'Donetsk' (,
translit. ''Donets’k''; ,
translit. ''Donetsk''; see also: ) is a city in eastern
Ukraine on the
Kalmius river. Administratively, it is a center of
Donetsk Oblast, while historically, it is the unofficial capital and largest city of the economic and cultural
Donets Basin (''Donbas'') region.
The name of Donetsk comes from the
Seversky Donets, a tributary of the
Don.
The city was founded in 1869 by a
Welsh businessman,
John Hughes, who constructed a steel plant and several
coal mines around the region. Today, the city still remains an important coal mining region of the Donbas and Ukraine, and houses the "Donetsk"
special economic zone, established in 1998.
[1]
The city is currently home to two major professional
football teams in Ukraine:
Shakhtar Donetsk and
Metalurh Donetsk, both of which currently play in the
Ukrainian Premier League. Important attractions of the city include the Cathedral Transfiguration of Jesus, the
Donetsk National University, and others.
Donetsk currently has a population of over 988,000 inhabitants (2007) and has a
metropolitan area of over 1,566,000 inhabitants (2004). According to the
2001 Ukrainian Census, Donetsk is the fifth-largest city in Ukraine.
[2]
Geography and climate
Donetsk lies in the
steppe landscape of Ukraine, which is surrounded by small forests, hills (''
slag heaps''), rivers, and lakes. The northern territories of the city are mainly used for agriculture. The
Azov Sea, 95 km south of Donetsk, is a popular vacation spot for the city's inhabitants. The surfaces in the far periphery of the city are predominantly agrarian.
The city's length from north to south is 28 km, and from east to west - 55 km. The city has 2 nearby
reservoirs: Nyzhnekalmius (60
ha), and the "Donetsk Sea" (206 ha). There are 5 rivers flowing through the city, which include the:
Kalmius, Asmolivka (13 km), Cherepashkyna (23 km), Skomoroshka, and Bakhmutka. The city also contains a total of 125 slag heaps.
Donetsk's climate is moderate
continental.
[3] The average temperatures are −5
°C (23
°F) in January and +18°C (66°F) in June. The average number of rainfall per year totals 162 days and up to 556
millimetres per year.
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|
| Ave. high °C (°F) | -2 (27) | -1 (29) | 3 (39) | 13 (57) | 20 (68) | 23 (74) | 25 (77) | 24 (76) | 19 (67) | 11 (53) | 3 (39) | 0 (32) | 11 (53) |
|---|
| Ave. low °C (°F) | -7 (18) | -7 (19) | -2 (28) | 5 (41) | 10 (51) | 13 (57) | 15 (60) | 14 (58) | 10 (50) | 3 (39) | -1 (30) | 5 (23) | 4 (40) |
|---|
| ''Source: Weatherbase''[4] |
History
A market on the main street of ''Novyi Svet'' section of Yuzovka. (1887)
Donetsk was founded in 1869 when a
Welsh businessman
John Hughes built a steel plant and several
coal mines in southern part of
Russia at ''Olexandrivka''.The town initially was given the name ''Hughesovka'' (Yuzovka; ).
[5] By the beginning of the 20th century, Yuzovka had approximately 50,000 inhabitants,
[6] and had attained the status of a city in 1917.
[7]
During the
Russian Revolution, Donetsk became a major town of the short-lived
Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic, which was later to be incorporated into the
Ukrainian SSR. In 1924, under the
Soviet rule, the city's name was changed to ''Stalino''. In that year, the city's population totaled 63,708, and in the next year — 80,085. The city did not have a drinking water system until 1931, when a 55.3 km system was laid underground. In July of 1933, the city became the administrative center of the
Donetsk Oblast of the
Ukrainian SSR.
In 1933, the first 12 km sewer system was installed, and in 1934 - the first exploitation of gas was conducted within the city.
In the beginning of
World War II, the population of Stalino consisted of 507,000, and after the war - only 175,000. The
Nazi invasion during World War II almost completely destroyed the city, which was mostly rebuilt on a large scale at the war's end.
