Vylkove

Vylkove [Вилкове]. Map: VIII-10. A city (2011 pop 8,570) in southern Bessarabia, in the Danube River delta in Kiliia raion, Odesa oblast. Because of its numerous streams and canals it is known as the ‘Ukrainian Venice’ or ‘Venice on the Danube.’ It was founded in 1746 as the settlement of Lypovanske in territory that was under Turkish rule, and in 1762 was granted city status. At that time, the Old Believers, called lipovany, who moved from Muscovy to Southern Ukraine and Bessarabia, constituted the majority of the city's population. In 1812 the city was awarded to the Russian Empire and was renamed. In the interwar period (1918–40) it was occupied by Romania. The city's main industry is fishing. It has a branch of the Antarktyka fishing consortium, a boat repair yard, and a research base of the Institute of Hydrobiology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Nearby is a state preserve called the Danube Biosphere Reserve.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]