Donets Basin

{{Redirect2|Donbas|Donbass}} {{update|date=November 2010}} [[Image:Map of Ukraine political simple Donbass.png|right|thumb|225px|Simplified map of the Donets Basin on the map of Ukraine.]] [[Image:Donbass economic.jpg|thumb|225px|Map of the economic activity in the Donbas (filled with pink), including the [[Dnipropetrovsk Oblast|Dnipropetrovsk]], [[Donetsk Oblast|Donetsk]] and [[Luhansk Oblast|Luhansk]] Oblasts.]] '''Donbas''' ({{lang-uk|Донбас}}) or '''Donbass''' ({{lang-ru|Донбасс}}), full rarely-used name '''Donets Basin''' ({{lang-uk|Донецький басейн}}, [[Romanization of Ukrainian|translit.]] ''Donetskyi basein''; {{lang-ru|Донецкий бассейн}}, [[Romanization of Russian|translit.]] ''Donetskiy bassein''), is a historical, economic and cultural region of eastern [[Ukraine]]. Originally a [[coal mining]] area, it has become a heavily industrialised territory suffering from [[urban decay]] and [[industrial pollution]]. ==Geography== Donbas covers three adminitsrative [[oblast]]s ([[province]]s) in the east of the country: easternmost part of the [[Dnipropetrovsk Oblast]] around the city of [[Pavlohrad]] (the so-called "Western Donbas"), northern and central part of [[Donetsk Oblast]] (southern part is perceived to be [[Pryazovia]] coastland) and southern part of [[Luhansk Oblast]] (northern part is perceived to be [[Slobozhanschyna]]). The city of [[Donetsk]] is considered the unofficial [[Capital (political)|capital]] of Donbas. Donbas may sometimes be referred to a larger [[supranational]] region also consisting a part of neighbouring [[Rostov Oblast]] in [[Russia]]. This is explained by the fact that Donets' coal basin geographically extends to that area (also specializing in [[coal mining]]), which sometimes called a "Russian Donbas". But the latter is of lesser economical and, most of all, sociopolitical significance compared to the part that after 1991 belongs to Ukraine. ==History== The name of the region originates from the [[coal]]-field discovered in late 19th century which was named after the [[Donets]] river flowing across the region. In 1676, the first town of the Donbas emerged: Solanoye (''now [[Slavyansk]]'') which was built for the profitable business of extracting newly-discovered rock-salt reserves. In 1721, vast and rich coal fields were found, which started the "industrial boom" which led to the flourish of the region in 18th–first half of 20th century. ==See also== * [[Kryvbas]] — an important economic region in central Ukraine * [[Ruhr Area]] — a comparable region in Central Europe * [[HC Donbass]] — an ice hockey team based in [[Donetsk]] bearing the name of the region ==External links== {{Wiktionary}} * [http://www.ukrindustrial.com/regions/?fuseaction=adm_oda.showSection&rgn_id=24&sc_id=2 History of Donbas] *[http://www.russianart.dk/exhibition.asp?e=348 Images of the Donbas in Soviet fine arts] {{Ukrainian historical regions}} {{Coord missing|Ukraine}} {{Ukraine-stub}}