Donetsk is a beautiful city. Everything within walking distance, the main street is close to hotels, shops, railway and steelworks. The pollution level in Donetsk is relatively high due to the surrounding factories, Donetsk is a major industrial center. Other institutions that are scattered in close proximity include medical and trade institutes, Donetsk University, also over thirty scientific research establishments. The branch of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine is also located here. Culture is also alive in Donetsk with several theaters and a philharmonic hall to add to it's cultural amenities.
Donetsk has always been an industrial city and is by far the most important town of South East Ukraine. Back in 1872 the ironworks was founded by John Hughes who was a Welshmen. It was John Hughes that the pre-revolutionary name “Yuzovka” was derived from. The ironworks plant made iron rails for the ever growing Russian railway network, later they produced steel rails. Coal was mined close by which the Donetsk ironworks plant used. Coal mining and steel production developed rapidly in the area and by 1914 there were four metallurgical plants, ten coal pits, and a population of around fifty thousand people.
In 1917 after the October revolution, Yuzovka was named Stalino and then in 1961 it was renamed to Donetsk. World war II saw a huge boost in growth and a massive increase in the scale of industry. That growth has continued and there are now more than forty coal pits with the town of Donetsk. Huge integrated coking, steel making and iron smelting has made modern day Donetsk one of the largest metallurgical center's of the Ukraine.
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