The territory of Donetsk in the
Great Patriotic War[8] consisted mainly of a
Jewish
ghetto, in which 3,000 Jews died, and a
concentration camp in which 92,000 people were killed.
[9] During the war, a collective responsibility system was enforced. For every killed
Nazi soldier, 100 inhabitants were killed, and for every killed policeman, one inhabitant was killed.
During
Nikita Khrushchev's second wave of
destalinization in November of 1961, all Soviet cities named after Stalin were renamed. Stalino's name was changed to ''Donetsk'', after the
Seversky Donets river, a tributary of the
Don.
In 1965, the Donetsk Academy of Sciences was established as part of the
Academy of Science of the Ukrainian SSR. In 1970, Donetsk was recognized by
UNESCO as the cleanest industrial town of the world. Donesk was granted the
Order of Lenin in 1979.
Residents of the city tend to be more pro-
Russian in their political beliefs. This has been massively exploited during
2004 presidential election, in which the city mostly voted for candidate
Viktor Yanukovych, which had been announced as the winner of the election by the
Central Election Commission. The vote was later proven to have been falsified, with many of the falsified votes coming from the surrounding region. This led to an election re-run, thus making Yanukovych lose the election. During the
2006 Ukrainian parliamentary elections, the Yanukovych-led
Party of Regions also won most of the votes from the region.
Government and administrative divisions
}
While Donetsk is the
administrative center of the
Donetsk Oblast (
province), the city is the capital of the
Donetsk City Municipality. However, Donetsk is a
city of oblast subordinance, thus being subject directly to the oblast authorities rather to the Donetsk City Municipality housed in the city itself.
The territory of Donetsk is divided into 9 administrative
raions (
districts):
# Bydionivskyi Raion () — 25 km², 100,300 inhabitants
# Voroshylovskyi Raion () — 10 km², 97,300 inhabitants
# Kalininskyi Raion () — 19 km², 109,700 inhabitants
# Kyivskyi Raion () — 33 km², 143,700 inhabitants
# Kirovskyi Raion () — 68 km², 171,700 inhabitants
# Kuibyshevskyi Raion () — 51 km², 120,800 inhabitants
# Leninskyi Raion () — 37 km², 107,800 inhabitants
# Petrovskyi Raion () — 57 km², 88,600 inhabitants
# Proletarskyi Raion () — 58 km², 102,800 inhabitants
In addition, every raion consists of ''raion councils'', which are subordinate to the Donetsk City Council.
Demographics
Donetsk currently has a population of over 988,000 inhabitants (2007) and has a
metropolitan area of over 1,566,000 inhabitants (2004). It is currently the fifth-largest city in Ukraine.
While the majority of people in central and western Ukraine speak Ukrainian, most residents of Donetsk are Russian-speaking
Ukrainians and ethnic
Russians. According to 2001 population census,
[10] Ukrainians are 56,9% of Donetsk oblast and Russians are 38,2%. The Russian language is dominant in
Donbas.
The current nationality structure of the Donetsk City Municipality is as follows:
[11]
#
Russians: 493,392 people, 48.15%
#
Ukrainians: 478,041 people, 46.65%
#
Belarusians: 11,769 people, 1.15%
#
Greeks: 10,180 people, 0.99%
#
Jews: 5,087 people, 0.50%
#
Tatars: 4,987 people, 0.49%
#
Armenians: 4,050 people, 0.40%
#
Azerbaijanis: 2,098 people, 0.20%
#
Georgians: 2,073 people, 0.20%
# Other: 13,001 people, 1.27%
:'Total': 1,024,678 people, 100.00%
Culture
Architecture
19th century
The hotel ''Great Britain'' is one of the oldest buildings in Donetsk, constructed in 1883.
Donetsk, at the time ''Yuzovka'', was "divided" into two parts: north and south. In the southern part of Yuzovka, were the city's factories, train depots, the telegraph buildings, hospitals, and the city's schools.
