date the only census of the population of independent Ukraine. It was conducted by the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine on 5 December 2001, twelve years after the last Soviet Union census in 1989.Lipovans The Lipovans or Lippovans are ethnic Russians, Russian Old Believers living in Romania, Ukraine, Moldova and Bulgaria who settled in the Principality of Moldavia, in the east of the Principality of Wallachia (Muntenia), and in the regions of D ...

, about 25% are

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

, and the remainder are

Romanians Romanians (, ; dated Endonym and exonym, exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group and nation native to Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Sharing a Culture of Romania, ...

, Gagauz ( Turkic-speaking followers of the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

), and

Bulgarians Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...

. The main confession is Christian

Old Believers Old Believers or Old Ritualists ( Russian: староверы, ''starovery'' or старообрядцы, ''staroobryadtsy'') is the common term for several religious groups, which maintain the old liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian ...

(

Lipovans The Lipovans or Lippovans are ethnic Russians, Russian Old Believers living in Romania, Ukraine, Moldova and Bulgaria who settled in the Principality of Moldavia, in the east of the Principality of Wallachia (Muntenia), and in the regions of D ...

) (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. 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%).The Ukrainian census of 2001, ethnicity/nationality data by localities, at http://pop-stat.mashke.org/ukraine-ethnic2001.htm

References

External links

museum-collections.odessa.ua
— The Bleschunov Municipal Museum of Personal Collections
vilkovo.info
– Vylkove boat guide. Info and rest-day in Vylkove {{Authority control Populated places on the Danube Danube Delta Romania–Ukraine border crossings Port cities and towns in Ukraine Port cities of the Black Sea Cities of district significance in Ukraine Populated places established in 1746 Old Believer communities Bessarabia Governorate Ismail County Cities in Izmail Raion Former closed cities Populated places in Vylkove urban hromada