Cherkasy is a regional center in Ukraine, a regional center of Central Ukraine, an industrial center of the Central Economic District, a significant cultural and educational center. Cherkasy is located on the right bank of the Kremenchug Reservoir, created in the middle course of the Dnieper.
The city has been known since the 13th century and during its existence played a certain role in the history of the whole of Ukraine. Cherkasy was the center of the formation of Kozachchyna, the inhabitants of the city took a direct part in Khmelnytskyi and Koliivskyi. The growth of the city, after receiving the status of the regional center in 1954, led to its transformation into a large industrial center and the main cultural center of the entire region.
The origin of the toponym Cherkasy and its exact etymology remain unsolved and still a mystery. The popular version (during the times of the Russian Empire and the USSR) that the name of the city comes from the name of the people "Circassians" who moved to this area from the North Caucasus does not find confirmation, in particular, given the fact that the Circassians themselves are one of the branches of the Kabardians that separated late enough Another version of the interpretation of the toponym Cherkasy comes from the Proto-Slavic word čьrkati (to draw a border), since the city was located on the border of the Serpentine Ramparts. The third version claims that the name Cherkasy was formed in ancient times in the Carpathian region from the roots of two ancient languages - Illyrian ("chrkha" - black river) and Thracian ("kas" - clean, transparent). In the 14th century, this name was transferred to a new Transnistrian city.
