Mykolayiv, also Nikolayev, city, capital of Mykolayiv Oblast, southern Ukraine, at the confluence of the Southern Bug and Ingul rivers. A leading port on the Black Sea and an important shipbuilding center, the city has an excellent harbor kept open in winter by icebreakers. Manufactures include agricultural and construction machinery. Mykolayiv was founded in 1784 near the site of an ancient Greek settlement and became a Russian naval base. The city was occupied and badly damaged by the Germans from 1941 to 1944, during World War II. Population (1998 estimate) 518,000.
