About Donetsk

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. The town initially was given the name Hughesovka (Yuzovka). By the beginning of the 20th century, Yuzovka had approximately 50,000 inhabitants and had attained the status of a city in 1917.

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 almost completely destroyed the city, which was mostly rebuilt on a large scale at the war's end.

The territory of Donetsk in the war time consisted mainly of a Jewish ghetto, in which 3,000 Jews died, and a concentration camp in which 92,000 people were killed. 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 Khruschev'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.

Population
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, Ukrainians are 56,9% of Donetsk oblast and Russians are 38,2%. The Russian language is dominant in Donbas.
Residents of the city tend to be more pro-Russian in political leanings. This has been massively exploited during 2004 presidential election.

Architecture
In the 19-th 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. 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 facads, green rooftops, large windows, which occupied a large portion of the building, and balconies. 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. 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 the traders, craftsmen, and bureaucrats. 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, конторами, and banks. A famous preserved building in the northern part of Yuzovka was the Hotel Great Britain.

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.

Economy
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 Donbas and the Ukraine. Directly under the city lie the 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. The city's coal mining industry comprises 17 coal mines and two concentrating mills; the metallurgy industry comprises 5 large metallurgical plants located throught the city; the engineering market comprises 67 organizations, and the food industry — 32 organizations.

In spite of the difficult econoimic situation in Ukraine, Donetsk is a developing city. 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.

The city also houses the "Donetsk" special economic zone. Donetsk currently has seven sister cities.

Donetsk is a well-known educational location of the surrounding area, accompanied with several universities. The most important and prominent educational institutions include: the National Technical University known as the Polytechnical Institute in the 1930s);
the National University 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 have completed their higher education at either one of the two main universities in Donetsk.
There are also several scientific research institutions, and an Islamic University within Donetsk.

Back to Donetsk Oblast page

Back to Cities and Regions page