Zaporozhye region (Ukrainian: Zaporizhka region) is an
administrative-territorial unit of Ukraine, located in the south of the
country, in the lower reaches of the Dnieper.
In the west it
borders on the Kherson region, in the north - on the Dnepropetrovsk
region, in the east - on the Donetsk region, in the south it is washed
by the Sea of Azov.
The area of the region is 27.1 thousand km²
(9th place in Ukraine), the population at the beginning of 2022 was
estimated at 1.6 million people (7th place). The administrative center
and largest city is Zaporozhye, other large cities are Melitopol,
Berdyansk, Energodar, Tokmak.
The region was formed in 1939 by
separating the Ukrainian SSR from the Dnepropetrovsk region. In 1944,
the western part was separated from the region, which became the Kherson
region.
Sometimes the entire region is incorrectly called
Zaporozhye, although historically this name was given to the territory
north of most of the Zaporozhye region, in the area of the current
Dnipropetrovsk region.
Berdyansk
Zaporozhye
Melitopol
Tokmok
Energodar
Stone Grave (Mirnoe, Melitopol region)
Reserve Stone graves
(Rozovsky district)
Priazovsky National Natural Park
Popov Castle
(Vasilievka)
Pan's font
Convent, s. Tsarkut
Zaporozhye:
Khortitsa island, Zaporizhzhya oak, Dneprohydroelectric power station,
Preobrazhensky bridges, children's railway
Berdyansk: Berdyansk
Museum of Local Lore, Berdyansk Art Museum. I. Brodsky, memorial museum
of P. P. Schmidt, zoo, water park, dolphinarium
Melitopol: Gorky Park
with the Glade of Fairy Tales, Melitopol Museum of Local Lore, Monastery
of Savva the Sanctified
Kamyshevakha (Orekhovsky district) St.
Elisabeth convent.
The discovery of a wooden wagon with a fully
preserved 5,000-year-old wheel in one of the Dmitrov burial mounds is
one of the oldest examples of wheeled transport in Ukraine
Car
On the territory of the Zaporozhye region are:
motorway E
58;
motorway E 105.
Railway
In the Zaporozhye region there
are railways owned by the joint-stock company "Ukrzaliznytsia" and
related to the Prydniprovska railway. There are two railway stations
Zaporozhye I and Zaporozhye II and a network of stopping points in
Zaporozhye.
Water
The main water artery of the region is the
Dnieper River, navigable throughout its entire section. The port of the
Sea of Azov is the city of Berdyansk. Passage through the Dnieper
hydroelectric power station is carried out through the gateway.
Air
In the regional center there is an international airport
"Zaporozhye", connecting the region with the capital and foreign
countries.
Previously, the airport in Berdyansk was also
operated. In 2019, there was information about the possible resumption
of work
The Zaporozhye region is characterized by a flat landscape, located
mainly on the Dnieper lowland, which in the south passes into the Black
Sea, the southeastern part is occupied by the Azov Upland. Along the
coast of the Sea of Azov stretch long narrow sandy spits washed by the
sea.
The length from north to south is 208 km, from west to east
- 235 km.
There are 109 rivers flowing on the territory of the
Zaporozhye region, the largest of which is the Dnieper, which is an
important transport artery of Ukraine, providing the industry of the
region, a number of reservoirs have been built on it.
Conventionally, the Zaporozhye region is divided into three natural and
agricultural zones - the steppe zone (50.8% of the territory), arid
steppe (34.8%), and dry steppe (14.4%) zones. Soils are predominantly
black earth. There are also significant reserves of granites, as well as
iron and manganese ores.
The climate is temperate continental,
characterized by pronounced aridity. Average annual temperatures: summer
+22 °С, winter - 4.5 °С. There are an average of 225 sunny days a year,
and the rainfall is 448 mm.
The settlement of this territory began 31-32 thousand years ago, as
evidenced by the “Mir” site, discovered in 1995 on the right bank of the
Dnieper in the vicinity of the village of Kanevskoe, Zaporozhye region.
Seven settlements of the late Paleolithic period, as well as about 100
monuments of the Bronze Age, were explored near Zaporozhye. In the
burial ground of Mamai-Gora there are burials from the Neolithic to the
Middle Ages.
