Odessa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast (province) located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 (as of the 2001 census).

In the 19th century it was the fourth largest city of Imperial Russia, after Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Warsaw. Its historical architecture has a style more Mediterranean than Russian, having been heavily influenced by French and Italian styles. Some buildings are built in a mixture of different styles, including Art Nouveau, Renaissance and Classicist.

Odessa is a warm water port, but militarily it is of limited value. Turkey's control of the Dardanelles and Bosphorus has enabled NATO to control water traffic between Odessa and the Mediterranean Sea. The city of Odessa hosts two important ports: Odessa itself and Yuzhny (also an internationally important oil terminal), situated in the city's suburbs. Another important port, Illichivs'k (or Ilyichyovsk), is located in the same oblast, to the south-west of Odessa. Together they represent a major transport hub integrating with railways. Odessa's oil and chemical processing facilities are connected to Russia's and EU's respective networks by strategic pipelines.

Odessa is one from the largest resort centers of Ukraine. The climate of Odessa differs softness and moderation. An original regulator of climatic conditions is Black sea - it weakens heat in the summer and softens frosts in the winter. The combination of a sea and steppe climate, the warm sea, fine beaches, a plenty of sunny days an abundance of fruit and vegetables - all this creates here exclusive conditions for rest, tourism and strengthenings of health of people. The increasing popularity is won with a new resort zone Carolina-Bugaz, Zatoka. In the summer about 100 bases of rest the Resort here operates to be in 60 kilometers on the SOUTH from Odessa. Located on a height washed from the SOUTH and the WEST by Black sea, surrounded from the north and the east steppes where nothing interferes with free movement of air, Odessa has one of the most healthy climates. Air in it dry, soft, pure, especially in the summer. It much more richly oxygen, than ordinary air. The summer lasts till 145 days.