Brief information about the Donetsk
The population was estimated at 929,063 (2016 est.) from the city core, together with over 2,000,000 from the metropolitan region (2011). In accordance with the 2001 Ukrainian Census, Donetsk was the town in Ukraine. Administratively, Donetsk has become the centre of Donetsk Oblast, while , it is the unofficial capital and largest city of the larger economic and cultural Donets Basin (Donbass) area.
Donetsk is conurbation from the area and adjacent to a significant metropolitan sprawl, Makiivka, and combined with other cities forms a different significant town. Donetsk has turned into a significant economic, industrial and scientific centre of Ukraine using a high concentration of a skilled work force and heavy industries.
The density of significant industries (predominantly steel production, chemical industry, and coal mining) determined that the city's tough environmental situation. In 2012 a UN report rated Donetsk among the world depopulating cities. The settlement in the south of the European part of the Soviet Empire was mentioned as Aleksandrovka during the reign of the Empress Catherine the Great, in 1779.
In 1869 the Welsh businessman John Hughes founded a steel plant and several coal mines in the area, and the city was named Hughesovka or even Yuzovka (Юзовка) in recognition of his character ("Yuz" being a Russian-language approximation of Hughes). During Soviet times, the steel industry of the town expanded.
In 1929 Stalin was renamed Stalino, and in 1932 the town became the centre of the Donetsk area. Renamed Donetsk in 1961 today remains a centre for the steel market and for coal mining. Since April 2014 Donetsk and its neighboring areas have been among the major sites of fighting from the Donbass War, as separatist forces struggle against Ukrainian forces for control of the city and surrounding areas.
Through the war, the town of Donetsk has been administered by the pro-Russian separatist forces since the middle of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), together with outlying lands of the Donetsk area split between the 2 sides. Donetsk International Airport became the epicenter of the war with a battle resulting in casualties among civilians and the ruination of the neighborhoods of the city.
As of September 2019 that the DPR has control of the town, together with Ukrainian and DPR forces engaging in battle outside the city.