Mariupol

About

Mariupol is a city of regional significance in south eastern Ukraine, situated on the north coast of the Sea of Azov at the mouth of the Kalmius river, in the Pryazovia region. It is the tenth-largest city in Ukraine, and the second largest in the Donetsk Oblast with a population of (2022 est.) 458 533.

The city was founded in 1778 as Pavlovsk, on the site of a former Cossack encampment. It was renamed Mariupol in 1779 to honour Maria Fyodorovna, the second wife of Crown Prince Paul. The city is largely and traditionally Russophone, while ethnically the population is divided about evenly between Ukrainians and Russians. There is also a significant ethnic Greek minority in the city. Mariupol was founded on the site of a former Cossack encampment named Kalmius and granted city rights in 1778. It has been a centre for the grain trade, metallurgy, and heavy engineering, including the Illich Steel & Iron Works and Azovstal. Mariupol has played a key role in the industrialization of Ukraine. In 1882 it was connected by rail to the Donets Basin and developed as a major port for the region.

As part of the Soviet practice of renaming cities after Communist leaders, the city was known as Zhdanov, after the Soviet functionary Andrei Zhdanov, between 1948 and 1989. Today, Mariupol remains a centre for industry, as well as higher education and business. Modern Mariupol’s exports have included coal, steel, machinery, and grain. It is the base of a fishing fleet, and a dredged channel leads to the open sea. Mariupol has large iron- and steelworks and associated coke-chemical and machine-building works; other industries have included ship repairing, fish canning, and flour milling. The city also has a metallurgical institute.

Following the War in Donbass when the city of Donetsk became the capital of Donetsk People's Republic in 2014, Mariupol was made the provisional administrative centre of the Donetsk Oblast.

Administrative division of Mariupol

Mariupol is divided into four neighborhoods or "raions".

• Kalmiuskyi Raion (until June 2016 named Illichivsk Raion after Vladimir Ilyich Lenin[48]) is the northern part of the city, the largest and most industrialized neighborhood in the city. It is commonly known as the Zavod ("Factory") of Ilyich.

• Livoberezhnyi Raion (until June 2016 named after Sergo Ordzhonikidze[48]) is the eastern part of the city, on the left bank of the river Kalmius. Its name means the "Left Bank".

• Prymorsky Raion is the southern area of the city, on the coast of the Azov Sea. The everyday name of the central part this neighbourhood is simply "the Port".

• Tsentralnyi Raion is the central city raion. Its everyday name is simply "the Centre" or "the City". Formerly it was known as Zhovtnevyi Raion (October Raion) commemorating the 1917 Bolshevik coup-d'état.

The Kalmius river separates the Livoberezhnyi Raion from the remaining three raions. The population is mostly concentrated in the Tsentralnyi and Prymorsky Raions. The Kalmiuskyi Raion houses the large Illich Steel and Iron Works and the Azovmash manufacturing plant. The Livoberezhnyi (Left Bank) is home to the Azovstal metallurgic combine and the Koksokhim (Coke and Chemical) factory. The settlements of Stary Krym and Sartana are located in close proximity to the city limits of Mariupol (see map).

City holidays

• Day of liberation of the city from fascist aggressors (on September 10)
• Day of the city (the 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

Parks

• The Sea of Azov
• 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 ("Children's Central Public Garden")
• Veselka Park (Livoberezhnyi Raion), named as the rainbow
• Azovstal Park (Livoberezhnyi Raion)
• Petrovsky Park (near the modern Volodymyr Boiko Stadium and constructions of "Azovmash" basketball club, Kalmiuskyi Raion)
• Primorsky Park (Prymorsky Raion)