Mariupol formerly known as Zhdanov (Ukrainian

Ukrainian language

Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....

 and Russian

Russian language

Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

: Жда́нов), is a port city in southeastern 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...

. It is located on the coast of the Azov Sea

Sea of Azov

The Sea of Azov , known in Classical Antiquity as Lake Maeotis, is a sea on the south of Eastern Europe. It is linked by the narrow Strait of Kerch to the Black Sea to the south and is bounded on the north by Ukraine mainland, on the east by Russia, and on the west by the Ukraine's Crimean...

, at the mouth of the Kalmius River. Mariupol is the largest city in Priazovye - a geographical region around Azov Sea, divided by Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 and Ukraine - and is also a popular sea resort. Administratively, the city is located in the 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...

 and historically formed a part of the broader Donbas region. As of June 1, 2010, the city population stood at 490,063 people.

Mariupol is an important industrial centre and seaport. Two of its steel mill

Steel mill

A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel.Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon. It is produced in a two-stage process. First, iron ore is reduced or smelted with coke and limestone in a blast furnace, producing molten iron which is either cast into pig iron or...

s - Ilyich Iron and Steel Works and Azovstal - are among the largest in the country and make up a significant part of Ukraine's total exports. «Azovmash», a machine-building concern, located in Mariupol, is the largest company of its kind in Ukraine. Overall, Mariupol industry accounts for 37.5% of Donetsk oblast’s total exports and about 7.0% of all Ukraine’s exports.

From 1948 to 1989 the city was named Zhdanov in honour of Andrei Zhdanov

Andrei Zhdanov

Andrei Alexandrovich Zhdanov was a Soviet politician.-Life:Zhdanov enlisted with the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1915 and was promoted through the party ranks, becoming the All-Union Communist Party manager in Leningrad after the assassination of Sergei Kirov in 1934...

.

History

Mariupol was known from the beginning of the 16th century as the Cossack

Cossack

Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...

 fortress 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....

, but only became a real city after the migration of the Crimean Greeks

Greeks in Russia

The Greek presence in southern Russia is dated to the 6th century BC. Today there are about 188,000 people of Greek extraction living in the Russian Federation. Most live in the south and the Black Sea region with large concentrations in Moscow and St. Petersburg...

 to Priazovye from 1778 - 1780.

In 1779 it became the first city in the present 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...

 to receive city status. The railway, a new big port, and a metal works appeared at the end of the 19th century. The city has undergone much industrialisation, such as the appearance of a large "Azovstal" plant.

Mariupol was occupied by Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 from (1941–1943). It was one of two Soviet cities where Hitler stayed for a night (the other being Vinnitsa). The war caused tremendous damage to the city, with its factories and port facilities laid to waste and significant part of population killed. Now it is not a major centre of industry in the Donetsk Oblast, and a resort destination. It is recognised as the centre of Greek culture in Ukraine.

City image

Today Mariupol is the second most populous city in Donetsk oblast, (after Donetsk

Donetsk

Donetsk , is a large city in eastern Ukraine on the Kalmius river. Administratively, it is a center of Donetsk Oblast, while historically, it is the unofficial capital and largest city of the economic and cultural Donets Basin region...

) and is among ten most populous cities in Ukraine. See List of cities in Ukraine.

Architecture

Old Mariupol (an area limited to the south coast of the Sea of Azov

Sea of Azov

The Sea of Azov , known in Classical Antiquity as Lake Maeotis, is a sea on the south of Eastern Europe. It is linked by the narrow Strait of Kerch to the Black Sea to the south and is bounded on the north by Ukraine mainland, on the east by Russia, and on the west by the Ukraine's Crimean...

, in the east - 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, in the north - Shevchenko Blvd., in the West – Metalurhiv Av.) is built up mainly of few-story houses and has kept its pre-revolutionary architecture. Only Artem Street and Lenin Avenue were built after the Great Patriotic War and are considered modern buildings.

The central area of Mariupol (from the Metalurhiv Avenue up to Budivelnykiv Avenue) is almost entirely administrative and commercial buildings, including a city council building, post office, the Lukov cinema, Mariupol Humanitarian University, Priazov State Technical University, the Korolenko central city library, and many large shops.

Architecture of other residential areas ("Zakhidny", "Skhidny", "Kirov", "Cheremushky", 5th, 17th catchment area, etc.) are not especially different or original and are typically 5 and 9-storey houses. Cheremushki carries a special meaning in Russian culture and now entwined with Ukrainian. It usually refers to the newly settled parts of a city in Russia.

The accommodation of the city is 9.82 million meters square the common area. Security of the inhabited parts of the city is 19.3 meters square per 1 inhabitant. Densities of privatised habitation in 2003 were 76.3%.

Main streets

• Avenues (“Prospects”): Lenin (the central highway), Metalurhiv (“Metallurgists”, one connects 3 right-bank areas of city), Budivelnykiv (“Builders”), Ilyich (after Vladimir Ilyich Lenin), Nakhimov, Peremohy (“Victory”), Lunin (after admiral Lunin), Leningradsky (in Ordzhonikidzivsky Raion)
• Streets (“Vulitsi”): Artem, Torhova (“Trading”), Apatov, Kuprin, Uritsky, Bakhchivandzhi, Gagarin, Karpinsky, Mamin-Sibiryak, Taganrog, Olympic, Azovstal, Makar Mazay, Karl Libknekht
  Karl Liebknecht
  was a German socialist and a co-founder with Rosa Luxemburg of the Spartacist League and the Communist Party of Germany. He is best known for his opposition to World War I in the Reichstag and his role in the Spartacist uprising of 1919...
  
  .
• Boulevards: Shevchenko, Komsomol, Prymore (Sea), Khmelnytsky etc.
• Squares (“Ploscha”): Administrative (“Administrative”), Nezalezhnosti (“Independence”), Peremohy (“Victory”), Mashinobudivnykiv (“Mechanical engineers”), Lenin's Komsomol, Vyzvolennia (“Liberation”).

In December, 1991 by the decision of city council of Mariupol the following Soviet names of some streets have been renamed to their pre-revolutionary names in an old part of city:

• First of May Street - Heorhiyevska Street,
• Third International Street - Torhova Street,
• Apatov Street (a part - to the east from the Metalurhiv Avenue) - Italian Street,
• Donbass Street - Mykolaivska Street,
• Ivan Franko
  Ivan Franko
  Ivan Yakovych Franko was a Ukrainian poet, writer, social and literary critic, journalist, interpreter, economist, political activist, doctor of philosophy, the author of the first detective novels and modern poetry in the Ukrainian language....
  
