Donetsk is a large city in eastern Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

 on the Kalmius

Kalmius

The Kalmius is one of two rivers flowing through the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. The other river called the Kalchik flows into the Kalmius. The Kalmius flows into the Sea of Azov near the Azovstal steel manufacturing combine....

 river. Administratively, it is a center of Donetsk Oblast

Donetsk Oblast

Donetsk Oblast is an oblast of eastern Ukraine. Its administrative center is Donetsk. Historically, the province is an important part of the Donbas region...

, while historically, it is the unofficial capital and largest city of the economic and cultural Donets Basin

Donets Basin

Donbas or Donbass , full rarely-used name Donets Basin , is a historical, economic and cultural region of eastern Ukraine. Originally a coal mining area, it has become a heavily industrialised territory suffering from urban decay and industrial pollution.-Geography:Donbas covers three...

 (Donbas) region. Donetsk - a dynamic metropolis, a major financial, industrial, scientific center of Ukraine with a high concentration of companies and skilled workforce. In 2009, 2010, recognized as the best city of Ukraine.

The city was founded in 1869 by a Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 businessman, John Hughes

John Hughes (businessman)

John James Hughes was a Welsh engineer, businessman and founder of a city in Ukraine. The city was originally named Yuzovka or Hughesovka after Hughes, but was renamed Stalino in 1924 .-Biography:Hughes was born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales,...

, who constructed a steel plant and several coal mines

Coal mining

The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...

 in the region; the town was thus named Yuzovka (Юзовка) in recognition of his role in its founding ("Yuz" being a Russian or Ukrainian approximation of Hughes).