The city of Donetsk is one of the biggest regional centers in Ukraine. It covers 381 square kilometers, with a population of 1,131,700.

The town was officially named "Donetsk" in 1869 replacing a former Cossack settlement. Both the growing number of coal mines and the establishment of the Novorossiyskaya Company with its metallurgical plant spurred the growth of Donetsk.

For a large industrial town, Donetsk is especially beautiful and very green. It is made up of 9 districts which are linked together by tram, trolley and bus routes. It also has well developed air and railway services. 386 food stores and 532 department stores serve the citizens and guests of Donetsk.

In Donetsk, 11 hotels provide accomodations for 2.5 million visitors a year.

The major industrial products from Donetsk are produced by the coal, metallurgy, food, machine-building, and metal working industries. These industries are made up of over 158 different companies employing about 168,000 people.

All together, in the city proper, there are more than:
• 208 joint ventures working with foreign capital,
• 230 leased enterprises; and
• 117 joint-stock companies.