Donetsk region overview
Donetsk oblast, located in the southeastern part of Ukraine, was established on July 17, 1932. Donetsk is the capital city of the region.
Population (2014) - 4,321,000 (10.49%, 1st place).
Land area - 26,592 sq. km. (4.41%, 11th place)
The recent history of Donetsk region
In April 2014, as a result of the political crisis in Ukraine, the Donetsk People’s Republic was proclaimed in the region.
The territory of Donetsk oblast became a war zone between the armed forces of Ukraine and the people protecting the self-proclaimed republic. Today, this conflict is not resolved and the future of the region is unclear.
June 13, 2014, by order of Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine, the regional authorities temporarily moved to Mariupol.
October 13, 2014, the regional governor Alexander Kikhtenko said that the regional state administration will be moved to Kramatorsk, and law enforcement agencies of the region will stay in Mariupol.
Donetsk region nature
Donetsk region nature
Author: Valeriy Dudush
Donetsk region nature view
Author: Vadim Tolbatov
Donetsk province landscape
Author: Shuvalov Alexey
Donetsk oblast features
Donetsk oblast borders on Rostov region of Russia. In the south, it is washed by the Azov Sea.
The region stretches for 255 km from north to south, 180 km from west to east. The distance from Donetsk to Kiev is 871 km by railway, and 693 km by roads.
This region is rich in deposits of varioues mineral resources. The largest deposits of iron ore are located close to Mariupol city.
Donetsk oblast has large deposits of coal, its proven reserves are about 10 billion tons, including 5.7 billion tons of coke coal.
The region includes 18 districts, 52 towns, 131 urban villages and 1,118 villages. The main cities are Donetsk, Mariupol, Makeevka, Gorlovka, Kramatorsk, Slavyansk, Enakievo.
Donetsk region economy
Donetsk oblast is the largest industrial region in the country (about 20% of industrial production of Ukraine).
Industry: extremely powerful metallurgical production, heavy machine-building and coal mining, chemicals, building materials, electricity, transport.
Agriculture: grains, sugar beets, potatoes, vegetables, sunflowers; cattle and poultry farming.
There are several heavy-engineering works in Donetsk region producing mainly mining equipment.