Is Kiev and Kyiv the same?
Kiev or Kyiv?
It is clear that these two spellings convey Russian and Ukrainian pronunciation. For some reason, they always used Kiev, and relatively recently they suddenly decided that it should be written as Kyiv, probably because of increased Ukrainization of Ukraine.
How is spelling of pronouns and other names determined in other languages? It is very simple: there is an original, and a copy into another language is made. What happened in the years of the USSR: there was an original in Ukrainian KYIV and it was translated to Russian as KIEV.
Abroad, of course, the USSR was associated with Russia, and this is also easy to understand. If it is one country, then the language should be the same in all the country; that is why everyone wrote KIEV from the Russian version (as official).
In fact, it does not matter to other countries how Kyiv wants it to be written in other languages - each language has its own phonetics and some sounds may simply sound strange and the speakers might not be able to pronounce them properly. Therefore, it is quite natural to adapt the names that are easier to pronounce and at the same time it should be understandable for everybody — both natives and foreigners.
In England, they still use Kiev everywhere, because in English there is no sound Y. Just as they are not going to learn German sounds in the names of German cities. City known in Germany as Koeln is pronounced Cologne in English-speaking world, and German pronunciation of Munich sounds as Myunhen. In Chinese, Kiev will be 基輔 (jīfǔ or tsyfu). To make it clear, in Ukrainian or Russian, some European cities generally sound differently. A good example would be Wien, which in Ukrainian sounds as Widen, and in Russian — Vena.
It is likely that not everything happens at once and it will just take some time. One by one the registered trademarks such as Kyivstar, Kyiv Post and Kyiv Fashion appear.
Since they constantly pay money for advertising, it means it pays for itself. Repetition is often more effective than explanation. And one does not exclude the other. This season we can also present trendy Ukrainian hats as souvenirs from Ukraine to foreign friends in addition to the sweets “Ukraine” in colorful wrappers.
On the manufacturer’s website, the product is described as follows: “The Kyiv Green Hat. We really love our city and always wanted to be associated with it. But it was not the case before. So we created a Kyiv Hat, so that at the Swiss resorts they knew that we were from Kyiv and not from Kiev.”
5 Unknown Facts about Kiev
- For the third year in a row, McDonalds opposite the Central Railway Station in Kyiv was recognized as the most visited restaurant of this fast-food chain in the world. Among the more than 35 thousand restaurants, the Ukrainian McDonalds occupies a honorable second place.
- The Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine is one of the 20 largest public libraries in the world and has about 15 million books.
- Kiev is a female city. According to statistics dated the beginning of 2014, there were 1.508 million women in the capital for 1,295 million men. That is, there are only 8.5 guys for 10 girls!
- Few people can name more than five theaters of the capital, but the true lovers of the scene know that there are 24 of them in Kiev. In total, all the buildings of the theaters can accommodate 7610 spectators.
- For the second year in a row, Dniprovskyi city district became the most criminal area in Kiev. For the current year, 6961 crimes were registered there (only 1659 were solved). The next lines in this anti-rating go to Shevchenkovsky, Obolonsky, Desnyansky, Solomensky and Goloseevsky districts.
Private sightseeing tours around Kiev:
- Kiev General Tour — the best start to get to know the city, for those who is here for the first time.
- Kiev Pechersk Lavra — the must-see sight of Kiev, the first monastery of Kyiv, full of legends.
- World War II Tour — the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War with 102 meters high Motherland Monument.
- Gastro Tour — for foodies who are interested in Ukrainian cuisine.
- Full day Tour — a mix of Old Town, Kiev Pechersk Lavra and the Museum of War.
- Mezhyhirya Tour — tour out of the city. New outstanding attraction and the symbol of corruption.
- Podil Tour — mysterious and cozy tour for those who like cute paths and old buildings.
- Street Art Tour — if you want to look at Kiev from a different angle.
- Kiev Bar Crawl — the best option for partygoers, because our beautiful lady guide will bring you to the hot spots of Kiev nightlife.
- Chernobyl Tour — Tour of our partner, group tour, full day tour.