   Street - Fontanna Street,
• Karl Libknekht
  Karl Liebknecht
  was a German socialist and a co-founder with Rosa Luxemburg of the Spartacist League and the Communist Party of Germany. He is best known for his opposition to World War I in the Reichstag and his role in the Spartacist uprising of 1919...
  
   Street (a part - to the east from the Metalurhiv Avenue) - Mitropolit Street,
• Karl Marks Street - Greek Street,
• Komsomol
  Komsomol
  The Communist Union of Youth , usually known as Komsomol , was the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Komsomol in its earliest form was established in urban centers in 1918. During the early years, it was a Russian organization, known as the Russian Communist Union of...
  
   Street – Yevpatoriya Street,
• Krasnoarmeyskaya
  Red Army
  The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
  
   Street - Gotfeyska Street,
• Kuindzhi Street - Karasivska Street,
• Proletarian Street - Kaffayska Street,
• Rose Luxembourg
  Rosa Luxemburg
  Rosa Luxemburg was a Marxist theorist, philosopher, economist and activist of Polish Jewish descent who became a naturalized German citizen...
  
   Street - Zemska Street,
• Soviet Street - Harlampiy Street.

From 1990–2000 the following streets and areas have been renamed:

• Sergo Street - Jacob Gugel' Street (in Ordzhonikidzivsky Raion) - in honour of the head of construction and the first director of "Azovstal",
• Republic Lane - University Street (in city centre),
• Constitution Square - Mashinobudivnykiv (“Mechanical engineers”) Square,
• Square near to "Neptune" swimming pool – Nezalezhnosti (“Independence”) Square.

See also - List of streets and squares of Mariupol.

Parks

• City Square (« the Theatrical Square »),
• Extreme Park (new attractions near to the biggest in city of the Palace of Culture of Metallurgists),
• Gurov's Meadow-park (former Meadow-park a name of the 200-anniversary of Mariupol),
• City Garden ,
• Veselka Park (Ordzhonikidzivsky Raion), named as the rainbow
  Rainbow
  A rainbow is an optical and meteorological phenomenon that causes a spectrum of light to appear in the sky when the Sun shines on to droplets of moisture in the Earth's atmosphere. It takes the form of a multicoloured arc...
  
  
• Azovstal Park (Ordzhonikidzivsky Raion),
• Petrovsky Park (near modern stadium “Illyichivets” and constructions of “Azovmash” basketball club, Illyichivsky Raion),
• Primorsky Park (Prymorsky Raion).

Monuments

Mariupol has monuments to Taras Shevchenko

Taras Shevchenko

Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko -Life:Born into a serf family of Hryhoriy Ivanovych Shevchenko and Kateryna Yakymivna Shevchenko in the village of Moryntsi, of Kiev Governorate of the Russian Empire Shevchenko was orphaned at the age of eleven...

, Vladimir Vysotsky

Vladimir Vysotsky

Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky was a Soviet singer, songwriter, poet, and actor whose career had an immense and enduring effect on Russian culture. He became widely known for his unique singing style and for his lyrics, which featured social and political commentary in often humorous street...

, Kuindzhi, Vladimir Lenin

Vladimir Lenin

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...

 and many other famous persons. The monuments in honour of the liberation of Donbass, the metallurgists, and others can also be found.

There are also monuments to Makar Maza, Hryhoriy Yuriyovych Horban, K.P. Apatov, Tolya Balabukha, to seamen - commandos, pilots V.G. Semenyshyn and N.E. Lavytsky, soldiers of the Soviet 9th Aviation Division, victims of political repressions of 1930-50, etc. During the Soviet times the central square of the city was decorated with the monument to Zhdanov

Zhdanov

Zhdanov or Zhdanova is a surname and may refer to:People* Andrei Zhdanov , Stalinist politician, developer of the Zhdanov Doctrine that governed Soviet cultural activities for a number of years...

after whom the city was named for sometime (it was demounted in 1990). The artists V. Konstantynov and L. Kuzminkov are sculptors of some of the monuments and also created the monument to metropolitan Ignatiy, the founder of Mariupol.

City holidays

Holidays exclusive to Mariupol include:

• Day of liberation of the city from fascist aggressors (on September 10)
• Day of the city (the following Sunday after the day of liberation of Mariupol in September)
• Day of the metallurgist - a professional holiday for many citizens
• Day of the machine engineer
• Day of the seaman and other professional holidays.

|valign="top" width=25% |

Hotels

• Azovstal
• Chaika (“Seagull”)
• Druzhba (“Friendship”)
• European
• Meridian
• Morskaya (“Sea”)
• Moryak (“Seaman”)
• Priazovye
• Sniper
• Spartak
• Tourist

There are about 1 000 hotel rooms in the city in total.>

Casinos & night clubs Broadway Pharaon (Pharaoh) Coral Imperiya (“Empire”) Keglik Lagoon Maxim Riviera Paradox Arlekin Split Pena Turist Ledo Horosho

Emblem

The modern emblem

Emblem

An emblem is a pictorial image, abstract or representational, that epitomizes a concept — e.g., a moral truth, or an allegory — or that represents a person, such as a king or saint.-Distinction: emblem and symbol:...

 of Mariupol was confirmed in 1989. In the shield is the anchor

Anchor

An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, that is used to connect a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the vessel from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ancora, which itself comes from the Greek ἄγκυρα .Anchors can either be temporary or permanent...

 with a ring as a ladle with poured metal. The number 1778 indicates the year of the city’s founding. The argent symbolises steel, azure

Azure

In heraldry, azure is the tincture with the colour blue, and belongs to the class of tinctures called "colours". In engraving, it is sometimes depicted as a region of horizontal lines or else marked with either az. or b. as an abbreviation....

 means sea, the anchor represents the port, and the ladle is for metallurgy.

Administrative division

Mariupol is divided into four neighborhoods or 'raions'. There are:

• Ilyichivsky Raion (after Vladimir Ilyich Lenin ) is the northern part of the city, the largest and most industrialized neighborhood in the city. Commonly known as: Zavod (“Factory”) of Ilyich.
• Ordzhonikidzivsky Raion (after Sergo Ordzhonikidze) is at the east part of the city, on the left coast of Kalmius river. Common name: the Left Coast.
• Prymorsky Raion is in the south of the city, on the coast of the Azov Sea. The everyday name of the central part this neighbourhood is simply "Port".
• Zhovtnevy Raion ( – after the Great October Revolution
  October Revolution
  The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
  
  , 1917) is the central city raion. The everyday name of the raion is simply "the Centre", or "the City".