From the burials of the Catacomb culture in the
Dmitrovsky barrow No. 6 and in the Maryevsky burial "Tyagunova Mogila",
finds of wagons with preserved wheels about 5 thousand years old are
known.
From the 7th century BC the Scythians owned the northern
Black Sea region, and their capital, as is believed, was the large
Kamenskoye settlement.
In the 4th century these lands were
captured by the Huns, in the 6th century by the Avars, in the 8th
century by the Khazars. In the Makartet tract near the village of
Pokrovskoye, a sacrificial site of the Alano-Hunnic period (4th-5th
centuries) was discovered. The complex of the Hunnic time from the
Makartet tract showed a striking similarity of the rite with the
Voznesensky archaeological complex in Zaporozhye, despite a significant
chronological difference. In the Kantsirka tract on the right bank of
the Dnieper near the village of Fedorovka, at the end of the 7th
century, a pottery center began to function. The Voznesensky
archaeological complex dates back to the end of the 7th - beginning of
the 8th century.
After Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich defeated the
Khazar Khaganate in 969, they were replaced by the Pecheneg tribes.
From the 11th century, the Azov lands were under the rule of the
Polovtsy. At the beginning of the XII century, the Russian princes
defeated the Polovtsian troops on the banks of the Molochnaya River. The
second quarter - the middle of the 13th century dates back to the
Chingul mound - a Polovtsian (Kypchak) burial. In June 1223, the Battle
of Kalka took place, the Russian-Polovtsian army was defeated, part of
the population of the Azov steppes fell under the influence of the
Golden Horde and the Crimean Khanate, the lands were called the Wild
Field. At the end of the 15th century, the Cossacks arose, and in 1552,
on the island of Malaya Khortitsa, Dmitry Vishnevetsky founded a town
that became the prototype of the subsequent Zaporizhian Sichs, centers
of the Cossack army and Ukrainian statehood.
During the
Russian-Turkish wars of the 18th century and the liquidation of the
Crimean Khanate, the territories of the Zaporozhye region became part of
the Novorossiysk, and then Yekaterinoslav and Tauride provinces.
The industrial development of the region began in the first half of the
19th century, when manufactories for the processing of agricultural raw
materials arose.
During the Civil War in 1917-1921, power in the
territory of the modern Zaporizhia region belonged to the Central Rada,
the Bolsheviks, again the Central Rada (established with the help of the
Austro-German troops), Hetman P. Skoropadsky, the Directory, the White
Guards, the Makhnovists, and in the end ended in victory Bolsheviks.
Russian occupation
Since the spring of 2022, the Azov part of the
region has been under Russian occupation. As a governing body, Russia
created the Civil-Military Administration of the Zaporozhye region.
On May 25, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree on
the simplified provision of Russian passports to residents of the
Zaporozhye region. They will be able to obtain Russian passports
following the same procedure as the population of Donetsk and Luhansk
regions.
On August 8, 2022, the head of the occupying Zaporozhye
VGA signed a decree on holding a "referendum on joining Russia." Earlier
it became known that the heads of the occupational military-civilian
administrations of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions signed documents
on the establishment of election commissions. On September 20, Yevgeny
Balitsky announced that the "referendum on joining Russia" would be held
from September 23 to 27.
On September 29, Russian President
Vladimir Putin signed a decree in which he recognized the Zaporozhye
region as an independent state. This was a formal step towards the
annexation of Ukrainian territories.
