Maidan Nezalezhnosti is the central square of Kiev. One of the main city squares, it is located on the Khreshchatyk Street. The square has been known under many different names, but it became known simply as the Maidan due to the political events that took place there in 2004 after the Ukrainian accession to independence.

"Maidan" literally translates from Ukrainian as square; coming from the Arabic word "meydan" which means area or square. It received its current name in 1991 in the aftermath of the Ukrainian accession to independence. Nezalezhnist (independence) commemorates the Ukrainian independence achieved in 1991 in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union.