[12] Not far from the factories was the ''English colony'' where the engineers and their bosses lived. After the construction of the residence of
John Hughes and the various complexes for the foreign workers, the city's southern portion was conducted mainly in the
English style.
These buildings used rectangular and triangular shaped façades, green rooftops, large windows, which occupied a large portion of the building, and balconies.
[12] In this part of the town, the streets were large and had sidewalks. A major influence on the formation of architecture in Donetsk was the ''official architect'' of a
Novorossiya company — ''Moldingauyer''.
[12] Preserved buildings of the southern part of Yuzovka consisted of: the residence of John Hughes (''1891, partially preserved''), residence of Bolfur (''1889''), and the residence of Bosse.
In the northern part of Yuzovka, ''Novyi Svet'', lived traders, craftsmen, and bureaucrats.
[12] Here were located the: indoor market, the police headquarters, and the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Jesus. The central street of Novyi Svet and the neighbouring streets were mainly surrounded by 1 to 2 story residential buildings, markets, restaurants, hotels, offices, and banks. A famous preserved building in the northern part of Yuzovka was the Hotel Great Britain.
20th century
The first general plan of Stalino was made in 1932 in
Odessa by the architect P. Golovchenko. In 1937, the project was partly reworked. These projects were the first in the city's construction bureau's history.
[12]
A large portion of the city's building of the second portion of the 20th century were designed by the architect Pavel Vigdergauz, which was given the title
Government award of the USSR for architecture in the city of Donetsk in 1978.
[12]
Sports
Three major professional
football clubs play in the city, which include two in the
Ukrainian Premier League and one in the
Ukrainian Second League:
★
Shakhtar Donetsk, which plays at the
RSK Olimpiyskyi Stadium
★
Metalurh Donetsk, which plays at the
Shakhtar Stadium.
★
Olympique Donetsk.
In Donetsk, the
USSR Tennis Championship took place within the city in 1978, 1979, and 1980 near the Donetsk Railroad tennis courts. Some tennis matches of the
Davis Cup took place in Donetsk in 2005.
In Donetsk, the Soviet Championship on Light Athletics in Youth took place in 1978, 1979, 1980, and 1984. A monument to famous
pole vault athlete
Serhiy Bubka is installed in the city.
In the city,
sailboat championships take place on the city's
Kalmius river.
When the joint bid for the
2012 UEFA European Football Championship was won by
Poland and
Ukraine, Donetsk's
future Shakhtar Stadium was chosen as the location for 3 Group Matches, Quarter-Final, and Semi-Final matches.
[18] The
RSK Olimpiyskyi Stadium was chosen as a reserve stadium.
[19]
Religion
The reconstructed Cathedral Transfiguration of Jesus in Donetsk.
Donetsk's residents belong to many different religious bodies:
Eastern Orthodox[20] Greek Catholic,
Protestant, and
Roman Catholic, as well as
Islamic and
Judaic synagogues. The largest religious body with the most members is the
Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate).
Media
Five television stations operate within Donetsk:
★ TRK Ukraina ()
[21]
★ KRT, Kievskaya Rus' ()
[22]
★ First Municipal ()
[23]
★ Kanal 27 ()
★ TRK Nadezhda ()
In Donetsk, there is a 360 metre tall
TV tower, one of the tallest structures in the city, which was completed in 1992.
