Luhansk

Coordinates: 48°34′N 39°18′E / 48.567°N 39.300°E

Luhansk (Луганськ)
Lugansk (Луганск)

Flag

Coat of arms

Map of Ukraine with Luhansk highlighted.
Luhansk (Луганськ)
Lugansk (Луганск)

Location of Luhansk

Coordinates: 48°34′0″N 39°20′0″E / 48.56667°N 39.33333°E
Country
Oblast
Raion
Ukraine
Luhansk Oblast
Founded 1795
Government
  Mayor Serhiy Ivanovych Kravchenko
Area
  Total 257 km2 (99 sq mi)
Elevation 105 m (344 ft)
Population (2013)
  Total 425,848
  Density 1,802/km2 (4,670/sq mi)
Postal code 91000
Area code(s) +380 642
Sister cities United Kingdom Cardiff
Poland Lublin
Bulgaria Pernik
Hungary Székesfehérvár[1]
France Saint-Étienne
China Daqing
Website http://gorod.lugansk.ua/
Raions of Luhansk

Luhansk (Ukrainian: Луга́нськ, IPA: [ɫuˈɦɑnʲsʲk]) or Lugansk (Russian: Луга́нск; IPA: [lʊˈgansk]), formerly known as Voroshilovgrad, is the administrative center of Luhansk Oblast in easternmost Ukraine. The city itself is also designated as its own separate municipality within the oblast. The current estimated population is around 425,848 (as of 2013).

History

St. Volodymyr Cathedral in Luhansk

The region became largely depopulated during the Mongol-Tatar slave raids (15th to 18th centuries) and thus formed a part of the "Wild Fields".[2]

The city traces its history to 1795, when the British industrialist Charles Gascoigne founded a metal factory there. Thus began an industry that still thrives there as of 2014. Luhansk achieved the status of city in 1882. Located in the Donets Basin, Luhansk developed into an important industrial center of Eastern Europe, particularly as a home to the major locomotive-building company Luhanskteplovoz. The city was occupied by Nazi Germany between July 14, 1942 and February 14, 1943.

On November 5, 1935, the city was renamed Voroshilovgrad (Russian: Ворошиловград/Ukrainian: Ворошиловград - Voroshilovhrad) in honour of Soviet military commander and politician Kliment Voroshilov. On March 5, 1958, with the call of Khrushchev not to give names of living people to cities, the old name was reinstated.[3][4] On January 5, 1970, after the death of Voroshilov on December 2, 1969, the name changed again to Voroshilovgrad. Finally, on May 4, 1990, a decree of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR gave the city back its original name.

During the 2014 protests in Eastern Ukraine, separatists seized governmental buildings in the region proclaiming the Luhansk People's Republic. An independence referendum was held on May 11, 2014. The legitimacy of the referendums was not recognized by most governments.[5] However, the Luhansk People's Republic was recognized by South Ossetia.[6] Ukraine does not recognize the referendum, while the EU and US said the polls were illegal.[7]

On 25 June 2014, Luhansk was officially pronounced as the capital of the Luhansk People's Republic by the government of the Luhansk People's Republic.[8]

In August 2014, Ukrainian government forces completely surrounded rebel-held Luhansk.[9] Heavy shelling caused civilian casualties in Lugansk.[10][11] On August 17, Ukrainian soldiers entered rebel-controlled Luhansk and gained control over a police station.[12]

After the Ilovaisk counteroffensive, LPR forces regained Lutuhyne and other Luhansk suburbs. Ukrainian forces withdrew from the Luhansk International Airport on 1 September after heavy fighting.[13]

Demographics

According to the Ukrainian Census of 2001[14] the majority of inhabitants declared as Ukrainians 49,6%, followed by Russians 47%. The first language ("mother tongue") was Russian at 85.3%, Ukrainian at 13.7%, and smaller numbers of Armenian (0.2%) and Belarusian (0.1%).

The figures for Russians include those belonging to other ethnic groups who speak Russian as their first language, including the indigenous minority of Pontic Greeks, who settled in eastern Ukraine in various waves between the mid-1400s and late-1800s, and also Serbs, Ossetians, Cossacks, and other minorities who often self-define themselves as Russians.

Sport

Luhansk is home to Zorya Luhansk which now plays in the Ukrainian Premier League annual football championship and plays at the Avanhard Stadium. The club won the 1972 Soviet Top League.

The other football team was Dynamo Luhansk.

Merheleva Ridge

On September 7, 2006, archaeologists in Ukraine announced that an ancient structure had been discovered near Luhansk, which the press reported as a pyramid antedating those in Egypt by at least 300 years. The stone foundations of the structure were said to resemble Aztec and Mayan pyramids in Mesoamerica. It was later concluded that the site in question was not a pyramid but was still of great interest.

