Odessa guide

City, capital of Odessa region, in Ukraine, a port on Odessa Bay of the Black Sea. Territory 160 square km. Population 1,059,000 (2001). The third largest Ukrainian city after Kiev and Kharkov, a major industrial, cultural, scientific, and resort center in the Northern Black Sea region. Russians, Ukrainians, and Jews predominate in Odessa's cosmopolitan population.



Currency: Ukrainian Hryvna

Climate

Moderately continental and comparatively dry. There are more than 290 sunny days in the year. Winter is short and mild with an average temperature of around freezing point. Falling snow and temperatures below minus 10 Celsius are rare. Summer is long and hot with an average temperature of 25 Celsius. Temperatures above 35 Celsius are quite often.

Economics

Odessa is the largest seaport of Ukraine as well as an important rail junction and highway hub. Odessa is a major industrial center. Grain, sugar, machinery, coal, petroleum products, cement, metals, jute, and timber are the chief items of trade at the port of Odessa, which is the leading Ukrainian Black Sea port. Odessa is also a naval base and the home port of a fishing and an Antarctic whaling fleet. The city's industries include shipbuilding, oil refining, machine building, metalworking, food processing, and the manufacture of chemicals, machine tools, clothing, and products made of wood, jute, and silk. The relatively mild climate of Odessa draws visitors to the city’s many resorts. Large health resorts are located nearby.

Transportation

Odessa has regular air connections with Vienna (Austrian Airlines and Air Ukraine International, daily), Tel Aviv (ElAl), Istanbul (Turkey Airlines), Athens, Aleppo, Larnaka, Moscow, Kiev, Kishineu, Yerevan, Tiflis as well as with some other cities of Europe and Asia.
Trains connect Odessa with Warsaw, Prague, Bratislava, Vienna, Berlin, Moscow, Saint–Petersburg, major cities of Ukraine and many other cities of the former Soviet Union. Buses go between Odessa and Germany (Berlin, Hamburg, Munich), Greece (Thessalonica, Athens), Bulgaria (Varna, Sophia) as well as major cities in Ukraine. There is regular passenger ship transportation between Odessa and Istanbul, Haifa and Varna.