On January 10, 1939, the Zaporozhye region was separated from the
southeastern regions of the Dnipropetrovsk region (Andreevsky,
Akimovsky, Berdyansky, Velykobelozersky, Bolshetokmaksky, Vasilyevsky,
Veselovsky, Genichesk, Gulyaipolsky, Kamensko-Dneprovsky, Kolarovsky,
Krasnoarmeisky, Kuibyshevsky, Luxembourgsky, Melitopolsky, Mikhailovsky,
Molochansky , Nizhneserogozsky, Novovasilevsky, Novozlatopolsky,
Novonikolsky, Orekhovsky, Pologovsky, Priazovsky, Rotfrontovsky,
Sivashsky, Chernigovsky) and two districts of the Nikolaev region
(Bolshe-Lepetikhsky and Novotroitsky). In the same year, on February 11,
the Zaporozhye region was restored, on March 26, the Primorsky region
was formed on the site of the liquidated Kolarovsky, Luxembourg,
Molochansky and Rotfrontovsky regions, and on June 7, the Berdyansk
region was renamed Osipenkovsky (until 1958). On March 30, 1944, the
southwestern part of the Zaporozhye region (Bolshe-Lepetikhsky,
Genichesky, Ivanovsky, Nizhneserogozsky, Novotroitsky, Sivashsky
districts) went to the newly created Kherson region. The final design of
the modern borders of the Zaporozhye region occurred in 1949, when the
villages of Zachatovka and Krasnovka (now the Volnovakha district of the
Donetsk region) were transferred from its composition to the Stalin
region. The number of districts changed several times: 1939 - 29, 1946 -
23, 1963 - 10, 1966 - 17, from 1993 - 20.
The authority was the
Zaporozhye Regional Executive Committee of People's Deputies. The
Zaporozhye Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine was of
great importance.
There are about 50 religious directions and currents in the region.
More than 900 organizations have been registered. There are also about
100 unofficial associations. Orthodoxy is the most widespread, which
makes up 51.1% of the total number of organizations (400 communities),
followed by Protestants - 39% (129 communities).
The Zaporozhye
region includes the Zaporozhye and Berdyansk eparchies of the Ukrainian
Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) and the Zaporozhye diocese of the
Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The Roman Catholic Church refers the
Zaporozhye region to the diocese of Kharkov-Zaporozhye.
Protestantism is represented by: Evangelical Christian Baptists (ECB),
Pentecostals (All-Ukrainian Union of Evangelical Christians), Seventh
Day Adventists (ASD), Full Gospel Church.
Orthodox Judaism is
represented by one association and six communities. In addition, there
is one community of progressive Judaism in the region; meetings are held
in rented premises.
There are five Muslim communities in the
region, which are part of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of
Ukraine (DUMU) and four communities are independent.
On the territory that today is occupied by the Zaporozhye region,
Jews began to live no later than the end of the 16th century. They
lived, in particular, among the Cossacks of the Zaporozhian Sich. The
city of Zaporozhye, which from 1770 to 1921 was called Aleksandrovsk,
began to be settled by Jews after the establishment of the Pale of
Settlement. The community gradually grew - so, in 1897, out of 18,849
inhabitants of the city, there were 5,290 Jews. While in other counties,
Jews were mainly engaged in trade and various crafts, in these
territories their main occupation was agriculture (3,700 Jews were
engaged in it) , as well as the manufacture of clothing and fabrics.
Contrary to stereotypes, in Aleksandrovsk the percentage of Jews
among the owners of distilleries and drinking establishments was
extremely low. According to the 1897 census, Jews in the entire
Yekaterinoslav province owned only 6 distilleries, with low productivity
and no more than 10% of the total number of similar commercial products.
The poet Saul Chernihovsky (1873) was born in Mikhailovka, the educator
Chaim Boger (1876) was born in Chernigovka, the artist Isaac Brodsky
(1884) was born in Sofiyivka near Berdyansk, the Israeli politician
Yitzhak Kanev (1896) was born in Melitopol, and the British media
magnate was born in Tokmak Lou Grade or Lev Vinogradsky (1906),
playwright Leonid Yukhvid (1909) in Gulyaipole, wrestler Yakov Punkin
(1921) and film director Eva Neiman (1974) in Zaporozhye.
Ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, mechanical engineering (including
electrical, aviation, and automotive industries), energy (the largest
Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in Europe), chemical and petrochemical,
food and light industries, agriculture, and pharmaceutical production
are developed.
In 2010, there were 17,000 registered unemployed
in the Zaporozhye region.
The Zaporozhye region is the flagship and pioneer of the Ukrainian
electric power industry (about 25% of Ukraine's electricity is produced
in the region).
The firstborn of the industrialization of the
city of Zaporozhye was the Dnieper hydroelectric power station named
after Lenin (DneproGES), built in 1932.
Zaporizhzhya NPP and
Zaporizhzhya TPP were built in the city of Energodar.