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 separates the Ordzhonekidzivsky Raion from the remaining three raions. Mostly the population is concentrated in the Zhovtnevy and the Prymorsky Raions. Ilyichivsky Raion houses the large Ilyich's steel mill

Steel mill

A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel.Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon. It is produced in a two-stage process. First, iron ore is reduced or smelted with coke and limestone in a blast furnace, producing molten iron which is either cast into pig iron or...

 and the Azovmash manufacturing plant. The Ordzhonekidzivsky (Left Bank) is home to the Azovstal metallurgic combine and the Koksohim factory. The map also shows that settlements of Stary Krym and Sartana are located in the close proximity to the city limits of Mariupol.

Demographics

As of June 1, 2010, the city's population was 490,063 inhabitants. For the last century the population has grown almost 12 times. The city is populated by Ukrainians

Ukrainians

Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...

, Russians

Russians

The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

, Greeks

Greeks

The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

, Belarusians

Belarusians

Belarusians ; are an East Slavic ethnic group who populate the majority of the Republic of Belarus. Introduced to the world as a new state in the early 1990s, the Republic of Belarus brought with it the notion of a re-emerging Belarusian ethnicity, drawn upon the lines of the Old Belarusian...

, Armenians

Armenians

Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....

, Jews

Jews

The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

, etc. The main language is Russian

Russian language

Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

.
The population in 2007 was estimated at 496,700, with the subordinated territories (settlement Sartana, settlement Talakivka, settlement Stary Krym, village Hnutove, and village Lomakine) - 502,800. Annual reduction of the population is 1,9. The death rate is 15,5.

Ethnic structure

Ukrainian

Ukrainians

Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...

 make less than half of the population of the city, the second greatest ethnicity of Mariupol is Russian

Russians

The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

. Other peoples include Greeks

Greeks in Ukraine

A Greek presence throughout the Black Sea area existed long before the beginnings of Kievan Rus. For most of their history in this area, the history of the Greeks in Russia and in Ukraine forms a single narrative, of which a division according to present-day boundaries would be an artificial...

, Jews

Jews

The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

, Armenians

Armenians

Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....

, Belarusians

Belarusians

Belarusians ; are an East Slavic ethnic group who populate the majority of the Republic of Belarus. Introduced to the world as a new state in the early 1990s, the Republic of Belarus brought with it the notion of a re-emerging Belarusian ethnicity, drawn upon the lines of the Old Belarusian...

, etc. The city home to the largest Greek

Greeks in Ukraine

A Greek presence throughout the Black Sea area existed long before the beginnings of Kievan Rus. For most of their history in this area, the history of the Greeks in Russia and in Ukraine forms a single narrative, of which a division according to present-day boundaries would be an artificial...

 population in Ukraine ("Greeks of Priazovye"): 21,900, with 31,400 more in the six nearby rural areas, totaling to about 70% of the Greek population of the area and 60% for the country.


Ethnic structure in 2002.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto;"
!Ethnicity
!Number (person)
!Densities (%)
|-
!Ukrainian

Ukrainians

Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...

|248,683
|48.7
|-
!Russian

Russians

The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

|226,848
|44.4
|-
!Greek

Greeks

The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

|21,923
|4.3
|-
!Belarusian

Belarusians

Belarusians ; are an East Slavic ethnic group who populate the majority of the Republic of Belarus. Introduced to the world as a new state in the early 1990s, the Republic of Belarus brought with it the notion of a re-emerging Belarusian ethnicity, drawn upon the lines of the Old Belarusian...

|3,858
|0.8
|-
!Armenian

Armenians

Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....

|1,205
|0.2
|-
!Jews

Jews

The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

|1,176
|0.2
|-
!Bulgarian
|1,082
|0.2
|-
!other
|6,060
|1.2
|-
!All population
|510,835
|100
|}

Language structure

There is a large number of Greek-speaking (Rumaiic) people but the city is predominantly Russian-speaking. From 60% up to 80% Ukrainian-language dwellers communicate on so-called Surzhyk

Surzhyk

Surzhyk refers to a range of russified sociolects of Ukrainian used in certain regions of Ukraine and adjacent lands. It does not possess any unifying set of characteristics; the term is used for "norm-breaking, non-obedience to or nonawareness of the rules of the Ukrainian and Russian standard...

, due to a large influence of Russian culture.

Most Greek-speaking villages in the region speak a dialect called Rumaiica. There are about 17 villages that speak this language today. Modern scholars distinguish five subdialects of Rumaiica according to their similarity to standard Modern Greek

Modern Greek

Modern Greek refers to the varieties of the Greek language spoken in the modern era. The beginning of the "modern" period of the language is often symbolically assigned to the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, even though that date marks no clear linguistic boundary and many characteristic...

. This was derived from the dialect of the original settlers from the Crimea

Crimea

Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...

. Quite often Rumaiica is described as a Pontic dialect. This is, in fact, not the case. Many Romaiic features are similar to those found in Cretan, Cypriot

Cypriot Greek

The Cypriot dialect of Modern Greek, known as Kypriaka , Cypriot Greek is spoken by 750,000 people in Cyprus and diaspora Greek Cypriots.Cypriot Greek is distinct enough that it can be classified as a distinct dialect of the Standard Greek....

 and Northern Greek dialects. As we still do not have a detailed description of Greek dialects, Rumaiica should be regarded as a separate unit in Greek dialectology

Dialectology

Dialectology is the scientific study of linguistic dialect, a sub-field of sociolinguistics. It studies variations in language based primarily on geographic distribution and their associated features...

.

The village of Anadol speaks Pontic proper, being settled from the Pontos

Pontós

Pontós is a municipality in the comarca of Alt Empordà, Girona, Catalonia, Spain....

 in the 19th century.

Along with those speaking Rumaiica, there were and are a number of Tatar speaking Orthodox villages, the so called Urums

Urums

Urums, singular Urum is a broad historical term that was used by some Turkic-speaking peoples to define Greeks who lived in Muslim states, particularly in the Ottoman Empire and Crimea...

, which is the Tatar term for Romaios or Rumei. This subdivision had already occurred in Crimea before the settlement of the Azov Sea steppe

Steppe

In physical geography, steppe is an ecoregion, in the montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes...

 region by Greeks

Greeks

The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

 which started in 1779, part of the Russian policy to populate and develop the region while depriving the Crimea of an economically active part of its population.

Though Greek and Tatar speaking settlers live separately, the language of the Urums

Urum language

Urum is a Turkic language spoken by several thousand people who inhabit a few villages in the Southeastern Ukraine and in diaspora communities worldwide. The Urum language is often considered a variant of the Crimean Tatar language....

 was the lingua franca

Lingua franca

A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...

 of the region for a long time, being called the language of the bazaar

Bazaar

A bazaar , Cypriot Greek: pantopoula) is a permanent merchandising area, marketplace, or street of shops where goods and services are exchanged or sold. The term is sometimes also used to refer to the "network of merchants, bankers and craftsmen" who work that area...