Famous people
Donetsk has been home to many people, including sportsmen, musicians, writers, buisinessmen, dissidents, and many others. The citizens of Donetsk are commonly called ''Donechyani'' (). The following is a list of famous people that were born or raised in the city:
★
Akhmetov, Rinat — Ukrainian
business oligarch
★
Astakhova, Polina — Ukrainian
gymnast
★
Bubka, Serhiy — Ukrainian
pole vault athlete;
Olympic Games champion:
1988;
World Champion: 1983, 1987, 1991, 1995,
European Champion: 1986; Champion of the USSR: 1984, 1985
★
Gililov, Pavel — Russian
pianist
★
Fomenko, Anatoly Timofeevich —
Russian Mathematician and
lecturer at the
Moscow University
★ Koliaskyn, Oleksandr —
tennis player
★ Kroshyna, Marina — tennis player
★
Pecherov, Oleksiy — a Ukrainian
basketball player
★
Podkopayeva, Lilia — a
Ukrainian gymnast, and the 1996 Olympics winner
★
Scharansky, Natan — former
Soviet dissident,
anticommunist,
Zionist,
Israeli politician and writer
★
Stus, Vasyl — Ukrainian poet and publicist, one of the most active members of Ukrainian dissident movement
★
Tverdovsky, Oleg — Russian
ice hockey player
★ Yahubkin, Oleksandr —
boxer
★
Assol — a child singer
Transportation
Local transportation
A Donetsk trolley bus with the Cathedral Transfiguration of Jesus in Donetsk.
The main forms of transport within Donetsk are: trams, electric
trolley buses, buses, and
marshrutkas (private
minibuses). The city public transportation system is controlled by the united ''Dongorpastrans''
municipal company. The city has 12 tram lines (~130 km), 17 trolley bus lines (~188 km), and about 115 bus lines.
[24] Both the tram and trolley bus systems in the city are served by 2
depots each.
Another method of transport within the city is
taxicab service, of which there are 32 in Donetsk.
The city also contains autostations located within the city and its suburbs: autostation ''Yuzhny'' (South), which serves transport lines to the south, hence its name; autostation ''Tsentr'' (Centre), which serves transport in the direction of
Marinka and
Vuhledar; the autostation ''Krytyi rynok'' (Indoor market), which serves transport in the north and east directions; and the autostation ''Pultikovsky'', which serves the north and northwest transport directions.
There is currently a
metro system under construction in Donetsk,
[25] but no station is yet operational. When finished, the first section of the red line (''Proletarsko-Kyivs’ka'') should contain 6 stations.
[26]
Railroads
Donetsk's Main Railway Station, located in the North of the city.
Donetsk's Main Railway Station, which serves about 7 million passengers annually,
is located in the northern part of the city. There is a museum near the main station, dealing with the history of region's railroads. Other railway stations in the city are: ''Rutchenkogo'', located in the Kyivskyi Raion; ''Mandrykino'' (Petrovskyi Raion), and ''Mushketogo'' (Bydionivskyi Raion). Some passenger trains avoid Donetsk station and serve the station
Yasynuvata, located outside the city borders, instead. Although not used for regular transportation means, the city also has a children's railway.
As the Donetsk Oblast is an important transportation hub in Ukraine, so is its center Donetsk. The ''Donetsk Railways'', based in Donetsk, is one of the largest railway divisions in the country. It serves the farming and industrial businesses of the area, and the populations of the Donetsk,
Luhansk, partly the
Dnipropetrovsk,
Zaporizhia and
Kharkiv oblasts.
Road transport
The highway, part of the
International E-road network, runs through the city ''en route'' to
Rostov-on-Don in
Russia.
In addition, another international road runs through the city: the M 04. Also, three national Ukrainian roads ( N 15, N 20, and N 21) pass through the city.
Air travel
In addition to public and rail transport, Donetsk has an
international airport.
[27] It was constructed in the end of the 1940s to the beginning of the 1950s. The whole airport complex was finished in 1973. The city-based ''
DonbassAero''
airline operates the airport.
Economy
The new ''Donetsk City'' trading centre, located in the
Kyivskyi Raion.
Donetsk and the surrounding territories are heavily urbanized and agglomerated into conurbation. The workforce is heavily involved with
heavy industry, especially
coal mining. The city is an important center of heavy industry and coal mines in the
Donets Basin (''Donbas'') and Ukraine. Directly under the city lie coal mines, which have recently seen an increase in
mining accidents.