Alternative
sources of electricity generation are being developed in the region. In
2012, the Botievo wind power plant was put into operation, in 2018 the
first stage of the solar power plant in the village of Novoye (Tokmak
Solar Energy) was opened and the construction of the Oryol wind farm was
started. The Primorskaya wind farm has been operating since 2019. In the
summer of 2021, the Zaporozhye wind farm was opened, located near the
village of Nadezhdino.
Some residents of private houses install
solar panels, selling surplus electricity produced to the public grid.
More than 160 large industrial enterprises operate in the region. The
metallurgical complex of the region is represented by such world-famous
ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy enterprises as open joint-stock
companies Zaporizhstal - a leading producer of steel and cast iron,
Dneprospetsstal - a manufacturer of special steels, Zaporozhye iron ore
plant (in Vasilyevsky district), "Ukrainian Graphite" — a leading
manufacturer of graphite electrodes, Zaporozhye Aluminum Combine — the
only Ukrainian producer of aluminum and the main raw material for its
production — alumina, Titanium-Magnesium Combine — the only producer of
spongy titanium in Ukraine, a leading enterprise for the production of
germanium and crystalline silicon.
In Zaporizhzhya there are
world-famous enterprises of the machine-building area with high-tech
production, such as Motor Sich OJSC, a manufacturer of aircraft engines
for aircraft and helicopters of leading airlines (Antonov, Yakovlev,
Tupolev, Beriev, Kamov, Mil design bureaus); PJSC
"Zaporozhtransformator" is the only manufacturer of power transformers
in Ukraine; Zaporozhabrasiv is a leading manufacturer of abrasive
materials and tools.
CJSC "ZAZ" - a manufacturer of passenger
cars, is a leader in the Ukrainian market. Cars that come off the
assembly line of the Zaporozhye automaker meet all known international
quality and safety standards. Part of the corporation "Ukravto".
CJSC IVECO-Motor Sich, co-founded by the Italian company IVECO, produces
not only cars, but also products for installation on Ukrainian vehicles
and for export. In the city of Zaporozhye, cars with a capacity of 70 to
110 hp are produced. with., gearboxes and engines. In the future,
depending on market demand, it is planned to expand the model range,
mainly due to heavy trucks for international transport, and it is also
planned to update the current family of light-duty vehicles with a new
model that is already in the parks of other European countries. Cars
produced at the IVECO-Motor Sich plant in Zaporizhzhya go on sale under
the IVECO trademark.
The aviation industry is developing
dynamically. The receipt by Motor Sich OJSC of a certificate for the
AN-140 aircraft and its modification AN-140-100 paved the way for the
start of its operation on air routes in Ukraine and abroad.
Metallurgical plant "Zaporozhstal" is one of the most powerful
metallurgical enterprises of ferrous metallurgy in Europe with a
complete metallurgical complex. The main products of the plant are
foundry iron, hot-rolled and cold-rolled sheets, cold-formed profiles
and much more. A new resource-saving technology for the production of
double-mass hot-rolled metal coils has been introduced. There is a
development of a high-quality auto sheet. The plant exports its products
to more than 50 countries of the world.
OJSC "Ukrainian Graphite"
is a leading Ukrainian manufacturer of graphite electrodes for electric
arc furnaces, ore-thermal and other types of steel-smelting furnaces,
commercial carbon masses for Soderberg electrodes, carbon-based lining
materials for metallurgical, machine-building, chemical and other
industrial complexes. According to the results of the all-Ukrainian
rating in 2000, the products of this enterprise were awarded the
honorary award "Highest Standard".
CJSC Aluminum Wire Rod Plant
is the only Ukrainian manufacturer of aluminum wire rod for electrical
purposes by continuous casting. The enterprise was one of the first in
Ukraine to be certified according to the ISO 9001:2000 quality standard.
OJSC "AzMol" is a petrochemical enterprise whose main products are:
lubricants - universal, automotive, industrial, railway and special;
cutting fluid; oils - synthetic and mineral motor, hydraulic, for
refrigeration machines, special. The products of AzMol OJSC are in
constant demand not only in Ukraine and the CIS countries, but also in
far-abroad countries.
