Cities of Ukraine: Donetsk
Also spelled DONECK, formerly (UNTIL 1924) YUZOVKA, or (1924-61) Stalino, city and administrative centre of Donetsk Region (province, “oblast” in Ukrainian), southeastern Ukraine, on the headwaters of the Kalmius River.
In 1872 an ironworks was founded there by a Welshman, John Hughes (from whom the town’s pre-Revolutionary name Yuzovka was derived), to produce iron rails for the growing Russian rail network. Later steel rails were made. The plant used coal from the immediate vicinity, and both coal mining and steel making developed rapidly. By 1914 there were 4 metallurgical plants, 10 coalpits, and a population of about 50,000.
After the October Revolution (1917), Yuzovka was renamed Stalino and, in 1961, Donetsk. Heavy destruction in World War II led to postwar modernization and an increase in the scale of industry. Subsequent growth has been rapid and sustained. There are now more than 40 coalpits within the town limits. A major integrated coking, iron-smelting, and steel-making plant makes modern Donetsk one of the largest metallurgical centres of Ukraine. Coke by-products are the basis of a chemical industry producing plastics. There are several heavy-engineering works, which produce, in the main, mining equipment. Refrigerators are manufactured, and there are other light industries.
The necessity of avoiding areas subject to subsidence caused by mining has led to a patchy development of the densely built-up residential and factory areas and open spaces over the extensive area of the town’s administrative limits (162 square miles [420 square km]). The principal street, from the railway station to the steelworks, is 5.5 miles (9 km) long, with the main shops, hotels, and administrative buildings. There are a university; polytechnic, medical and trade institutes; and more than 30 scientific research establishments, including a branch of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Cultural amenities include several theatres and a philharmonic hall.