Kharkov is the administrative center of the Kharkov region, located in the north-eastern part of Ukraine. Kharkov is the second largest city in Ukraine after Kiev and has over 1,460,000 inhabitants. The territory of the city is nearly 300 square kilometers but well developed transportation system makes any part of the city easily accessible. Kharkov
is one of the greenest cities of Ukraine with more then 12,000 hectares of parks, alleys and gardens.

Kharkov was founded in the 17th century. According to a legend, the city was named after the first settler, a Cossack called Kharek. Originally, there was a fortress to defend the area from the raids of Tatars. In the early years of the Soviet Union, Kharkov was the capital of Ukraine and was a military stronghold to protect Russia's southern borderlands. Kharkiv lost its military significance since and became a trade and industrial center instead but there is quite a violent history nevertheless.

Kharkov is not much of a tourist city really. It is an industrial area and trade center of Ukraine. At the same time, visitors who come to the city on business trips usually like it. They admit that the city has beautiful parks, squares and gardens. Some sights worth visiting include for example the city's main square is - the largest square in Ukraine and one of the largest in Europe. It is the venue of festivals, concerts, fairs, rallies, meetings, and other public events. The State Industry Building located here is a unique architectural construction. It was built in 1925-1928 to become the first high-rise building in the country. The following figures indicate the scope of the structure: total site area occupies 11,000 square meters and the facade length is 300 meters.