Odesa is the 5th largest city in Ukraine and the most important city of trade. Odesa is the largest city along the entire Black Sea. Odesa looks more like a city located on the Mediterranean, having been heavily influenced by French and Italian styles.
Odesa has always had a spirit of freedom, probably endowed to her by her location and by her ability to accept many different peoples.
Today Odesa is a city of 1.1 million people surrounded by a metro area of over 2.5 million people.
The city's industries include shipbuilding, oil refining, chemicals, metalworking and food processing. Odesa is also the home of a Ukrainian naval base and fishing fleets. Odesa is situated on terraced hills overlooking a small harbour.
The climate in Odessa is mild and dry with average temperatures in January of 2°C (29°F), and July of 22°C (73°F). Odesa averages only 35 cm (14 in) of precipitation annually. Odesa has many therapeutic resorts.
Odesa is an important cultural and educational centre. Odesa University was founded in 1865. There are numerous institutions of higher education.
The city is a diversity of people including Ukrainian, Russian, Moldavian, Greek, Romanian, Bulgarian, Caucasian, Jewish, Turkish, Vietnamese and so forth.
There are many very interesting museums and theatres in Odesa, including the famous Opera and Ballet Theatre, built in 1809.
Odesa is well-known as the capital of humour, probably due to the great variety of people and her southern location on the Black Sea. Today, Odesa is referred to as the "Pearl of the Black Sea" "Odessa Mama" and "Southern Palmira" by many.
Why Odessa?
Odessa is home to several universities and other institutions of higher education. The city's best-known and most prestigious university is the Odessa 'I.I. Mechnikov' National University. This university is the oldest in the city and was first founded by an edict of Tsar Alexander II of Russia in 1865 as the Imperial Novorossian University. Since then the university has developed to become one of modern Ukraine's leading research and teaching universities, with staff of around 1,800 and total of thirteen academic faculties. Other than the National University, the city is also home to the 1921-inaugurated Odessa National Economic University, the Odessa National Medical University (founded 1900), the 1918-founded Odessa National Polytechnic University and the Odessa National Maritime University (established 1930).
In addition to these universities, the city is home to the Odessa Law Academy, the National Academy of Telecommunications and the Odessa National Maritime Academy. The last of these institutions is a highly specialised and prestigious establishment for the preparation and training of merchant mariners which sees around 1,000 newly qualified officer cadets graduate each year and take up employment in the merchant marines of numerous countries around the world. The South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University is also based in the city, this is one of the largest institutions for the preparation of educational specialists in Ukraine and is recognised as one of the country's finest of such universities.
In addition to all the state-run universities mentioned above, Odessa is also home to a large number of private educational institutes and academies which offer highly specified courses in a range of different subjects. These establishments, however, typically charge much higher fees than government-owned establishments and may not have held the same level of official accreditation as their state-run peers.
With regard to primary and secondary education, Odessa has a large number of schools catering for all ages from kindergarten through to lyceum (final secondary school level) age. Most of these schools are state-owned and operated, and all schools have to be state-accredited in order to teach children.
