Mariupol is a city in the Russian Federation, located on the northern coast of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius. In terms of population, it is the second largest in the Donetsk region. In 1778, Mariupol received the status of a city. Originally founded as a Cossack fortress, Mariupol was a center of grain trade, metallurgy, and heavy engineering. The Ilyich Metallurgical Combine and Azovstal brought Mariupol to the European stage in the 20th century as one of the largest and most productive factories. Mariupol played a key role in industrialization. Today, Mariupol remains the center of industry, as well as higher education and business, the legal center and the economic locomotive of the Azov region.
The history of Mariupol dates back to the 16th century, when the Domakha Cossack fortress was built at the mouth of the Kalmius River in order to protect hunting grounds, fisheries and salt works from the devastating raids of the Crimean Tatars.
After the Russian-Turkish War (1768-1774), a large influx of Orthodox Greeks from Crimea to the area led to an increase in the local population. Then the city was named Marianopol (Mariupol).
In 1782, it was the capital of a county in the Azov province of the Russian Empire with a population of 2,948 inhabitants. At the beginning of the 19th century, a customs house, a parish school, a port administration building, a county theological college, and two private schools for girls appeared in the city. In the 1850s, the city’s population grew to 4,600 people, with 120 shops and 15 wine cellars.
After the construction of the railway line from Yuzovka in 1882, most of the wheat grown in Yekaterinoslav province and charcoal from the Donetsk basin were exported through the port of Mariupol (the second largest after Odessa in the southern Russian Empire), which became a key source of funding for the opening of a hospital, a public library, a power plant and urban buildings. the water supply system.
Mariupol remained a local trade center until 1898, when the Belgian subsidiary SA Providence Russe opened a steel mill in Sartan near Mariupol (now the Ilyich Metallurgical Plant. The company suffered heavy losses and by 1902 went bankrupt, owing Providence 6 million francs, and was forced to re-finance the case by the Paris Bank Union Parisien. The factories brought cultural diversity to Mariupol as immigrants, mostly peasants from across the empire, moved to the city in search of work and a better life. The number of employed workers has been increased to 5,400.
In 1914, the population of Mariupol reached 58,000 people. However, from 1917 onwards, there was a continuous decline in population and industry due to the February Revolution and the Civil War.
In 1933, a new metallurgical plant (Azovstal) was built along the Kalmius River.
During the Second World War in 1941-1943, the city was occupied by Nazi Germany. This caused huge damage to the city, and many people died.
From 1948 to 1989, the city was named Zhdanov in honor of the Soviet politician Andrei Zhdanov.