Gallery

Notable people

Monument for Revolution Heroes in Luhansk.

Climate

Climate data for Luhansk
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 12.8
(55)
17.3
(63.1)
23.1
(73.6)
31.8
(89.2)
36.6
(97.9)
39.4
(102.9)
40.5
(104.9)
42.0
(107.6)
36.8
(98.2)
31.2
(88.2)
22.8
(73)
15.6
(60.1)
42.0
(107.6)
Average high °C (°F) −1.0
(30.2)
−0.4
(31.3)
5.7
(42.3)
15.6
(60.1)
22.2
(72)
26.4
(79.5)
28.7
(83.7)
28.1
(82.6)
21.8
(71.2)
13.9
(57)
5.3
(41.5)
0.1
(32.2)
13.9
(57)
Daily mean °C (°F) −4.0
(24.8)
−4.1
(24.6)
1.4
(34.5)
9.7
(49.5)
15.8
(60.4)
20.1
(68.2)
22.3
(72.1)
21.2
(70.2)
15.3
(59.5)
8.6
(47.5)
1.8
(35.2)
−2.7
(27.1)
8.8
(47.8)
Average low °C (°F) −6.8
(19.8)
−7.4
(18.7)
−2.4
(27.7)
4.2
(39.6)
9.4
(48.9)
13.8
(56.8)
16.0
(60.8)
14.5
(58.1)
9.4
(48.9)
4.0
(39.2)
−1.2
(29.8)
−5.5
(22.1)
4.0
(39.2)
Record low °C (°F) −41.9
(−43.4)
−36.9
(−34.4)
−27.3
(−17.1)
−12.1
(10.2)
−8.2
(17.2)
−1.8
(28.8)
5.2
(41.4)
−0.4
(31.3)
−7.2
(19)
−16.3
(2.7)
−26.3
(−15.3)
−29.6
(−21.3)
−41.9
(−43.4)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 36
(1.42)
36
(1.42)
32
(1.26)
33
(1.3)
50
(1.97)
61
(2.4)
63
(2.48)
34
(1.34)
45
(1.77)
35
(1.38)
39
(1.54)
39
(1.54)
503
(19.8)
Source: Pogoda.ru.net[15]

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Luhansk is twinned with:

See also

References

  1. "Székesfehérvár MJV - Önkormányzat - Partnervárosok névsora". Onkormanyzat.szekesfehervar.hu. Retrieved 2011-09-16.
  2. Mikhail Kizilov. "Slave Trade in the Early Modern Crimea From the Perspective of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Sources". Oxford University.
  3. "ВОЕННАЯ ЛИТЕРАТУРА -[ Биографии ]- Хрущёв С.Н. Хрущёв". Militera.lib.ru. Retrieved 2011-09-16.
  4. "Записки из Якирова Посада - Луганск-Ворошиловград-Луганск". Shusek.livejournal.com. 2009-11-02. Retrieved 2011-09-16.
  5. "Ukraine's Eastern Region Of Luhansk May Now Hold Referendum On Joining Russia". Business Insider. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  6. "South Ossetia Recogntition for Donetsk and Lughansk Republics". Retrieved 23 Nov 2014.
  7. BBC News 12 May 2014
  8. "ЗАКОН "О системе исполнительных органов государственной власти Луганской Народной Республики"". Retrieved 23 Nov 2014.
  9. "East Ukraine city of Luhansk dying under siege, residents say". The Denver Post. 5 August 2014.
  10. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28770179
  11. "In Shell-Torn Luhansk, Food and Water Is Scarce: 'Welcome to Hell!'". Newsweek. 15 August 2014.
  12. "Ukraine troops claim breakthrough in battle for rebel city Luhansk". The Guardian. Reuters. 17 August 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  13. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29009516
  14. "All-Ukrainian Population Census ’2001". State Statistics Committee of Ukraine.
  15. "Pogoda.ru.net" (in Russian). May 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
  16. "Home page of Cardiff Council – Cardiff's twin cities". Cardiff Council. 15 June 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
  17. "Miasta Partnerskie Lublina" [Lublin - Partnership Cities]. Urząd Miasta Lublin [City of Lublin] (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2013-01-16. Retrieved 2013-08-07.
  18. Bozsoki, Agnes. "Partnervárosok Névsora Partner és Testvérvárosok Névsora" [Partner and Twin Cities List]. City of Székesfehérvár (in Hungarian). Archived from the original on 2012-12-08. Retrieved 2013-08-05.
  19. "大庆市与乌克兰卢甘斯克市的往来纪实". 大庆市外事侨务网站.

External links

Look up luhansk in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.