Luhansk / Lugansk Луганськ / Луганск |
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![]() ![]() Luhansk / Lugansk
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Coordinates: | |||
Country Oblast Raion |
Ukraine Luhansk Oblast |
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Founded | 1795 | ||
Government | |||
- Mayor | Serhiy Ivanovych Kravchenko | ||
Area | |||
- Total | 257 km² (99.2 sq mi) | ||
Elevation | 105 m (344 ft) | ||
Population (2004) | |||
- Total | 445,900 | ||
- Density | 1,802/km² (4,667.2/sq mi) | ||
Postal code | 91000 | ||
Area code(s) | +380 642 | ||
Sister cities | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Website: http://gorod.lugansk.ua/ |
Luhansk also known as Lugansk (Ukrainian: Луганськ [luˈɦɑnʲsʲk], translit. Luhans’k; Russian: Луга́нск, translit. [luˈgɑnsk]) is a city in southeastern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Luhansk Oblast (province). The city itself is also designated as its own separate municipality within the oblast, and is part of the Donbass region. The current estimated population is around 445,900 (as of 2004)
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The city traces its history to 1795, when the British industrialist Charles Gascoigne founded a metal factory there. It was the beginning of an industry that still thrives there today. Luhansk achieved the status of city in 1882. Located in the Donets Basin, Luhansk was developed by the Soviet authorities into an important industrial center of the Eastern Europe, particularly a home to the major locomotive-building company.
During the Soviet times the city was known as Voroshilovgrad (Russian and Ukrainian: Ворошиловград) in honour of the Soviet military commander and politician Kliment Voroshilov, a native of Lugansk. The name was changed on November 5, 1935, but on March 5, 1958, the old name was reinstated in accordance with a new law that prohibited namings in honour of living people. On January 5, 1970, after Voroshilov died, the name was changed again to Voroshilovgrad. Finally, on May 4, 1990, a decree of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR gave back the city its original name.
Luhansk is home to Zorya Luhansk which now plays in the premier league Ukrainian annual football championship and who plays into Avanhard Stadium. The other football team is Dinamo Luhansk.
On September 7, 2006, Archaeologists in Ukraine claimed an ancient pyramidal structure, which they allege outdates those in Egypt by at least 300 years, was discovered near Luhansk. The stone foundations of the structure are said to resemble Aztec and Mayan pyramids in South America.
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