The town of Czerkasy (Cherkasy) is believed to have been founded in late 13^th century. It was initially part of the Principality of Kiev. From the 14^th century until 1569, when it was incorporated into the Commonwealth, Czerkasy lay within the borders of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

The town had a large population of Cossacks, who started to settle in the area in the second half of the 15^th century, and was destroyed several times during Cossack uprisings (e.g. in 1637 or 1768).

In 1793 Czerkasy was incorporated into the Russian Empire. From 1795 it had the status of a district town in Kiev Governorate.

In the years 1922–1991, it was part of the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic. That period was marked by a considerable increase in the number of inhabitants (53,000 in 1939), particularly after 1954, when Czerkasy became the administrative centre of Cherkasy Oblast. After 1945 the following industries developed in the city: chemical (nitrogen fertilisers, synthetic fibres and household chemicals), mechanical engineering (appliances for the food industry and construction equipment), electrical engineering (telegraphic apparatus), food (sugar, meat, a brewery and tobacco factory), light industry (clothing, knitting and silk manufacturing), building material manufacturing (reinforced concrete products), and timber industry. Czerkasy also emerged as a tourist resort on the Dnieper River thanks to the Czerkasy Forest, a large nature reserve (34.1 thousand ha) established in its environs. In 1965 a new railway station building was erected. The town also has its own river port and airport. As for cultural and educational establishments, Czerkasy houses a pedagogical college, branch of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, museum of regional geography, zoo, musical drama theatre and doll theatre, as well as a philharmonic hall.

The entry was written on the basis of source materials provided by the PWN Publishing House.