Donetsk Totally Explained

Everything about Donetsk totally explained

Donetsk (translit. Donets’k;, translit. Donetsk; see also: ), is the large city in Eastern Ukraine on the Kalmius river. Administratively, it's a center of Donetsk Oblast, while historically, it's the unofficial capital and largest city of the economic and cultural Donets Basin (Donbass) region.
   The city was founded in 1869 by a Welsh businessman, John Hughes, who constructed a steel plant and several coal mines around the region. Hence the original name Yuzovka (Юзовка). During the Soviet times, the city's steel industry was expanded and it was renamed to Stalino (Сталино). Although there's an opinion that city was named after Joseph Stalin, and hence renamed during the De-Stalinisation to its modern name after the Seversky Donets river.
   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 1,100,000 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.

Geography and climate

Donetsk lies in the steppe landscape of Ukraine, surrounded by scattered woodland, hills (slag heaps), rivers, and lakes. The northern outskirts of the city are mainly used for agriculture. The Azov Sea, 95 km south of Donetsk, is a popular recreational area for those living in Donetsk. A wide belt of farmlands surrounds the city.
The city stretches 28 km from north to south and 55 km from east to west. There are 2 nearby reservoirs: Nyzhnekalmius (60 ha), and the "Donetsk Sea" (206 ha). 5 rivers flow through the city, including 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. 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. |}

History

Donetsk was founded in 1869 when the 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; ). By the beginning of the 20th century, Yuzovka had approximately 50,000 inhabitants, and had attained the status of a city in 1917.
   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 didn't have a drinkwater system until 1931, when a 55.3 km system was laid underground. In July 1933, the city became the administrative centre of the Donetsk Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR. 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 German soldier, 100 inhabitants were killed, and one for every killed policeman.
   During Khrushchev's second wave of destalinization in November 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.|N/A |1926|106,000|+3.7% |1939|466,300|+4.4% |1959|699,200|+1.5% |1970|879,000|+1.3% |1979|1,020,800|+1.2% |1989|1,109,100|+1.1% |1998|1,065,400|+0.96% |2006|993,500|-0.93% }}
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 the fifth-largest city in Ukraine. Ukrainians are 56,9% of Donetsk oblast and Russians are 38,2%. The Russian language is dominant in Donbas.
   The actual nationality structure of the Donetsk City Municipality is as follows:

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%

ť Total: 1,024,678 people, 100.00%

Culture

Architecture

Donetsk, at the time Yuzovka, was divided into two parts: north and south. In the southern part were the city's factories, train depots, telegraph buildings, hospitals and schools. Not far from the factories was the English colony where the engineers and the management 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. 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 residences of John Hughes (1891, partially preserved), Bolfur (1889) and Bosse.
   In the northern part of Yuzovka, Novyi Svet, lived traders, craftsmen and bureaucrats. Here were located the market hall, the police headquarters and the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Jesus. The central street of Novyi Svet and the neighbouring streets were mainly edged by one- or two-story residential buildings, as well as markets, restaurants, hotels, offices and banks. A famous preserved building in the northern part of Yuzovka was the Hotel Great Britain.
   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.
   A large portion of the city's buildings from the second half 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.

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, and 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. The RSK Olimpiyskyi Stadium was chosen as a reserve stadium.

Religion

Donetsk's residents belong to many different religious bodies: Eastern Orthodox Greek Catholic, Protestant, and Roman Catholic, as well as Islamic Mosques 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

KRT, Kievskaya Rus'

First Municipal

Kanal 27

TRK Nadezhda In Donetsk, there's the 360 metre tall TV tower, one of the tallest structures in the city, completed in 1992.

Famous people

Donetsk has been home to many people, including sportsmen, musicians, writers, businessmen, 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

Assol — a child singer

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

Mate, Ilya - Olympic champion in 1980

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