Cherkassy is a city in the central part of Ukraine. It is located to the southeast from Kiev on the river Dnepr. Modern Cherkassy and nearby territories were a part of those lands of Pridneprov'ya where it was formed powerful feudal state - Kievan Rus’. Throughout all time of existence the city was destroyed time and again and revived.

In VII - III centuries B.C. territories of steppe areas of Ukraine including Cherkassy, occupied tribes of Scythians. The city has been founded approximately in the end of XIII century, in days of Kievan Rus’, 1286 is considered the year of its foundation.

Later nearby the city settlements of Cossacks has been built. For them Cherkassy was fortification in struggle against Polish gentry, attacks of Turks and Crimean Tatars. For protection from enemies the Cherkassy lock (on this place now “Holm Slavy” (the Glory Hill is) has been built.

The special place Cherkassy has in emancipating war of the Ukrainian people against Poland under the guidance of Bogdan Khmelnitskiy. In the Cherkassy museum of local lore the copy of first letter of Bogdan Khmelnitskiy to Russian tsar Aleksei Mihailovich with the request for reunion of Ukraine with Russia, written in Cherkassy on June, 8th, 1648 has been saved.

In second half of XIX century the leading position in Cherkassy was occupied with a sugar industry. Except lump sugar and mechanical factories, the tobacco factory has been constructed.

Today the important place in economy of the Cherkassy region belongs to the machine-building complex. Its basis make more than 50 enterprises of production of buses, process equipment for branches of agriculture, light industry, cars and the equipment for animal industries and production of mixed fodders, automatic transfer lines, the chemical equipment, medical and computer facilities, optical devices, cable equipment, metal-cutting and woodworking machine tools, steam coppers, home appliances.
To the development of agriculture of the area assist its industrial complex which includes 314 big industrial enterprises. According to the structure of production they are divided; the food-processing industry - 43,6 % (to volume of production of the whole area), chemical - 26,1 %, electric power industry - 9,7 %, mechanical engineering and metal working - 7,1 %, woodworking and a pulp and paper industry - 6,9 %, a mining industry - 2,4 %, light industry - 1,0 % and others.

City emblem, on January, 11th 1995, by the decision of session of Cherkassy city government the modern coat of arms of Cherkassy has been are confirmed. In the top part of the divided board in an azure field there is a Cossack in red clothes, holding a gun on a shoulder, with a saber and a powder flask on his belt; in bottom - in a red field a silver horse is, it skips in a left-hand side.
Cherkassy throughout XV-XV centuries was one of the centers of the Ukrainian Cossacks - therefore in the top field the Cossack is represented.
Heraldic horse in the bottom field - a generalizing symbol which unites bravery of a lion, sight of an eagle, force of a wolf, speed of a deer, cunning of a fox, displaying, thus, qualities of people which live in this area, and the ancient city coat of arms of 1852. Authors of the modern Cherkassy coat of arms are A.Tolkushin and A. Pendyura.

During city history it has been destroyed and rebuilt many times. Few buildings built in XIX century still exist, so earlier buildings are only on ancient cards and in written certificates.
The system of location of streets and squares of the old part of a city is one of the few in Ukraine of monuments of town-planning art of the beginning of XIX century. The General plan of building of Cherkassy has been developed by V.Geste in 1815, and assumed wide, extent streets crossed under right angles. Streets of ancient Roman cities have been laid in the similar way.

In the city the musical-drama theatre of named after of T.Shevchenko, some cinemas and a regional philharmonic society works.
In the Cherkassy regional newspapers «Cherkas'ka pravda» and «Molod' Cherkaschini» well-known Ukrainian writer Vasil Simonenko worked.

On November, 12th the city has received the permission from the Highest State council for opening of a ministerial man's pro-grammar school (an incomplete grammar school). The city didn’t have a separate building for a grammar school, therefore the first grammar-school boys were engaged in two profitable houses of a merchant of A.N.Sokolov and a businessman K.K. Shvaiguta rented by a city. The house of a merchant of the Sokolov has been redeemed subsequently and became an educational institution component.
On November, 1st, 1891 building of a new two-storied building of a grammar school under V.V. project Gorodetskiy has been ended.
For today in the city has 8 technical training colleges, one of them the higher art; 8 technical schools and colleges; 7 institutes; 7 universities; 3 academies.

The Cherkassy trolley buses are one of the kinds of public transport of the city since November, 5th 1965.