Kherson

Kherson (Russian and Ukrainian: ХерÑ?он) is a city in southern Ukraine, the capital of Kherson Oblast, with 303,900 inhabitants (2004). It is an important port on the Black Sea and Dnieper River, also a home to major ship-building industry.

Kherson was founded in 1778 by Grigori Aleksandrovich Potemkin who executed the order of Russian Empress Catherine the Great. The city was built on place of a small fortress Aleksandr-Shants.