Dniprodzerzhynsk

Dniprodzerzhyns'k
Дніпродзержинськ
City

Lenin Avenue in Dniprodzerzhynsk

Flag
Coat of arms
Nickname(s): Dniprodym
Dniprodzerzhyns'k

Location of Dniprodzerzhynsk

Coordinates: 48°31′00″N 34°37′00″E / 48.51667°N 34.61667°E / 48.51667; 34.61667Coordinates: 48°31′00″N 34°37′00″E / 48.51667°N 34.61667°E / 48.51667; 34.61667
Country Ukraine
Oblast Dnipropetrovsk
First mentioned 1750
Name change February 1, 1936
Government
 • Mayor Stanislav Safronov
Area
 • Total 138 km2 (53 sq mi)
Elevation 120 m (390 ft)
Population (2013)
 • Total 241,880
 • Density 1,831/km2 (4,740/sq mi)
Postal code 51900
Area code(s) +380-5692
Website http://www.dndz.gov.ua/

Dniprodzerzhynsk (Ukrainian: Дніпродзержи́нськ; Russian: Днепродзержи́нск, Dneprodzerzhinsk) is an industrial city in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast of Ukraine, and a port on the Dnieper River. Administratively, it is incorporated within Dniprodzerzhynsk municipality as a city of oblast significance. Population: 241,880 (2013 est.)[1].

History

St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Church in Kamianske in the late 19th century.

The first written evidence of settlement in the territory of Dniprodzerzhynsk appeared in 1750. At that time the villages of Romankovo and Kamianske, which make the modern city, were a part of the Nova (New) Sich of the Zaporizhian cossacks. The city was known as Kamianske, Stony Place (Russian: Каменское, Ukrainian: Кам'янське) until 1936 when it was renamed in honor of communist Felix Dzerzhynsky, the founder of the Bolshevik secret police, the Cheka. According to the latest data, its population is 273,700.

Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev was born and raised in Dniprodzerzhynsk.

On July 2, 1996 a notorious traffic accident happened in Dniprodzerzhynsk. An overcrowded tram that was moving along a steep hill on Chapaeva Street began to slide rapidly downhill (because of a brake failure), eventually derailing and running into a school.[2] A total of some 30 people died and more than a 100 were injured as a result of that accident.[3] Following a government inquiry into the causes of the accident the then mayor, Sergiy Shershnev, and his deputy, Ihor Laktionov, resigned.[2][4]

On 15 May 2015 President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko signed a bill into law that started a six months period for the removal of communist monuments and the mandatory renaming of settlements with a name related to Communism.[5]

Economy

The economic base of Dniprodzerzhynsk is almost exclusively centered on heavy industry, with ferrous metallurgy being the backbone of the local economy. Around 57% of the total industrial production is metallurgy and metal working. The chemical industry comes second with ca. 17% share of the total industrial output.[6] While the exceedingly industrialized nature of the local economy ensures a rather high employment rate (as of 01.11.2007, official unemployment stood at 1,40%),[7] it also contributes to excessive pollution and radiation levels in the city.[8]

Culture

Several Eastern Orthodox churches, the largest being the Orthodox Church of Saint Nicholas, which dates from 1894,[9] serve the faithful of the city. By 2008, there were 14 parishes of Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Dniprodzerzhynsk.

The Roman Catholic Church of Saint Nicholas[10] built by the city's Polish community at the end of the nineteenth century, has become one of the centers of Roman Catholicism in Eastern Ukraine. The Catholic Parish of Saint Nicholas also includes a monastery run by the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin.[10]

The town has an active Jewish community with a new synagogue and community center.[11]

Ecology

Dniprodzerzhynsk is a city with a very difficult environmental conditions. There have been suggestions to assign the status of the ecological disaster city. Right-bank part of the city is mostly polluted, where the metallurgical, chemical industrial enterprises are located.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Dniprodzerzhynsk is twinned with:

Gallery

References

  1. ↑ "Чисельність наявного населення України (Actual population of Ukraine)" (in Ukrainian). State Statistics Service of Ukraine. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  2. 1 2 Pshenichniy, Stanislav (July 7, 2006). "Sad Anniversary in Dneprodzerzhinsk". Dneprovska Pravda (in Russian). Retrieved December 30, 2008.
  3. ↑ Baltaksa, Mikhail (February 19, 2007). В Днепродзержинске авария с трамваем. Sobytiya (in Russian). Archived from the original on December 22, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2008.
  4. ↑ Interfax-Ukraine (February 19, 2007). В Днепродзержинске трамвай сошел с рельсов, 5 человек ранены (in Russian). Podrobnosti. Retrieved December 30, 2008.
  5. ↑ Poroshenko signed the laws about decomunization. Ukrayinska Pravda. 15 May 2015
    Poroshenko signs laws on denouncing Communist, Nazi regimes, Interfax-Ukraine. 15 May 20
    Goodbye, Lenin: Ukraine moves to ban communist symbols, BBC News (14 April 2015)
  6. ↑ "General Characteristics" (in Ukrainian). Dniprodzerzhynsk City Council home page. Retrieved January 20, 2009.
  7. ↑ "Statistics" (in Ukrainian). Dniprodzerzhynsk City Council home page. Retrieved January 20, 2009.
  8. ↑ Belitskaia, EN (May–Jun 1996). "Belitskaia EN". Likarska sprava (5–6): 74–8. PMID 9377406.
  9. ↑ Возрожденный храм металлургов. Zverda Rozhdestva (in Russian) (Orthodox Eparchy of Kryvyi Rih) №34. June 27, 2004. Retrieved March 18, 2009.
  10. 1 2 Order of Friars Minor Capuchin Vice Province of Ukraine
  11. ↑ "Mayor Lays Cornerstone for New Synagogue and Community Center in Ukraine". Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS. July 20, 2006.

External links

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