Donetsk's economy consists of about 200 industrial organizations that have a total production output of more than 5 billion
hryvnias per year and more than 20,000 medium-small sized organizations.
[1] The city's
coal mining industry comprises 17 coal mines and two concentrating mills; the
metallurgy industry comprises 5 large metallurgical plants located throughout the city; the engineering market comprises 67 organizations, and the food industry — 32 organizations.
[1]
After the
fall of the Soviet Union, Donetsk and other neighbouring cities of the Donbas suffered heavily, as either many factories were closed down or many inhabitants lost their jobs.
[30] However, in spite of the difficult
economic situation in Ukraine, Donetsk is a developing city.
[1] About 412 thousand m² of living space, 7.9 km of gas networks, and 15.1 km of water supply networks were constructed in the city during 1998-2001.
[1]
The city also houses the "Donetsk"
special economic zone.
[1][34] Donetsk currently has nine
sister cities.
[35] The
German city of
Magdeburg had economic partnerships with Donetsk during 1962-1996.
Education
Donetsk is a well-known educational location of the surrounding area, accompanied with several universities, which include 5 state
universities, 11
institutes, 3
academies, 14
technicums, 5
private universities, and 6
colleges. The most important and prominent educational institutions include:
★ the National Technical University
[36](known as the ''Polytechnical Institute'' in the 1930s),
★ the
National University[37] which was founded in 1965. The National Technical University held close contacts with the University in Magdeburg. Since 1970, more than 100 students from Germany (''
GDR, etc.'') have completed their higher education at either one of the two main universities in Donetsk.
There are also several scientific research institutes, and an
Islamic University within Donetsk.
Footnotes and references
1. Donetsk Today
2. Results / General results of the census / Number of cities
3. Weather in Donetsk
4. Historical Weather for Donetsk
5. ''Yuz'' is a Russian or Ukrainian approximation of Hughes
6. The population included mostly migrants from neighboring Russian territories
7. From the history of the city
8. Great Patriotic War is another name for the Eastern Front of World War II.
9. Was there a ghetto in Donetsk?
10. Results / General results of the census / National composition of population / Donets'k region
11. Ukrainian Census (Donetsk Oblast)
12. Архитектура Донецка
13. Архитектура Донецка
14. Архитектура Донецка
15. Архитектура Донецка
16. Архитектура Донецка
17. Архитектура Донецка
18. Stadiums / Donetsk
19. Stadiums / Introduction
20. Main Page
21. Main Page
22. Main Page
23. Main Page
24. Transport
25. Metro in Donetsk
26. Image:Metro Donezk.svg
27. Service Center, International Airport "Donetsk"
28. Donetsk Today
29. Donetsk Today
30. Ukraine: A History, Subtelny, Orest, , , University of Toronto Press, 2000, ISBN 0-8020-8390-0
31. Donetsk Today
32. Donetsk Today
33. Donetsk Today
34. Special Economic Zones and Special Regime of Investment Activities in Donetsk Oblast
35. Sister cities of Donetsk
36. About DonNTU
37. Main page
★
Donetsk. Architectural-historical summary, , S., Kilesso, Budivelnyk, 1982,
★
Partner-Portal — ''Everything about Donetsk''
External links
'General'
★
donetsk.org.ua — Donetsk city administration website /
★
geocities.com — History of Donetsk and the story of the founder
John Hughes
★
partner.donetsk.ua — Informational portal about Donetsk
★
ukrtelecom.ua —
Ukrtelecom webcam of the ''Artema Street''
★
NGO.donetsk.ua — Portal of civic society of Donetsk region /
★
Donetsk Communicational Resource '(Russian)'
'Historic'
★
ukrstor.com — Early history of Yuzovka
★
bfcollection.net — Historic images of Donetsk
'Maps'
★
maps.google.com —
Google maps satellite view of Donetsk
★
wikimapia.org —
Wikimapia view of Donetsk
★
gorod.dn.ua — City map browsable and searchable by address
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