Kherson (Ukraine)

Kherson (port locode UAKHE) is a Dnieper River cruise port and city in southern Ukraine, located close to Black Sea and with population around 295,000.

Until 1774, the region was part of the Crimean Khanate (a Turkish vassal state) and, from 1478 to 1774, part of the Ottoman Empire. The town was founded in 1778 on the orders of Catherine the Great (Empress of Russia). The name Kherson derives from Chersonesos (an ancient Greek colony). During WW2 (1939-1945), the city was occupied by the Germans (August 1941 through March 1944).

In the period 1929-1941, the city became a major industrial center in the USSR's Black Sea region. Here were built a shipyard, a cannery, a motor plant, an oil refinery, an electric machine building factory, confectionary factory.

During the Soviet Union's time, Kherson's economy was based on shipbuilding and repairs, machine building, manufacturing of construction materials, construction parts, glassware, clothes, cotton,  shoes, sports goods, food industry (canning, bread, dairy, winery, beverages, meat-packing, fish processing, bakery, confectionery, pasta, flavoring).

Since 2006, Kherson Airport has served regularly scheduled international flights, as well as domestic (to Kiev).