A town in Galicia, Austria, 87 m. E.S.E. of Lemberg by rail. Pop. (1900) 30,368, half of which are Jews. Ternopol, Pol. Tarnopol, city (1989 pop. 205,000), capital of Ternopil region, W Ukraine, on the Seret River, a tributary of the Dniester. It is an important rail junction and highway hub. Industries include food processing and the manufacture of machinery, building materials, consumer goods, and porcelain.Industry consists chiefly in corn-milling and the preparation of wax and honey. The principal trade is in horses, corn and other agricultural produce, and spirits. Tarnopol was formerly a fortress, and rendered valuable services to Polish kings, who in their turn conferred upon it important privileges

Founded by the princes of Galicia in 1540 as a castle, Ternopil was fortified and developed as a trade center. It declined after passing to Austria in 1772 but revived in the 19th cent. with the coming of the railroad. In 1915 there was heavy fighting here as the Russian army halted the German advance,The city became part of Poland in 1919 and of Ukraine in 1939.

In 1939 Ternopil became part of Ukraine and the city was occupied by the Nazis between 1941 and 1944, when 23,000 were shot and 42,000 taken for slave labour; in 1944 there was a 40 day siege by the Red Army and 85% of the city's buildings were destroyed, miraculously leaving this property completely intact.