Dnipropetrovsk

Dnipropetrovsk, (in Russian, Dnepropetrovsk), city in east central Ukraine, capital of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast' and a key industrial city of Ukraine. It is located in a region rich in minerals, and, as a rail and water transport junction, it has access to iron ore from Krivoy Rog, coal from the Donetsk Coal Basin, and manganese from Nikopol. Manufactured goods include steel, fabricated metal, building materials, chemicals, rail equipment, and agricultural and mining machinery. A state university, research institutes, art galleries, and historical museums are here.

Founded in 1787 by the Russian statesman Grigory A. Potemkin, the city was originally named Yekaterinoslav in honour of Catherine the Great. The present name was adopted in 1926. The completion in 1932 of a major hydroelectric facility on the Dnepr River nearby, hastened the pace of the city's industrial growth, which had begun in the 1880s with the arrival of the railway. During World War II, Dnipropetrovsk was occupied by the Germans from 1941 to 1943. Population 1,065,000 (2001).