Ten fun facts about Kiev

Fact 1
With a population of 2,847,200 as of 2013, this makes Kiev the 8th largest city in Europe.

Fact 2
The name 'Kiev' is the commonly used English name but in 2006, the U.S. government changed the official spelling to 'Kyiv'.

Fact 3
The Vernadsky National Library, located in the city, is one of the world's largest national libraries.

Fact 4
The Kiev Fortress, now restored into a museum, were once used in the system of western Russian fortresses.

Fact 5
In Kiev, there is only one zoo called the Kiev Zoo. It has been open for over 100 years and has at least 328 species of animals.

Fact 6
One notable characteristic of the city is that you can walk from one end to the other in the summer without leaving the shade because of its abundance of trees.

Fact 7
There is a monument in the city called 'The Motherland Monument' of a statue that is 203 feet tall. The sword alone in the statue's hand weighs 9 tons.

Fact 8
In 1936, the hottest temperature was recorded at 102.9 degrees. The coldest was in 1929 at -26.0 degrees.

Fact 9
There have been 448 bodies of open water recognized within the boundaries of Kiev.

Fact 10
The city is one of the oldest cities in Eastern Europe, which was founded in the late 9th century.