Chernobyl was founded and first appeared in a charter of 1193 (Ipatiev/Ipatiiv/Hypatian Chronicle/Codex), described as a hunting-lodge of Knyaz Rostislavovich.
It was a crown village of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 13th century. The village was granted as a fiefdom to Filon Kmita, a captain of the royal cavalry, in 1566.
Chernobyl was transferred to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569 (Union of Lublin), in the 16th and 17th centuries it belonged to the Belorusian-Lithuanian princely (magnate) Sapieha/Sapiega family, and then - to Russian Empire in 1793 (Radomyshl county, Kiev province).
There are several versions of the city name origin.
1) The city name originated from E. Slavic name for Artemisia vulgaris (wormwood), which is: чорнобильник - chornobylnyk (Ukr.) or чернобыльник - chernobylnik (Rus.).
2) It is a combination of the words black - chornyi - чорний (Ukr.) - чёрный (Rus.) and grass/stalks - byllia/билля (Ukr.) - bylyo/быльё (Rus.).
3) It is a combination of the words black (chornyi) and white (bel/byal is a Balto-Slavic root for "white") . Chernobyl was a city located on a border between "Black/Chornaya" Rus' and "White/Belaya" Rus'. 

Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant/Station built in 1970th was the first nuclear power plant in Ukraine. It is located 18 km (11 mi) northwest of the city of Chernobyl, 3 km (1,9 mi) of the city of Pripyat, about 110 km (68 mi) north of Kiev and 16 km (9.9 mi) from the Ukraine–Belarus border.
On April 26, 1986, Reactor #4 at the Chernobyl NPP exploded. After the accident Chernobyl became the city of raion significance and Chernobyl raion (district) was transferred to Ivankov/Ivankiv raion.

Population:
- Total: 500

Postal code: 07270
Area code: +380 4593