Factbox: Euro 2012 cities

Kiev has been confirmed as a host city while UEFA president Michel Platini named Lviv, Donetsk and Kharkiv as the candidates awaiting confirmation with a final decision to be made on November 30.

KIEV:

Population 2.7 million, the capital of Ukraine, the country's administrative and political centre.

2012 STADIUM: Olimpiyskiy Stadium. Under reconstruction. To be completed in June 2011.

Capacity 69,000.

- Kiev, one of the oldest cities in Europe and considered to be the cradle of the Slav and Orthodox Christian culture, is located in the north on the banks of Dnieper River.

TEAMS:

Dynamo Kiev is the country's most popular and successful football club, boasting two UEFA Cup Winners' Cups, one UEFA Super Cup and 13 domestic league titles.

- It is also home for less known FC Arsenal, at risk of relegation from the premier league and FC Obolon, topping the first league. Kiev serves as the country's transport junction with an international airport, railway station and river port.

DONETSK:

Population 1.03 million, Ukraine's industrial centre and the unofficial capital of the Donbass region.

2012 STADIUM: Donbass Arena. To be unveiled on August 28.

Capacity 50,000. Home of FC Shakhtar Donetsk.

- Donetsk is 725 km east of Kiev. After centuries of Russian and Soviet dominance, the region and the city are populated mainly by Russian-speakers. As the centre of the industrial east, it is often labelled the "city of miners".

TEAMS:

Shakhtar Donetsk - Shakhtar means miner - are Ukraine's second most popular club sponsored by coal and steel tycoon Rinat Akhmetov. They will play in the UEFA Cup final in Istanbul on May 20. FC Metalurg is fighting for a place in the Europa League.

LVIV:

Population 735,000, historic city in Western Ukraine.

2012 STADIUM: Lemberg. To be completed in 2011. Capacity 33,000.

- Lviv, a major city in Western Ukraine, is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of the country. The city centre is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Combining magnificent architecture and artistic traditions of Eastern Europe, Italy and Germany, Lviv annually attracts thousands of tourists.

- The city is 70 km from the Polish border and surrounded by mountains. Football experts believe it was the cradle of Ukrainian and Polish football after the first official match between Lviv and Poland's Krakow in 1894.

TEAMS:

Lviv has two major professional football clubs, Karpaty and FC Lviv, playing in the Ukrainian premier league.

KHARKIV:

Population 1.47 million, the second largest city in Ukraine, important industrial centre in the northeast of the country.

2012 STADIUM: Metalist Stadium. Under reconstruction. To be completed in 2009.

Capacity 41,500.

- Kharkiv, for a time the capital of Soviet Ukraine, is part of the country's golden industrial triangle with Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk, with numerous large state-owned plants. Kharkiv is also home to major educational and research centres. Its Freedom Square is the third largest in Europe.

TEAMS:

Kharkiv is the home of FC Metalist. It is also the host city for FC Kharkiv, relegated to the first league, FC Helios and FC Arsenal Kharkiv.