48°00N 37°50E, pop (2000e) 1 101 000. Industrial capital city of Donetskaya oblast, Ukraine; on the R Kalmius, in the Donbas coal basin; founded, 1870; airport; railway; university (1965); coal, metallurgy, engineering, machines, chemicals, foodstuffs; natural gas piped from Stavropol.
For Donetsk in Russia, see Donetsk, Russia.Coordinates: 48°00′0″N, 37°48′0″E
DonetskДонецьк
| City center, Artema Street. text-align: center;"> | |
| Flag | Coat of arms |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Map of Ukraine with Donetsk highlighted. | |
| Government | |
|
Country Oblast Raion |
Ukraine Donetsk Oblast Donetsk City Municipality |
| Founded | 1869 |
| City rights | 1917 |
| Mayor | A. Lukianchenko |
| Geographical characteristics | |
|
Area - City |
358 km² |
|
Population - City (05-04) - Density - Metro area |
1,131,700 2,960/km² 1,566,000 |
| Coordinates | 48°00′0″N, 37°48′0″E |
| Elevation | 169 m |
| Other Information | |
| Postal Code | 83000 |
| Dialing Code | +380 622 |
| Sister cities | Bochum, Charleroi, Pittsburgh, Sheffield, Taranto, Moscow, Vilnius |
| Website: www.donetsk.org.ua | |
Donetsk (Ukrainian: Донецьк, translit.: Donets'k; Administratively, it is a center of Donetsk Oblast, while historically it is the unofficial capital and largest city of the Donets Basin region, or Donbass.
The city has 1,131,700 inhabitants (2005) and the metropolitan area has 1,566,000 inhabitants (2004). The Azov Sea, 95 km south of Donetsk, is a popular vacation spot for the city's inhabitants.
The city's length from north to south is 28 km, and from east to west - 55 km. The city has 2 nearby reservoris: Nyzhnekalmius (60 ha), and the "Donetsk Sea" (206 ha).
History
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 the border of Yekaterinoslav region and Don Cossack Host.
In 1924, under the Soviet rule, the city's name was changed to Stalino. In July of 1933, the city became the administrative center of the Donetsk Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR. In 1933, the first 12 km sewar sysem was installed, and in 1934 - the first exploitation of gas was conducted within the city.
During Nikita Khrushchev's second wave of destalinization in November of 1961, all Soviet cities named after Stalin were renamed.
Administrative subdivisions
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 | Kuybyshevskyi 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 |
Demographics
While the majority of people in central and western Ukraine speak Ukrainian, most residents of Donetsk are Russian-speaking Ukrainians and ethnic Russians.
Residents of the city tend to be more pro-Russian in political leanings.
Modern Donetsk
Donetsk and the surrounding territories are heavily urbanized and agglomerated into conurbation.
The city's professional football teams are FC Shakhtar Donetsk and FC Metalurh Donetsk.
Transportation
Local transportation
The main forms of transport within Donetsk are: trams, electric trolley buses, buses, and marshrutkas (private minibuses). 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 Yuzhniy (Russian: Южный;
Railroads
Donetsk's main railway station Donetsk is located in the northern part of the city. Some passenger trains avoid Donetsk station and serve Yasinuvata (outside the city borders) instead.
As the Donetsk Oblast is an important transportation hub in Ukraine, so is its center Donetsk.
Architecture
19th century
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.
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 Governmental award of the USSR for architecture in the city of Donetsk in 1978.
Media
Five television station operate within Donetsk:
TRK Ukraina (Russian: ТРК Украина) KRT, Kievan Rus' (Russian: КРТ, Киевская Русь) First Municipal (Russian: Первый муниципальный) Kanal 27 (Russian: 27 канал) TRK Nadezhda (Russian: ТРК Надежда)Famous people from Donetsk
| Akhmetov, Rinat - Ukrainian business oligarch Astakhova, Polina - Ukrainian gymnast Bubka, Serhiy - Ukrainian pole vault athlete; 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 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 |
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