Kharkiv as it is: brief guide for a foreigner to enjoy living here as we do
IT Cluster
The English version of this article by Kharkiv IT Cluster and its member companies is adapted for the international audience and aims to present Kharkiv not only as an attractive place to live and grow your IT business, but also reflect the foreigners’ point of view who consider Kharkiv a hidden jewel of Europe and more and more often consider it for relocation or investment.
As any city Kharkiv has its unique soul with innate features and everyday rhythm of life and special aura, which stems from the old traditions.
In the 19th century the city was inhabited by merchants, who were the main drivers of economic and technical progress. Kharkiv has become a scientific centre, as a result of growing number of higher educational establishments, among which the classical university and polytechnic institute were founded first.
In the early 20th century Kharkiv had been recognized in top 3 cities of the soviet world for the secret military buros, scientific construction, engineering, research and development centers. This had helped to build a base for the recognized mathematics, information security and crypto expertise in the region.
Nowadays it is the city with the population of 1.5 mln. people and 200,000 students and well-developed investment climate and infrastructure, encompassing a typical metropolitan rush and a big number of quiet places at the same time. The second largest and one of the most comfortable and surprisingly least expensive cities in Ukraine, it is included into the TOP 200 world largest cities, being larger than Munich and a bit smaller than Barcelona.
Kharkiv is the city, where:
– the region`s area (31,400 km²) equals those of Belgium (30,528 km²) and Albania (28.748km²) and the population in one of the dormitory district is more than in Miami.
– people are cross-culturally open-minded and tolerant: Kharkiv is home to more than 30 international communities/diasporas,10 consulates, 20+ International Funds offices and centers for international cooperation
– the number of English-speaking population is rapidly growing as well as English-language services – the first in Ukraine English-only pub is operating here
– the living conditions are rated as 2nd most comfortable in Ukraine: 3rd best city in availability of state transport, quality of roads and parking availability. Metro of 29 stations daily serves 650,000 passengers
International airport with direct flights to
– the highest investment rating among Ukrainian cities by invAA 2016
– is considered the cradle of Ukrainian IT and high-tech: among 69 universities there are 5 technical; 1 university is in the world TOP-500 and over 12K international students
– science & technology are supported through the whole process, what explains a lot how Kharkiv manages to proudly host 142 scientific institutes and enterprises producing tanks, tractors, turbines, robotics and many more
– 450+ IT companies operate with over 25K employees are 2nd largest IT revenues in Ukraine
– over 30 large parks and around 200 small green zones, including 2 zoos and Gorky Park which is among Top 25 European parks by TripAdvisor and definitely the best and unique in Ukraine
– as the cultural center we host below 20 theatrical and musical festivals annually with over 30 theatres, including 6 state ones; 16 museums and multiple galleries
The full English version is under development. You can add to it by providing your comments in media with #kharkivitclusterarticle.
Meanwhile please refer to the full version available in Russian and Ukrainian languages.