Kharkiv is the second-largest city in Ukraine. Located in the northeast of the country, it is the largest city of the historic region of Sloboda Ukraine. Kharkiv is the administrative center of Kharkiv Oblast and Kharkiv Raion. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, it had an estimated population of 1,421,125.

Founded in 1654 as a Cossack fortress, by late 19th century Kharkiv had developed within the Russian Empire as a major commercial and industrial center. From December 1919 to January 1934, Kharkiv was the capital of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. During this period migration from the distressed countryside and a relaxation of restrictions on Ukrainian cultural expression changed the city's ethnic complexion: Ukrainian replaced Russian as the largest recorded nationality. It was the sixth largest city in the Soviet Union during its existence.

Kharkiv has been a major cultural, scientific, educational, transport, and industrial center in independent Ukraine. Among its principal landmarks are the Annunciation and Dormition cathedrals, the Derzhprom building in Freedom Square, the Kharkiv Railway Station, the National University of Kharkiv, and the Kharkiv Tractor Factory (HTZ). Machinery, electronics and military hardware have been the leading industries.

In March and April 2014, the city saw both pro-Russia and pro-Ukrainian demonstrations, and an aborted attempt by Russian-backed separatists to seize control of the city and regional administration. Kharkiv was a major target for Russian forces in the eastern Ukraine campaign during the Russo-Ukrainian War before they were pushed back to the international border. The city remains under intermittent Russian fire, with reports that by April 2024 almost a quarter of the city had been damaged or destroyed.

The city's name can be originated from its namesake river, Kharkiv. There is a folk etymology that connects the name of both the settlement and the river to a legendary Cossack founder named Kharko (a diminutive form of the Greek name Chariton, Ukrainian: Харитон, romanized: Kharyton, or Zechariah, Ukrainian: Захарій, romanized: Zakharii). But the river's name is attested earlier than the foundation of the fortress.

Kharkov, the transliteration of the name from Russian, was the traditional standard English spelling of the city's name favored prior to Ukraine's independence in 1991 (similar to the spelling of Kiev versus Kyiv).

Like all other cities across the country, Kharkiv became the internationally standardized Latin-alphabet transliteration of the Ukrainian name according to the Ukrainian National romanization system, which was adopted for official use by Ukraine's cabinet in 2010, approved by the UN Group of Experts on Geographical Names in 2012, and adopted by the BGN/PCGN in 2019. This spelling appears in Encyclopædia Britannica and in dictionaries as the spelling for the Ukrainian city. The spelling Kharkiv has also been adopted as the Library of Congress Name Authority Heading. As noted by the Christian Science Monitor, many in the English-language media outlets historically spelled the city Kharkov, even after changing the spelling of Kiev to Kyiv, but since the beginning of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine more outlets and style guides have been shifting away from Russian transliterations.

Russian Tsardom/Empire
( as part of Kharkiv Regiment) 1654–1765
Russian Empire 1765–1917