Chernobyl

About Chernobyl

Chernobyl (as transliterated from the Russian: Чернобыль, Russian pronunciation: [tɕɪˈrnobɨlʲ]) or Chornobyl (transliterated from local official language Ukrainian: Чорнобиль, IPA: [tʃɔrˈnɔbɪlʲ]), was a city in northern Ukraine, in the Kiev Oblast (province) near the border with Belarus.

The city was evacuated in 1986 due to the Chernobyl disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which is located 14.5 kilometers (9 miles) north-northwest. The power plant was named after the city, and located within Chernobyl Raion (district), but the city was not the residence of the power plant workers. Together with the power plant construction, Pripyat, a city, which was larger and closer to the power plant, was built to be home for the power plant workers.

Though the city is today mostly uninhabited, a small number of inhabitants reside in houses marked with signs stating that the "Owner of this house lives here". Workers on watch and administrative personnel of the Zone of Alienation are stationed in the city on a long term basis. Prior to its evacuation, the city was inhabited by about 15,000 residents.