Chortkiv [Čortkiv]. Map: IV-6. City (2001 pop 29,057) on the Seret River, raion center in Ternopil oblast, situated in the northern part of Galician Podilia. Chortkiv was founded in 1522 by J. Czortkowski with the right of Magdeburg law. The town declined in the second half of the 17th century, during the Polish-Turkish wars. Under Austrian rule it was the center of the Chortkiv district; later it became a county center. On 8 June 1919 the Ukrainian Galician Army broke through the Polish front at Chortkiv and began the Chortkiv offensive. In 1931 the town had 19,000 inhabitants, 22.8 percent of whom were Ukrainians (Greek Catholics), 46.4 percent Poles (Roman Catholics), and 30 percent Jews. Chortkiv is an administrative, commercial, and small-scale manufacturing center. Today it has some industry: food-processing, garment making, and railway maintenance. Among its architectural monuments are a fortress built in the 16th and 17th centuries and wooden churches of the 17th and 18th centuries. There is also a historical museum.