 Sambir (Ukrainian: Самбір, Polish: Sambor) is a city in the Lviv Oblast, western Ukraine, close to the border with Poland. Serving as the administrative center of the Sambir Raion (district), the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast. It is located at around 49°31′0″N 23°12′10″E  The settlemend called Samborze was first mentioned in the 13th century, when it was destroyed by the Tatars. The inhabitants founded a new village, called New Sambor, about two kilometres from old place. On 13 December, 1390, the village was granted the Magdeburg rights, and was then owned by voivode Spytek of Melsztyn. On 5 June, 1419 Polish King Władysław Jagiełło built there a wooden castle. In 1498, the city was destroyed by the Tatars, and because of that, King Jan I Olbracht released it from taxes. In 1637, the city partly burnt down, together with a local church. In 1772, Sambir was annexed by the Austrian Empire (see: Partitions of Poland), and it remained part of that country until 1918, when the area of the city saw Polish - Ukrainian fights over Eastern Galicia. In 1919, Sambir, known in Polish as Sambor, became part of the Second Polish Republic, until its 1939 annexation by the Soviet Union (see Polish September Campaign). From 1941 to 1944 Nazi Germany occupied the town, and after World War Two, it was taken over by the Soviets, becoming a town in the Ukrainian SSR. It was home to Sambir air base during the Cold War. It has been part of independent Ukraine since 1991.
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