Sumy is situated at the confluence of the Psel and the Sumka rivers is a region's centre. Its area is 99 km2, and the population is 275400.
The city is divided into two districts. The first mention of Sumy in the chronicles occurred in 1652. It became a town in 1780.
At first it belonged to the Kharkiv Region, later the Sumy Region was founded, and Sumy became a region's centre.
The main architectural monuments are the guildhall (17th century), the Church of the Resurrection (1702), the Cathedral of the Transfiguration (1776), and St Elijah's Church (1851), and the bell-tower (1908)
Sumy is a modern city, and it is very green.There are six parks in the city. Near the Psel there are many beautiful lakes, where people like to rest very much.
Today Sumy is one of the chief industrial and cultural centres in northern Ukraine. Its main industries are machine building, microscope production, the chemical industry (the Khimprom Manufacturing Consortium), the food and light industry.
The city's enterprises produce compression machinery and pumps for nuclear and thermal power stations.
Its cultural facilities include an art museum, a museum of decorative and applied art, a regional museum, a theatre of drama and musical comedy, and a young spectator's theatre.
The city has 3 institutes, 9 technical secondary schools and some research institutes.
