Mukachevo, Ukraine

Capital City

The population of 85,569 may seem sizable, but Mukachevo is no cosmopolitan hub - it's a gritty industrial city with a persistent bureaucratic headache. While the city boasts a historic Jewish heritage, its glory days are long gone, with the once-vibrant community all but wiped out during the Holocaust. Today, the harsh continental climate and lingering effects of Soviet-era policies make Mukachevo a challenging environment, best suited for those undeterred by the realities of life in western Ukraine.