. There are a number of settlements of other communities also, including Germans

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

, Bulgarians

Bulgarians

The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...

 and Albanians

Albanians

Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...

 (though the meanings of all such terms in this context is open to dispute).

After the October Revolution

October Revolution

The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...

 of 1917, a Rumaiic revival occurred in the region. The Soviet administration established a Greek-Rumaiic theater, several magazines and newspaper and a number of Rumaiic language schools. The best Rumaiic poet Georgi Kostoprav created a Rumaiic poetic language for his work. This process was reversed in 1937 as Kostoprav and many other Rumaiics and Urums were killed as part of Joseph Stalin

Joseph Stalin

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...

's national policies. A large percentage of the population was transported to Gulag

Gulag

The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...

s.

A new attempt to preserve a sense of ethnic Rumaiic identity started in the mid-1980s. The Ukrainian scholar Andriy Biletsky created a new Slavonic alphabet for Greek-speakers. Though a number of writers and poets make use of this alphabet, the population of the region rarely uses it. The Rumaiic language is declining rapidly, most endangered by the standard Modern Greek which is taught in schools and the local University. The latest investigations by Alexandra Gromova demonstrate that there is still hope that elements of the Rumaiic population will continue to use the dialect.


Language structure in 2002 !Language
!Number (person)
!Densities (%)
|-
!Russian

Russian language

Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

|457,931
|89.64
|-
!Ukrainian

Ukrainian language

Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....

|50,656
|9.92
|-
!Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

|1,046
|0.20
|-
!Armenian

Armenian language

The Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...

|372
|0.07
|-
!Belarusian

Belarusian language

The Belarusian language , sometimes referred to as White Russian or White Ruthenian, is the language of the Belarusian people...

|266
|0.05
|-
!Bulgarian

Bulgarian language

Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...

|55
|0.01
|-
!other
|509
|0.10
|-
!All population
|510,835
|100
|}>

Employment

About 59% of the people whose occupation is in a national economy work in the industry, 11% of them in transportation. As of July 1, 2009, the official rate of unemployment in the city stood at 2%. The figure, however, only includes people registered as 'unemployed' in the local job center. The real unemployment rate is therefore higher.


Historic Unemployment Rate in Mariupol (year end)

Year	Unemployment (% of labor force)
2006	0.4
2007	0.4
2008	1.2
2009*	2.0

^* - as of July 1

Geography

Mariupol is to the south of the Donetsk area, on the coast of the Azov Sea, in a mouth of the river Kalmius. The city occupies an area of 166 km (103.1 mi) ² (64 mi²) (with suburbs, i.e., the territories subordinated to the Mariupol city council – 244 km (151.6 mi) ² (94.2 mi²)). The down-town area is 106 km (65.9 mi) ² (40.9 mi²), the area of parks and gardens is 80.6 km (50.1 mi) ² (31.1 mi²). The city is mainly built on land that is made of Solonetzic chernozems, with a significant amount of underground subsoil waters that frequently leads to landslides.

Climate

There is a moderate-continental climate with recurring droughts and dry winds in the summer and thawing weather, fogs - in the winter. Annual precipitation is 400 mm (15.75 in) a year. Agro climatic conditions allow the cultivation in suburbs of Mariupol thermophilic agricultural crops with long vegetative periods (sunflower, melons, grapes, etc.). However water resources in the region are insufficient, and consequently ponds and water basins are used for the needs of the population and industry.

Direction of a wind in the winter mainly east, in the summer - northern.

Average temperature of air in January 22.6 °F (-5.2 °C), in July 72.9 °F (22.7 °C). Quantity of deposits – 450 mm annually.

Absolute maximum of temperature of air in the summer is 104 °F (40 °C); a minimum in the winter is -25.6 °F.

Ecology

Mariupol wins first place in 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 volumes of emissions of harmful substances by the industrial enterprises. Last years ecology problems have started to be engaged by leading enterprises of city. For last 15 years industrial emissions thus have fallen almost by half.

Due to the stable work of the majority of the large enterprises, the city constantly collides with environmental problems. At the end of 1970s, Zhdanov (Mariupol) by quantity of industrial emissions in an atmosphere occupied third place in the USSR (after Novokuznetsk

Novokuznetsk

Novokuznetsk is a city in Kemerovo Oblast, Russia. It serves as the administrative center of Novokuznetsky District, but it is not administratively a part of it...

 and Magnitogorsk

Magnitogorsk

Magnitogorsk is a mining and industrial city in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located on the eastern side of the extreme southern extent of the Ural Mountains by the Ural River. Population: 418,545 ;...

). In 1989 by all enterprises of city it had 5,215 sources of atmospheric pollution producing 752,900 tones of harmful substances a year (about 98% from metallurgical enterprises and "Markokhim"). Even during some easing activity of the industry in the state (the middle of 1990s) of maximum-permissible concentrations (maximum concentration limit) many pollution limits of the environment have been exceeded:

• For ammonia
  Ammonia
  Ammonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . It is a colourless gas with a characteristic pungent odour. Ammonia contributes significantly to the nutritional needs of terrestrial organisms by serving as a precursor to food and fertilizers. Ammonia, either directly or...
  
   by 1.3 times
• For phenol
  Phenol
  Phenol, also known as carbolic acid, phenic acid, is an organic compound with the chemical formula C6H5OH. It is a white crystalline solid. The molecule consists of a phenyl , bonded to a hydroxyl group. It is produced on a large scale as a precursor to many materials and useful compounds...
  
   by 1.3 times
• For formaldehyde
  Formaldehyde
  Formaldehyde is an organic compound with the formula CH2O. It is the simplest aldehyde, hence its systematic name methanal.Formaldehyde is a colorless gas with a characteristic pungent odor. It is an important precursor to many other chemical compounds, especially for polymers...
  
   by 2.0 times

In the residential areas adjoining industrial giants, concentrations of benzapiren changes to within of 6-9 times the maximum concentration limits, fluoric hydrogen, ammonia and formaldehyde - 2-3 to 5 times the maximum concentration limits, dust and oxides of carbon, hydrogen sulphide are 6 to 8 times the maximum concentration limits, and dioxides of nitrogen are 2 to 3 times the maximum concentration limits. It has exceeded the maximum concentration limit on phenol by 17x, and benzapiren till 13 to 14x!