Firms "Selena" and "Elegant" adequately
represent the light industry sector not only within the Ukrainian market
and the CIS countries, but also fruitfully cooperate with partners in
Western Europe. The clothes of these manufacturers for the world quality
were awarded with the diploma "Golden Baida" and the public award
"Highest standard". Despite the constant demand for the products of
Zaporozhye manufacturers from leading companies in France, Great
Britain, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, etc., Selena and Elegant are
open to any form of cooperation with interested enterprises from all
over the world.
Slavutich Brewery OJSC is one of the leaders in
brewing in Eastern Europe and the most modern enterprise in the industry
with a high level of automation of technological processes. The quality
of more than a dozen varieties of Slavutich amber drink has been
confirmed by many national and international awards.
The energy
complex of the region is the most powerful in Ukraine. In 2001, the
region's power plants generated 48.521 billion kWh of electricity, which
is 28.5% of the total volume of electricity generated by Ukrainian power
plants.
The region hosts the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, the
largest nuclear power plant in Europe with an installed capacity of
6,000 MW. ZNPP today is a modern high-tech enterprise recognized
throughout the world. The station provides for a set of measures that
guarantee safe and environmentally friendly production of electricity.
Zaporozhye region is one of the largest producers of agricultural
products and food industry products among the regions of Ukraine.
The area of agricultural land in the region is 2,246.3 thousand
hectares, or 5.4% of agricultural land in Ukraine.
The agrarian
reform became the basis for the development of agriculture. 331
companies, 135 agricultural cooperatives, 162 private (private-lease)
enterprises, 2,339 farms operate on the basis of private property in the
region. The area of agricultural land, which is in use by newly formed
agro-formations of all forms of ownership and management, is 1,761.4
thousand hectares, or 78% of those available in the region. The
infrastructure of the agricultural market is developing. 21 agricultural
trading houses have been created.
The structure of agricultural
production is dominated by crop production.
The central place in
crop production at present and in the future is occupied by the grain
subcomplex, as the basis for the development of other types of
agricultural production, primarily increasing the volume of livestock
production.
The main industrial crop of the Zaporozhye region is
sunflower. The share of the region in the total volume of sunflower
production in Ukraine in 2001 was 12.8%.
In all agro-climatic
zones there are favorable conditions for growing vegetables and melons.
The priority direction in the development of animal husbandry for
the next three years is determined by such sectors as poultry and pig
breeding. Agricultural enterprises of all forms of ownership are
increasing the number of pigs and birds.
546 enterprises of the
food and processing industry operate in the region. Of these, 87% are
enterprises that belong to the field of “small business” and are focused
on meeting local food needs (mini-bakeries, oil mills, cereals, etc.).
There are a number of enterprises in the region that are leading in
Ukraine in terms of capacity and output: Pologovsky oil extraction
plant, Zaporizhzhya oil and fat plant, Zaporozhye and Melitopol meat
processing plants. Enterprises such as Zaporizhzhia beer and
non-alcoholic plant "Slavutich" and Zaporizhzhya soft drinks plant are a
vivid example of profitable investment in the food industry and the
agricultural complex of the region.
The countryside of the
Zaporozhye region has a fairly developed social infrastructure, as
evidenced by over 110 hospitals and 730 institutions of primary and
secondary education, as well as almost 900 libraries of various kinds.
Given the above, the agro-industrial complex of the region can be
assessed as extremely attractive for investment. The main components of
the investment attractiveness of the region's agro-industrial complex
are fertile lands, inexpensive and skilled labor resources, significant
capacities of the processing industry, and a favorable geographical
position for exporting products.
The main higher educational institutions of the Zaporozhye region:
Azov Regional Institute of Management (Berdyansk)
Berdyansk State
Pedagogical University
Berdyansk Institute of State and Municipal
Administration of the Classical Private University
Berdyansk
University of Management and Business.
Zaporozhye State Engineering
Academy
Zaporozhye State Medical University
Zaporozhye Institute
of Economics and Information Technologies
Zaporozhye National
Technical University
Zaporozhye National University
Classic
Private University (Zaporozhye)
Melitopol State Pedagogical
University. Bohdan Khmelnytsky
Melitopol Institute of Ecology and
Social Technologies "Ukraine"
Taurida State Agrotechnological
University (Melitopol)