Mukachevo (Ukrainian: Мукачево, pronounced [mʊˈkɑt͡ʃewo] ; Hungarian: Munkács; see name section) is a city in Zakarpattia Oblast, western Ukraine. It is situated in the valley of the Latorica River and serves as the administrative center of Mukachevo Raion. The city is a rail terminus and highway junction, and has beer, wine, tobacco, food, textile, timber, and furniture industries. During the Cold War, it was home to Mukachevo air base and a radar station.
Mukachevo lies close to the borders of four neighbouring countries: Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania. Today, the population is 85,569 (2022 estimate).[3] The city is a traditional stronghold of the Rusyn language, and the population of Mukachevo is officially reported as 77.1% ethnic Ukrainian.[4] There are also significant minorities of: Russians (9.0%); Hungarians (8.5%); Germans (1.9%); and Roma (1.4%).[4]
While Uzhhorod is the main administrative city in the region, Mukachevo is a historic spiritual center of the region and center of the former Eastern Orthodox eparchy of Kyivan Metropolis. In 17th century it united with Catholic church by the Union of Uzhhorod, similar to the Union of Brest. Up until World War II and the Holocaust, Mukachevo was primarily a Jewish town, and half the population was Jewish (see below), the rest of the population being Russians, Hungarians, Slovaks, and other minorities. Formerly in Czechoslovakia, and before that in Hungary, it was incorporated into Soviet Ukraine after World War II.
Most probably, the name derived from the Hungarian surname "Muncas"—munkás (worker)—which later transformed into Munkács,[5] while another version points that the name contains proto-Slavic root "Muka" which means “flour”.[5]
On 23 May 2017 the Ukrainian parliament officially renamed Mukacheve (Мукачеве) into Mukachevo (Мукачево), a year after the city council had decided to rename the city.[6] Previously, it was usually spelled in Standard Literary Ukrainian as Mukacheve while Мукачів (Mukachiv) was sometimes also used.[7] The city's name in Russian is Мукачево (Mukachevo), which is also the Russian transliteration (Russian: Мукачево) as well as