Not absolutely thought over arrangement of platforms for construction of Azovstal and Markokhim (the economy in transport charges was assumed, both during construction in 30th, and during the subsequent operation) has led to that the wind rose basically carries all emissions in the central areas of Mariupol. Intensity of these winds and geographical "flatness" of a relief that long time pollutions does not allow to accumulate a little saves the situation.

The Sea of Azov

Sea of Azov

The Sea of Azov , known in Classical Antiquity as Lake Maeotis, is a sea on the south of Eastern Europe. It is linked by the narrow Strait of Kerch to the Black Sea to the south and is bounded on the north by Ukraine mainland, on the east by Russia, and on the west by the Ukraine's Crimean...

 near the city is in distress. The catch of fish in the area was reduced by orders of magnitude over the last 30–40 years.

The nature protection activity of leading enterprises in Mariupol cost millions of hrivnas, but it appears to have little effect on the environmental problems built up in the city over the years.

Government & politics

The Mariupol population traditionally supports the left and pro-Russian political forces. On last parliamentary elections (2006) city has voted for Party of Regions

Party of Regions

The Party of Regions is an Ukrainian political party created on October 26, 1997 just prior to the 1998 Ukrainian parliamentary elections under the name of Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine. It was reformed later in 2001 when the party united with several others...

 - 39,72% of votes, Socialist Party of Ukraine

Socialist Party of Ukraine

The Socialist Party of Ukraine is a Socialist political party in Ukraine and part of the Verkhovna Rada from 1994 to 2007.It is one of the oldest parties and was created by the former members of the Communist Party of Ukraine in late 1991 when the Communist Party was banned...

 – 20,38%, Natalia Vitrenko Block

People's Opposition Bloc of Natalia Vitrenko

The People's Opposition Bloc of Natalia Vitrenko, was a political alliance in Ukraine led by Natalia Vitrenko.It consisted of*Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine...

 - 9,53%, Communist Party of Ukraine

Communist Party of Ukraine

The Communist Party of Ukraine is a political party in Ukraine, currently led by Petro Symonenko.The party fights the Ukrainian national self-determination by identifying any Ukrainian national parties as the National-Fascist ones The Communist Party of Ukraine is a political party in Ukraine,...

 - 3,29%.

Mayor of city (chairman, "head", cities and chairman of executive committee of city council) - Yuri Yuriyovych Khotlubey.

Mariupol in Verkhovna Rada

Verkhovna Rada

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is Ukraine's parliament. The Verkhovna Rada is a unicameral parliament composed of 450 deputies, which is presided over by a chairman...

 is represented with four People's Deputies:

• Volodymyr Semenovych Boyko - the chapter (head) of the board Ilyich Mariupol Iron and Steel Works, the Hero of Ukraine
  Hero of Ukraine
  Hero of Ukraine is the highest state decoration that can be conferred upon an individual citizen by the Government of Ukraine. The title was created in 1998 by President Leonid Kuchma and as of August 25 2011 the total number of awards is 265. The award is divided into two classes of distinction:...
  
  .
• Serhiy Anatoliovych Matviyenkov - the representative Ilyich Mariupol Iron and Steel Works
• Dmytro Arnoldovych Livshyts - the representative of “Azovstal Iron and Steel Works”
• Oleksandr Volodymyrovych Savchuk - the representative of Machine-building Concern “Azovmash”

The city traditionally supports the left and pro-Russian political forces in Ukraine. In the presidential elections of 2004

Ukrainian presidential election, 2004

The Ukrainian presidential election, 2004 was held on October 31, November 21 and December 26, 2004. The election was the fourth presidential election to take place in Ukraine following independence from the Soviet Union...

 the city voted for Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych

Viktor Yanukovych

Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych is a Ukrainian politician who has been the President of Ukraine since February 2010.Yanukovych served as the Governor of Donetsk Oblast from 1997 to 2002...

 (91.1%) and for Viktor Andriyovych Yuschenko

Yushchenko

Yushchenko is a Ukrainian surname.*Viktor Yushchenko, is the third President of Ukraine*Kateryna Yushchenko, the wife of Viktor Yushchenko...

 (5.93%).

At the turn of the 21st century in the City Council Party of Regions

Party of Regions

The Party of Regions is an Ukrainian political party created on October 26, 1997 just prior to the 1998 Ukrainian parliamentary elections under the name of Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine. It was reformed later in 2001 when the party united with several others...

 numerically prevails, followed by Socialist Party of Ukraine

Socialist Party of Ukraine

The Socialist Party of Ukraine is a Socialist political party in Ukraine and part of the Verkhovna Rada from 1994 to 2007.It is one of the oldest parties and was created by the former members of the Communist Party of Ukraine in late 1991 when the Communist Party was banned...

.

Industry

In Mariupol there are 56 industrial enterprises under various patterns of ownership. The industry of the city is diverse, among which the city's heavy industry is dominant. Mariupol is home to the major steel mills (including some globally important) and chemical plant

Chemical plant

A chemical plant is an industrial process plant that manufactures chemicals, usually on a large scale. The general objective of a chemical plant is to create new material wealth via the chemical or biological transformation and or separation of materials. Chemical plants use special equipment,...

s; there is also an important seaport and a railroad junction. The largest enterprises are Ilyich Iron and Steel Works, Azovstal, Concern Azovmash, and the Mariupol Sea Trading Port. There are also shipyards, fish canneries, and the various educational institutions relating to the study of metallurgy

Metallurgy

Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...

 and science.

The total industrial production of the city for eight months in 2005 (January - August) was 21378.2 million hryvnas (4.233 billion USD), compared to 1999 - 6169.806 million hryvnas (1.222 billion USD). This is 37.5% of the total production for 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...

. The leading business of the city is in ferrous metallurgy, which makes up 93.5% of the city's income from industrial production. The output estimates in millions tones of iron, steel, rolled iron, and agglomerate annually.

• Open Society Ilyich Mariupol steel and iron works
  Ilyich Mariupol steel and iron works
  Ilyich Iron & Steel Works is the second largest metallurgical enterprise of Ukraine...
  
   (Mariupol Metallurgical Combine named Ilyich) is an integrated mill, with all the facilities for a full metallurgical cycle. Housing around 100 thousand of workers, in Ukraine it is the second in size only after Kryvorizhstal
  Kryvorizhstal
  Kryvorizhstal is Ukraine's largest integrated steel company located in the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih.Bought in 2005 by Mittal Steel, the company is one of the most important businesses in Ukraine and a globally important steel producer. It is the largest steel manufacturer in Ukraine and...
  
