Vylkove ( uk, Ви́лкове, ; russian: link=no, Вилково; ro, Vâlcov) is a small city located in the Ukrainian part of the

Danube Delta The Danube Delta ( ro, Delta Dunării, ; uk, Дельта Дунаю, Deľta Dunaju, ) is the second largest river delta in Europe, after the Volga Delta, and is the best preserved on the continent. The greater part of the Danube Delta lies in Ro ...

, at utmost southwest of Ukraine, on the border with Romania. Administratively it is part of Izmail Raion ( district) of Odesa Oblast ( region). Vylkove hosts the administration of

Vylkove urban hromada Vylkove ( uk, Ви́лкове, ; russian: link=no, Вилково; ro, Vâlcov) is a small city located in the Ukrainian part of the Danube Delta, at utmost southwest of Ukraine, on the border with Romania. Administratively it is part of Izma ...

, one of the

hromada A hromada ( uk, територіальна громада, lit=territorial community, translit=terytorialna hromada) is a basic unit of administrative division in Ukraine, similar to a municipality. It was established by the Government of Ukra ...

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 ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...

in the Danube, delta lakes and in the Black Sea the main occupation of the local people. In addition, the city is famous for its viticulture and cultivation of strawberries on the islands in the river delta. 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 Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

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 ...

. The municipality was abolished as an administrative unit in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions 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 Ukrainian Census conducted in 2001. About 70% of the population consists of Lipovans, about 25% are Ukrainians, and the remainder are Romanians, Gagauz (Turkic speaking followers of the Russian Orthodox Church), and Bulgarians. The main confession is Christian

Old Believers Old Believers or Old Ritualists, ''starovery'' or ''staroobryadtsy'' are Eastern Orthodox Christians who maintain the liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian Orthodox Church as they were before the reforms of Patriarch Nikon of Moscow bet ...

(Lipovans) (about 70%, mainly Russians), the rest are the members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. There are three churches in Vilkovo: two belong to Old Believers and one to Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

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 Cities in Odesa Oblast 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