Zaporizhzhya

Za·po·rizh·zhya (zä'pō-rēzhʹzhyä) or Za·po·ro·zhe (-rōʹzhĕ) Formerly A·lek·san·drovsk (ăl'ĭk-sănʹdrəfsk, ə-lĭk-sänʹ-).

A city of southern Ukraine west of Donets'k. It was founded in 1770 on the site of a Cossack camp. Population: 897,600.

* * *

formerly (until 1921) Aleksandrovsk

City (pop., 2001: 815,000), on the Dnieper River in southeastern Ukraine.

In 1770 the fortress of Aleksandrovsk was built to ensure government control over the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks, whose headquarters were nearby. The settlement became a town in 1806. The city expanded during the 1927–32 construction of the Dnieper hydroelectric station, then the largest in the world. The dam was destroyed in World War II but was later rebuilt. Zaporizhzhya has a major iron and steel plant; automobiles are also manufactured.

* * *

▪ Ukraine

Russian  Zaporozhye,  also spelled  Zaporozhe,  formerly (until 1921)  Oleksandrivsk,  Russian  Aleksandrovsk 

      city, southeastern Ukraine, on the Dnieper River just below its former rapids. In 1770 the fortress of Oleksandrivsk was established to ensure government control over the Zaporozhian Cossacks, whose headquarters were on nearby Khortytsya (Khortitsa) Island. The settlement became a town in 1806, and with the coming of the railroad in the 1870s it became an important hub for the rail and river transport of goods. It suffered extensive damage in 1917–20 during the Russian Revolution, but its fortunes improved considerably with the construction in 1927–32 of the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station, then the largest in the world. In World War II the dam was destroyed, but it was subsequently reconstructed.

      On the basis of the power, a large metallurgical industry developed, including a major iron and steel plant and one of the largest strip-rolling mills in Ukraine. Other economic activities in the city have included the manufacture of automobiles and electrical apparatus and a chemical industry supplied by coke by-products. The city stretches for several miles along the Dnieper, with a greenbelt separating its industrial and residential sectors. There are teacher-training, pharmaceutical, and machine-building institutes. Pop. (2001) 815,256; (2005 est.) 799,348.

* * *