Shakhty

Shakhty (English) Шахты (Russian)
-  City[1]  -
A view of the city from the KhBK (cotton plant) area
Location of Rostov Oblast in Russia
Shakhty Location of Shakhty in Rostov Oblast
Coordinates: 47°42′N 40°14′E / 47.700°N 40.233°E / 47.700; 40.233Coordinates: 47°42′N 40°14′E / 47.700°N 40.233°E / 47.700; 40.233
Coat of arms
City Day	Third Sunday of September[citation needed]
Administrative status (as of May 2011)
Country	Russia
Federal subject	Rostov Oblast[1]
Administratively subordinated to	Shakhty Urban Okrug[1]
Administrative center of	Shakhty Urban Okrug[1]
Municipal status (as of January 2007)
Urban okrug	Shakhty Urban Okrug[2]
Administrative center of	Shakhty Urban Okrug[2]
Mayor[citation needed]	Vladimir Mamonov (acting)[3]
Statistics
Population (2010 Census)	239,987 inhabitants[4]
- Rank in 2010	78th
Time zone	MSK (UTC+04:00)[5]
Postal code(s)[6]	346500
Dialing code(s)	+7 8636[citation needed]
Official website

Shakhty (Russian: Шахты, IPA: [ˈʂaxtɨ]) is a city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the southeastern spur of the Donetsk mountain ridge, 75 kilometers (47 mi) northeast of Rostov-on-Don. Population: 239,987 2010 Census.^[4]

History

In 1805, sergeant-major Popov founded a small settlement near the Grushevka River. The settlement later became known as Popovka. In 1809, Popov built the first mine. Twelve Cossacks and fourteen peasant serfs lived in Popovka at that time. From 1881 to 1921, it was known as Alexandrovsk-Grushevsky (Александровск-Грушевский).

By 1914, the population had reached 54,000. The main source of income was coal mining, which had been carried out in that region since the 18th century. The population was poor, but the town had rail, telegraph and telephone networks, electricity and plumbing as well as libraries, hospitals and a post office. Most of the merchants and industrialists lived in Rostov and Novocherkassk.^[7]

1917 saw the city change hands three times, until it was taken on April 28, 1919, by the Don Army, under General Fitzkhelaurov. For twenty months it was independent of the Bolsheviks, but was ravaged by typhoid.

On January 13, 1921, it was finally given its present name. The name "Shakhty" ("mine shafts" in English) was chosen, because of the city's association with coal mining. During the 1920s, many of the churches and the archives were destroyed. As with the rest of the Soviet Union, the same street names were changed.

The city is known for the Shakhty Trial of 1928, a precursor of the show trials of the 1930s, and for being the scene of many of Andrei Chikatilo's murders.

In 1941 an independent Cossack republic had been declared in Shakhty although this was suppressed by the NKVD before the Russian invasion.^[8]

In July 1942, during the Great Patriotic War, the town was occupied by the Germans; many coal pits and buildings were blown up by the Germans during their retreat in February, 1943. Twenty-nine of the townsmen were awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

In 1948, production levels in the mines reached what they had been before the war. During the Leonid Brezhnev years, the city was at the height of its development, with a population of over 250,000, and about ten million tons of coal being mined each year.

Perestroika proved devastating for the city, as mines were privatized and shut down, causing massive unemployment, which led to a severe rise in crime and drug abuse. Today Shakhty is the main industrial center of the Eastern Donbass. The city is also one of the main producers and exporters of tile in Eastern Europe, Shakhtinskaya Plitka.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is incorporated as Shakhty Urban Okrug—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.^[1] As a municipal division, this administrative unit also has urban okrug status.^[2]

Demographics

The city's population was 239,987 as of the 2010 Census;^[4] up from 222,592 recorded in the 2002 Census.^[9] As of the 1989 Census, the population was 225,797.^[10]

International relations

Twin towns and sister cities

Shakhty is twinned with:

• Gelsenkirchen, Germany
• Nikopol, Bulgaria

References

Notes

Sources

• Законодательное Собрание Ростовской области. Закон №340-ЗС от 25 июля 2005 г. «Об административно-территориальном устройстве Ростовской области», в ред. Закона №962-ЗС от 25 октября 2012 г. «О внесении изменений в областной Закон "Об административно-территориальном устройстве Ростовской области" и признании утратившим силу абзаца сорок первого пункта 5 статьи 1 областного Закона "О внесении изменений в областной Закон "Об административно-территориальном устройстве Ростовской области"». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Наше время", №187–190, 28 июля 2005 г. (Legislative Assembly of Rostov Oblast. Law #340-ZS of July 28, 2005 On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Rostov Oblast, as amended by the Law #962-ZS of October 25, 2012 On Amending the Oblast Law "On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Rostov Oblast" and on Abrogating Paragraph Forty-One of Item 5 of Article 1 of the Oblast Law "On Amending the Oblast Law "On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Rostov Oblast". Effective as of the official publication date.).
• Законодательное Собрание Ростовской области. Закон №191-ЗС от 19 ноября 2004 г. «Об установлении границы и наделении статусом городского округа муниципального образования "Город Шахты"», в ред. Закона №627-ЗС от 12 января 2007 г «О внесении изменений в некоторые областные Законы об установлении границ муниципальных образований и наделении их соответствующим статусом». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Наше время", №285–286, 23 ноября 2004 г. (Legislative Assembly of Rostov Oblast. Law #191-ZS of November 19, 2004 On Establishing the Border and Granting Urban Okrug Status to the Municipal Formation of the "City of Shakhty", as amended by the Law #627-ZS of January 12, 2007 On Amending Various Oblast Laws on Establishing the Borders of the Municipal Formations and on Granting Them an Appropriate Status. Effective as of the official publication date.).

External links

• Official website of Shakhty (Russian)
• Unofficial website of Shakhty (Russian)

v t e Administrative divisions of Rostov Oblast Administrative center: Rostov-on-Don Cities and towns Aksay Azov Bataysk Belaya Kalitva Donetsk Gukovo Kamensk-Shakhtinsky Konstantinovsk Krasny Sulin Millerovo Morozovsk Novocherkassk Novoshakhtinsk Proletarsk Rostov-on-Don Salsk Semikarakorsk Shakhty Taganrog Tsimlyansk Volgodonsk Zernograd Zverevo Districts Aksaysky Azovsky Bagayevsky Belokalitvinsky Bokovsky Chertkovsky Dubovsky Kagalnitsky Kamensky Kasharsky Konstantinovsky Krasnosulinsky Kuybyshevsky Martynovsky Matveyevo-Kurgansky Millerovsky Milyutinsky Morozovsky Myasnikovsky Neklinovsky Oblivsky Oktyabrsky Orlovsky Peschanokopsky Proletarsky Remontnensky Rodionovo-Nesvetaysky Salsky Semikarakorsky Sholokhovsky Sovetsky Tarasovsky Tatsinsky Tselinsky Tsimlyansky Ust-Donetsky Verkhnedonskoy Vesyolovsky Volgodonskoy Yegorlyksky Zavetinsky Zernogradsky Zimovnikovsky