Kryvyi Rih

Kryvyy Rih, city, southern Ukraine, situated at the confluence of the Inhulets and Saksahan rivers. Founded as a village by Zaporozhian Cossacks in the 17th century, it had only 2,184 inhabitants in 1781. In 1881 a French company began to work the local iron-ore deposits, and a railway was constructed to the Donets Basin coalfield in 1884. After that date Kryvyy Rih became a significant iron-mining city.

Kryvyy Rih, with its suburbs, stretches for more than 18 miles (29 km) in a long, narrow belt along the iron-ore deposits. The local high-grade hematite ores have been for the most part worked out except at great depth, but there are reserves that have a lower iron content. Several ore-enriching and pelletizing plants were built to support the ironworks and steelworks. Terny, which was annexed to Kryvyy Rih in 1969, is the site of a uranium mine. Other industries have included coking and machine building (especially for the mining industry); the production of diamond drills, cement, and foodstuffs; and timberworking. A canal brings additional water supplies from the Kakhovka Reservoir, on the Dnieper River. Kryvyy Rih has institutes for teacher training and for study in mining.

Kryvyi Rih features

• On the coat of arms of Kryvyi Rih you can see the Cossack powder box made from a horn, referring to the name of the city and its past as the territory of the Zaporozhian Sich.
• Kryvyi Rih is located in the south-eastern part of Ukraine and the south-western part of the Dnipropetrovsk region, in the steppe zone at the confluence of the rivers of Inhulets and Saksagan. It is one of the longest cities in Europe - the distance between the extreme northern and southern parts of the city is about 67 km in a straight line.
• The climate is moderately continental, characterized by hot dry summers and moderately mild winters with frequent thaws. The average temperature in January is minus 3.5 degrees Celsius, in July - plus 21.8 degrees Celsius.
• The city is a large industrial center, the center of the Kryvyi Rih iron ore basin (Kryvbas). The total explored reserves of iron ore are over 32 billion tons. Kryvyi Rih plays a leading role in the economy of Ukraine, it is the main raw material base for the development of ferrous metallurgy. In the gross domestic product of Ukraine, the share of Kryvyi Rih production is about 6.4%, in the export potential of the country - 7%.
• Due to the large number of enterprises polluting the atmospheric air, the ecological situation in the city is not favorable.
• The actual center of the city is the “95th Block” (Horkoho Square), where the city council, most offices, shopping complexes, nightclubs, cafes, and restaurants are located.
• The main feature of the transport system of Kryvyi Rih is the metro-tram - an 18-kilometer semi-subterranean tram line with 11 stations (4 underground stations).

Interesting places in Kryvyi Rih:

• Drama and Musical Comedy Theater named after Taras Shevchenko. The current building of the theater in the style the Stalinist neoclassicism was constructed in 1949-1954, in place of the one destroyed during the Second World War. Poshtovyy Avenue, 23.
• Kryvyi Rih Circus. Opened in 1970, the circus is located in Sotsgorod in the Metallurgical District - one of the most visited districts of the city. Vitaliya Matusevycha Street, 10.
• Local History Museum. The collection of this museum located in the central part of Kryvyi Rih includes natural and archaeological collections, ethnographic and numismatic exhibits, works of fine and folk-applied art, photos and documents on the history of Kryvyi Rih in the 19th-20th centuries. Opening hours: 09:30-17:00. Day off: Friday. Kaunaska Street, 16A.
• Museum of Jewish Culture and History of the Holocaust. The museum was created at Beis Shtern Shulman synagogue on the initiative and on the basis of the personal collection of Michael Marmer. The exposition tells about the daily life of local Jews at the end of the 19th - the beginning of the 20th centuries including such tragic events as pogroms. The exhibition “Catastrophe” is devoted to the events of the Second World War. Pushkina Street, 46.
• Kryvyi Rih Flower Clock - the largest flower clock in the world with a diameter of 22 meters. The basis for the composition is the coat of arms of Kryvyi Rih. The clock face is created by about 22,000 flowers. Heroiv Park. Metalurhiv Avenue.
• Kryvyi Rih Railway Station (1884) - one of the oldest architectural monuments of Kryvyi Rih. At the square near the station you can see an old steam locomotive Em 733-69 designed in Lugansk in 1934.