  . The company is the collective property of the society of tenants (Joint-Stock Company "Ilyich-steel"; with about 37,000 worker-shareholders). The head of the board of enterprise is the People's Deputy, Volodymyr Boyko. The enterprise has many structural divisions: Management of public catering and trade ("УОПТ", a network of 52 enterprises), a chemist's network
  Chain store
  Chain stores are retail outlets that share a brand and central management, and usually have standardized business methods and practices. These characteristics also apply to chain restaurants and some service-oriented chain businesses. In retail, dining and many service categories, chain businesses...
  
   Ilyich-Pharm, more than 50 agro shops
  Agriculture
  Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
  
   (former collective farms of the south of Donetsk
  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...
  
   and Zaporizhia Oblast
  Zaporizhia Oblast
  Zaporizhia Oblast is an oblast of southern Ukraine. Its capital is Zaporizhia.This oblast is an important part of Ukraine's industry and agriculture.-Geography:...
  
  s), the office of the Komsomol Mines, various machine-building enterprises in the Cherkasy Oblast
  Cherkasy Oblast
  Cherkasy Oblast is an oblast of central Ukraine located along the Dnieper River. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Cherkasy).-Geography:...
  
  , Mariupol International Airport
  Mariupol International Airport
  Mariupol International Airport is a primary airport of Mariupol, which is located 5km from the city.The airport is situated on the extreme south-eastern part of Ukraine near the border with Russia...
  
  , and the Mariupol Television Network (locally known as MTV).

• Open Society Azovstal is another integrated mill ("Combine"), the third largest in Ukraine in terms of gross revenue. Its production varies in millions of tones of pig-iron, steel, and rolled iron annually. The company's general director is Oleksiy Bilyi. Azovstal is closely connected with the Mariupol coke
  Coke (fuel)
  Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...
  
   works "Markokhim", which serves as the supplier of coke.

• Open Society Azovmash (Concern) is the largest machine-building enterprise in Ukraine specialising in production of equipment for mining-metallurgical complexes, tank car
  Tank car
  A tank car is a type of railroad rolling stock designed to transport liquid and gaseous commodities.-Timeline:...
  
  s, port cranes, boiler
  Boiler
  A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...
  
  s, fuel-fillers etc. The President is Oleksandr Savchuk. The enterprise formally owned by state was privatised by System Capital Management
  SCM Holdings
  System Capital Management or SCM is a major Ukrainian financial and industrial holding company with headquarters based in Donetsk in the east of the country. The business is controlled by a Ukrainian businessman Rinat Akhmetov who owns 100% of the company shares...
  
  , a Donetsk financial and economic group.

• Azov ship-repair factory (АСРЗ) is the largest enterprise of its class on the Sea of Azov
  Sea of Azov
  The Sea of Azov , known in Classical Antiquity as Lake Maeotis, is a sea on the south of Eastern Europe. It is linked by the narrow Strait of Kerch to the Black Sea to the south and is bounded on the north by Ukraine mainland, on the east by Russia, and on the west by the Ukraine's Crimean...
  
  , also owned by System Capital Management.

• Open Society Mariupol sea trading port is the largest sea post in the eastern Ukraine through which is accomplished a great deal of transportations of various products such as coal, metal, products of mechanical engineering
  Mechanical engineering
  Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
  
  , varieties of ore
  Ore
  An ore is a type of rock that contains minerals with important elements including metals. The ores are extracted through mining; these are then refined to extract the valuable element....
  
  s and[grains from and to different cities such as Donetsk
  Donetsk
  Donetsk , is a large city in eastern Ukraine on the Kalmius river. Administratively, it is a center of Donetsk Oblast, while historically, it is the unofficial capital and largest city of the economic and cultural Donets Basin region...
  
  , Kharkiv
  Kharkiv
  Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...
  
  , Luhansk
  Luhansk
  Luhansk also known as Lugansk is a city in southeastern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Luhansk Oblast . The city itself is also designated as its own separate municipality within the oblast...
  
  , and the near regions of the Russian Federation.

• Azov sea shipping company which was owned until 2003 by the Donbass Merchant Marine fleet, now is also under the ownership of System Capital Management. Donbass Merchant Marine now is a bankrupt enterprise which formerly operated from ports on the Sea of Azov
  Sea of Azov
  The Sea of Azov , known in Classical Antiquity as Lake Maeotis, is a sea on the south of Eastern Europe. It is linked by the narrow Strait of Kerch to the Black Sea to the south and is bounded on the north by Ukraine mainland, on the east by Russia, and on the west by the Ukraine's Crimean...
  
   such as Mariupol, Berdyansk, and Taganrog
  Taganrog
  Taganrog is a seaport city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the north shore of Taganrog Bay , several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population: -History of Taganrog:...
  
   (Russia
  Russia
  Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
  
  ).

The above mentioned enterprises and not including the plethora of others are located in the free economic zone Azov.

Transportation

Mariupol has transportation including bus transportation, trolley-buses, trams, and fixed-route taxis. The city is connected by railways, a seaport and the airport to other countries and cities.

• Urban electric transport (MTTU, Mariupol Tram-trolleybus management):
  • A trams, street-cars (since 1933) - 12 routes (machines of type КТМ-5 and КТМ-8 work),
  • Trolley buses (since 1970) - 14 routes (machines of type: Škoda 14Тr, ZiU-10
    ZiU-10
    ZiU-10 or XTU-683 is an articulated, triple-axle variant of ZiU-9. It is produced by Trolza....
    
    , ZiU-9, YuMZ T-1, YuMZ T-2).
• Buses - mainly the private minibuses which are carrying out transportation in city, on suburban and long-distance routes.
• Road service station (which includes transportations to Taganrog
  Taganrog
  Taganrog is a seaport city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the north shore of Taganrog Bay , several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population: -History of Taganrog:...
  
  , Rostov-upon-Don
  Rostov-on-Don
  -History:The mouth of the Don River has been of great commercial and cultural importance since the ancient times. It was the site of the Greek colony Tanais, of the Genoese fort Tana, and of the Turkish fortress Azak...
  
  , Krasnodar
  Krasnodar
  Krasnodar is a city in Southern Russia, located on the Kuban River about northeast of the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. It is the administrative center of Krasnodar Krai . Population: -Name:...
  
  , Kiev
  Kiev
  Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
  
  , Odessa
  Odessa
  Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
  
  , Yalta
  Yalta
  Yalta is a city in Crimea, southern Ukraine, on the north coast of the Black Sea.The city is located on the site of an ancient Greek colony, said to have been founded by Greek sailors who were looking for a safe shore on which to land. It is situated on a deep bay facing south towards the Black...
  
