Mukacheve

Mukacheve, city, western Ukraine, on the Latoritsa (Latoritsya) River. Its location controls the southern approach to a major pass across the Carpathian Mountains, today followed by road and rail. This position gave Mukacheve a key fortress role in the region known as Subcarpathian Ruthenia and made it a highly contested possession. The Hungarians wrested it from Rus control in the 11th century. It subsequently came under the rule of Transylvania in the 16th and 17th centuries and then Austria in 1699. Following World War I the city and its surrounding district became part of the new Czechoslovak state; they were ceded to the Soviet Union in 1945. Industries in modern Mukacheve have included light engineering, food processing, and timber working. The city is also a significant tourist centre. Pop. (2005 est.) 82,473.