Shpola (Ukrainian: Шпола, Yiddish: שפּאָלע) is a city located in the Cherkasy Oblast (province) in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Shpoliansky Raion (district), and is situated at 49°2′N 31°25′E. As of 2004 the estimated population is 18,400.
In 1847, Shpola’s Jewish population numbered 1,156. By 1897, that number had grown to 5,388 of a total population of 11,933, or about 45%. This level held steady until the Second World War.
In the 1800s Shpola was part of the Zvenigorod district in the Kiev region. With the overthrow of the Czarist regime Shpola became first a part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and then of the USSR.
During World War II, Nazi Germany invaded Ukraine, and the Jewish population of Shpola was destroyed in 1942. Today Jews make up around 0.5% of Shpola’s population.
Ukraine (Ukrainian: Україна, transliterated: Ukrayina) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev (Kyiv) is both the capital and the largest city of Ukraine.