  , Dnipropetrovsk
  Dnipropetrovsk
  Dnipropetrovsk or Dnepropetrovsk formerly Yekaterinoslav is Ukraine's third largest city with one million inhabitants. It is located southeast of Ukraine's capital Kiev on the Dnieper River, in the south-central region of the country...
  
   are carried out, etc.) and a suburban auto station (with routes mainly to Pershotravnevy, Volodarsky and areas 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...
  
  ).
• Railway station Mariupol. The city is connected by the railway to Donbass (the Direction of trains being: Moscow
  Moscow
  Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
  
  , Kiev, Lviv
  Lviv
  Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
  
  , Saint Petersburg
  Saint Petersburg
  Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
  
  , Minsk
  Minsk
  - Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...
  
  , Bryansk
  Bryansk
  Bryansk is a city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, located southwest of Moscow. Population: -History:The first written mention of Bryansk was in 1146, in the Hypatian Codex, as Debryansk...
  
  , Voronezh
  Voronezh
  Voronezh is a city in southwestern Russia, the administrative center of Voronezh Oblast. It is located on both sides of the Voronezh River, away from where it flows into the Don. It is an operating center of the Southeastern Railway , as well as the center of the Don Highway...
  
  , Kharkiv
  Kharkiv
  Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...
  
  , Poltava
  Poltava
  Poltava is a city in located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Poltava Oblast , as well as the surrounding Poltava Raion of the oblast. Poltava's estimated population is 298,652 ....
  
  , Slavyansk-na-Kubani
  Slavyansk-na-Kubani
  Slavyansk-na-Kubani is a town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located in the Kuban river delta. Population: 56,000 .Slavyansk originated in the Middle Ages as Copa or Coparia, a Genoese trade outpost controlled by the Ghisolfi family...
  
  ).
• A marina in the aria of sea trading port.
• Mariupol International Airport (the property Ilyich Mariupol steel and iron works
  Ilyich Mariupol steel and iron works
  Ilyich Iron & Steel Works is the second largest metallurgical enterprise of Ukraine...
  
  ).

Construction

Industrial construction prevails. Mass building of inhabited quarters in city has terminated in 1980s. Mainly the comfortable habitation is under construction now. The construction organisations of city for nine months 2005 execute volume of contract civil and erection works on 304.4 million hrivnas (US$60 million). Densities of city on this parameter in city - 22,1%.

Communications

In city all leading Ukrainian operators of mobile communications work. During Soviet time in city ten automatic telephone exchanges worked, six digital automatic telephone exchanges recently were added.

Finances

The GDP of the city in 2004 was ₴22,769,400 ($4,510,400); they listed in the state budget of ₴83,332,000 ($16,507,400). The city is one of the largest donors to the state budget of Ukraine (after Kiev

Kiev

Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

 and Zaporizhia

Zaporizhia

Zaporizhia or Zaporozhye [formerly Alexandrovsk ] is a city in southeastern Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper River. It is the administrative center of the Zaporizhia Oblast...

).

The GPA of the city is ₴1,262.04 (~US$250.00) a month - one of the highest in the country. The average pension in the city is ₴423.15 ($83.82). Commercial debts in the city were reduced for 2005 to 1.1% and made ₴5.1 million ($1.01 million).

Income from rendered services for 9 months in 2005 where ₴860.4 million ($107.4 million) and the volume of retail trade for the same term was ₴838.7 million ($166.1 million). The enterprises of the city for 9 months of 2005 received a positive financial result (profit) of ₴3.2 billion ($634 million), which is 23.6% more than the previous year (2004).

Cultural unstitutions

Theatres:

• Donetsk regional Russian drama theatre
  Donetsk Regional Russian Drama Theatre
  Donetsk Regional Russian Theatre of Drama is a theatre in Mariupol in southern Ukraine. The modern theatre was been constructed in 1960.-History:* 1847 - Records the first time a theatrical troupe came to Mariupol, under entrepreneur V. Vinogradova...
  
  . In 2003 the oldest theater of region has celebrated the 125th anniversary. The talented collective of actors among which two people and the two honoured artists of Ukraine work in a theater. For contribution to spiritual education of theatre in 2000 became the laureate of the competition «Gold Scythian».
• Theatre of dolls (is created in 1999)

Cinemas:

• Burevesnik (Storm foreteller)
• Komsomolets (“Komsomol activist”)
• Lukov cinema
• Pobeda (“Victory”)
• Savona
• Soyuz (“Union”)
• Yubileyny (“Anniversary”)

Palaces of Culture (Recreation centres) (together with so-called clubs - 16 units):

• Metallurgov (“Metallurgists”) of Ilyich Steel & Iron Works
• Azovstal of Azovstal Steel & Iron Works
• Iskra (“Spark”) of Azovmash machine-builder Concern
• MarKokhim (Mariupol Coke Chemistry)
• Moryakov (“Sailors”)
• Stroitel (“Builders”)
• Palace of child's and youth art (“Palace of Children art”)
• Municipal Palace of Culture

Showrooms & museums:

• Mariupol Museum of Regional
• Kuindzhi Art Exhibition
• Museum of ethnography (in the past the museum of Andrey Zhdanov)
• Museum of Literary
• Harbarbond
• Museum halls of the industrial enterprises and their divisions, establishments and the organisations of city and so on.

Libraries (only 35 units):

• Korolenko Central Library;
• Gorky Central Children’s Library;
• Serafimovich Library (The oldest library of city);
• And also: Gaydar Library, Honchar Library, Hrushevsky Library, Krupskaya Library, Kuprin Library, Lesya Ukrainka Library, Marshak Library, Morozov Library, Novikov-Priboy Library, Pushkin Library, Svetlov Library, Turgenev Library, Franko Library, Chekhov Library, Chukovsky Library, the libraries of industrial enterprises, establishments and the organisations of city.

In the environs of city on the shore of Sea of Azov

Sea of Azov

The Sea of Azov , known in Classical Antiquity as Lake Maeotis, is a sea on the south of Eastern Europe. It is linked by the narrow Strait of Kerch to the Black Sea to the south and is bounded on the north by Ukraine mainland, on the east by Russia, and on the west by the Ukraine's Crimean...

 the monument of archaeology is opened neolithic burial ground of end of the third millennium AD. During excavations here over 120 skeletons were discovered. Near them stone and bone instruments and beads are found, shell-works the shellfishes, teeth of animal.

Art & literature

Creative organisations of artists, union of journalists of Mariupol, the literary union «Azovye» (from a 1924, about 100 members) and others. Works of Mariupol poets and writers: N. Berilov, A. Belous, G. Moroz, A. Shapurmi, A. Savchenko, V. Kior, N. Harakoz, L. Kiryakov, L. Belozerova, P. Bessonov, A. Zaruba are written in the Russian, Ukrainian, Greek languages. Presently 10 members of National Union of writers of Ukraine live in a city.

