Lviv (Ukrainian: Львів, L’viv, IPA: [lwiu̯]; Polish:Lwów, IPA: [lvuf];[1] Russian: Львов, Lvov,IPA: [lʲvof]; German: Lemberg, Latin: Leopolis, "the city of the lion"), the largest city in western Ukraine and the seventh largest city in the country overall, is one of the maincultural centres of Ukraine. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Ruthenia from 1272 before being incorporated into the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland in 1339 and turning into the regional capital of the Ruthenian Voivodeship, then renamed Lemberg in 1772as the capital of the Habsburg Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. Administratively, Lviv serves as the administrative center of Lviv Oblast and has the status of city of oblast significance. Its population is730,272 (2013 est.)[2].
From the Polish recurrence after the First World War in 1918-21 until the German andSoviet conquest and dividing of Second Polish Republic, after the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, the city was known as Lwów and was the centre of the Polish Lwów Voivodeship.
During the war this eastern Polish city was first occupied by the USSR, but soon afterOperation Barbarossa, the German attack on the Soviet Union, the city was instead taken by the Germans. After Nazi Germany's defeat, at the Potsdam Conference, the Soviet Union argued that the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact was legal and the city should become a part of the Soviet Union; Churchill objected but America agreed. It was the centre of Lviv Oblast ofUkrainian Soviet Socialist Republic within the USSR, and became part of Ukraine after 1991.
Lviv was the centre of the historical region ofGalicia. The historical heart of the city, with its old buildings and cobblestone streets, survived Soviet and German occupations during the Second World War largely unscathed. The city has many industries and institutions of higher education such as Lviv University and Lviv Polytechnic. Lviv is also a home to many world-class cultural institutions, including a philharmonic orchestra and the famous Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet. The historic city centre is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Lviv celebrated its 750th anniversary with a son et lumière in the city centre in September 2006.