Religious communities

• 11 churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchy.
• 3 churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchy.
• 52 various religious communities.

A city is decorated by the St. Nicol Cathedral (in Zhovtnevy borough) and churches of city:

• St. Nicolas (Primorsky borough)
• St. Michael (Ordzhonikidzevsky borough)
• St. Preobrazheniye (“Transfiguration”) (Primorsky borough)
• St. Ilya (Ilyichevsky borough)
• St. Uspensky (Ordzhonikidzevsky borough)
• St. Vladimir (Ordzhonikidzevsky borough)
• St. Amvrosy Optinsky (Illyichevsky borough, Volonterobvka)
• St. Varlampy (Illyichevsky borough, Mirny)
• St. George (Illyichevsky borough, Sartana)
• Nativity of the Virgin Mary (Illyichevsky borough, Talakovka)
• St. Boris & Gleb (Prymorsky borough, Moryakov)
• St. Crimeajewel

In addition to churches, there are Mosques around the city.

Media & entertainment

More than 20 local newspapers work mostly Russian language based, including:

• «Priazovsky Rabochy» («Priazovsky worker»)
• «Mariupolskaya Zhizn» («Mariupol life»)
• «Mariupolskaya Nedelya» («Mariupol week»)
• «Ilyichevets»
• «Azovstalets»
• «Azovsky Moryak» («Azov Seaman»)
• «Azovsky Mashinostroitel» («Azov Machine-builder») etc.

12 wireless stations, 7 regional television companies and channels:

• Broadcasting Company «Sigma»
• Broadcasting Company «MTV» («Mariupol television»)
• Broadcasting Company «TV 7»
• Broadcasting Company «Inter-Mariupol»
• Broadcasting Company «Format» and others

Retransmitting about 15 state channels («Inter», «1+1», «STB», «NTN», «5 Channel», «ICTV», «First National TV», «New Channel», TV Company «Ukraina», etc.)

Tourism & recreation

A tourists interest of mainly coast of Sea of Azov. Around of city the strip of resort settlements was pulled: Melekino, Urzuf, Yalta, Sedovo, Bezymennoye, Sopino, Belosaray Kosa etc. Travel companies work («Azov-voyag-tour», «Azovintur»,«Limpopo» and others).

The first sanatoriums are opened in a city in 1926. Along a sea here during 16 the narrow bar of sandy beaches stretches to the one km. Temperature of water in summer 22 to 24 °C (71.6 to 75.2 ). Duration of bathing season 120 days.

Sports

Mariupol is the hometown of the nationally famous swimmer Oleksandr Sydorenko

Aleksandr Sidorenko

Aleksandr Sidorenko is a former individual medley swimmer from the USSR. He won the 400 m individual medley at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow....

 who lives in the city.

The city's steel industry (Ilyich Steel & Iron Works ) sponsors the Illichivets football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 club, with a great sport traditions and a history of participation at the European level competitions.

Water polo team «Ilyichevets» is the absolute champion of Ukraine. It has won the Ukrainian championship for 11 times. Every year it plays in the European Champion Cup and Russian championship.

Azovstal' Canoeing

Canoeing

Canoeing is an outdoor activity that involves a special kind of canoe.Open canoes may be 'poled' , sailed, 'lined and tracked' or even 'gunnel-bobbed'....

 Club on the river 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....

. Vitaly Yepishkin - 3rd place in World Cup on 200m K-2.

Azovmash

Azovmash Mariupol

Azovmash Mariupol is a Ukrainian professional basketball club. It was founded in 1990 in the city of Mariupol in South-Eastern Ukraine. It now takes part in 3 competitions: Ukrainian SuperLeague, Ukrainian Cup and the ULEB Eurocup. The home court is Azovmash Arena. It is one of the strongest teams...

 Basketball Club similarly to "Ilichevets" Water-polo club has numerous national champion's titles. Serious successes were obtained as well by the Mariupol schools of boxing, Greek-Roman fighting, artistic gymnastics and other types of sport.

Sport building of city (only 585):

• «Ilyichevets» stadium
• «Azovstal» sports complex
• «Azovets» stadium (in the past the «Locomotive»)
• «Azovmash» sports complex
• «Sadko» Sports complex
• «Vodnik» Sports complex
• «Neptune» public pool
• «Azovstal» chess club etc.

Education

81 general educational establishment work, including: 67 comprehensive schools (where 48 500 pupils study), 2 grammar schools, 3 lyceums, 4 evening replaceable schools, 3 boarding schools, 2 private schools, 11 professional educational institutions (6 274 pupils), 94 children's preschool establishments (12 700 children).

Three higher educational establishments:

• Priazovsky State Technical University
• Mariupol Humanitarian University
• Azovsky Institute of marine transport

Public organizations

There are about 300 public associations, including 22 trade-union organisations, representation about 40 political parties, 16 youth, 4 female organizations, 37 associations of veterans and invalids, 134 national & cultural societies.

There is a General Consulate of the Republic of Greece in
as well as the Republic of Cyprus in Mariupol.

Health service

There are 70 medical, medical-health and medical establishments in a city — hospitals, policlinics, the station of blood transfusion, station of urgent medicare, sanatoriums, sanatoriums-preventive clinics regional centre of social maintenance of pensionaries and invalids, city centers: gastroenterology, thoracal surgery, bleedings, pancreatic, microsurgery of eye. Central pool-hospital on a water-carriage etc.

Famous Mariupol citizens

• Andrei Zhdanov
  Andrei Zhdanov
  Andrei Alexandrovich Zhdanov was a Soviet politician.-Life:Zhdanov enlisted with the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1915 and was promoted through the party ranks, becoming the All-Union Communist Party manager in Leningrad after the assassination of Sergei Kirov in 1934...
  
  , Soviet politician
• Arkhip Kuindzhi
  Arkhip Kuindzhi
  Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi was a Russian landscape painter.Arkhip Kuindzhi was born in January 1841 in Mariupol , but he spent his youth in the city of Taganrog. He grew up in a poor family, and his father was a Greek shoemaker Ivan Khristoforovich Kuindzhi...
  
  , Russian
  Russians
  The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
  
   landscape painter of Greek ethnicity
• Alexander Sacharoff, Jewish dancer, teacher, and choreographer.

External links

welcome-to-mariupol.org.ua - Welcome to Mariupol! - support and assistance for foreign visitors Entertaining-information portal of Mariupol Mariupol' city catalog of shops Mariupol' city catalog Ilyich Mariupol steel and iron works Photos of Mariupol Bab B Melёkino and others (Hits of 80s-90s), modern cultural background of Azov coastal area.