Chornomorsk
Chornomorsk (Ukrainian: Чорномо́рськ, pronounced [t͡ʃornoˈmɔrsʲk]), formerly Illichivsk (Ukrainian: Іллічі́вськ, translit. Illichivs'k), is a city in Odesa Raion, Odesa Oblast (province) of south-western Ukraine, dependent on the Port of Chornomorsk. It hosts the administration of Chornomorsk urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine.[2] The city is located around the Sukhyi Estuary. Its population was given as 57,983 (2022 estimate).[1]
Chornomorsk
Чорноморськ | |
|---|---|
 Myru Avenue - one of the main streets of the city | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Chornomorsk  Chornomorsk | |
| Coordinates: 46°18′06.0″N 30°39′25.0″E | |
| Country |  Ukraine |
| Oblast |  Odesa Oblast |
| Raion |  Odesa Raion |
| Area | |
| • Total | 25 km2 (10 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 29 m (95 ft) |
| Population (2022)[1] | |
| • Total | 57,983 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Postal code | 68000—68090 |
| Area code | +380 4868 |
| Climate | Cfb |
| Website | cmr.gov.ua |
Originally, the city was established as a satellite town of Odesa.
History
Before the construction of a port with a city, the region was the site of a number of unorganized farmsteads and hamlets (khutir) that were collectively known as Buhovi khutory (Ukrainian: Бугові Хутори) that were located on agricultural lots of a local landowner Andriy Buhovyi. After establishing of the Soviet regime and "nationalization" and collectivization of the area, in 1927 the settlement was renamed into Illichivskyi Khutir.
In 1952 a port was established, and its surrounding territory was urbanized and converted into a city of Illichivsk. The city was designed to become a new home for the Black Sea Shipping Company (then the largest passenger and commercial vessel operator in the world). Originally a builder's trailer village, Chornomorsk has expanded to become Ukraine's most prosperous town by income per capita. Residents are mostly employed by the port (one of the largest ports of Europe) and the maritime industry. Residents of Odesa have recently begun relocating to lower-cost but higher-income Chornomorsk.
On 15 May 2015 President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko signed a bill into law which began a six months period for the removal of communist monuments and the mandatory renaming of settlements with names related to Communism.[3] On 12 November 2015, the city council decided to rename the city to Chornomorsk (after the Black Sea coast upon which the city is found). The decision was confirmed by the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian parliament) on 4 February 2016.[4] The city's former name, Illichivsk, was an homage to Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, the founder of the Soviet Union.
Until 18 July 2020, Chornomorsk was incorporated as a city of oblast significance and the center of Illichivsk Municipality. The municipality was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Odesa Oblast to seven. The area of Illichivsk Municipality was merged into Odesa Raion.[5][6]
Demographics
According to the 2001 Ukrainian Census:
| Ethnicity | Proportion |
| Ukrainians | 66.5% |
| Russians | 28.5% |
| Bulgarians | 1% |
| Moldovans, Belarusians, Romanians, and other | 4% |
Economy
Train ferry service to Bulgaria
Chornomorsk was connected by freight train ferry line (426 km) to Varna in Bulgaria in 1978. Four train ferries two Soviet and two Bulgarian ones, named "Hero of Odesa", "Hero of Sevastopol" and "Hero of Schipka", "Hero of Pleven" which could take in three decks a total of 108 two bogie (four axle) Soviet freight cars. In the first ten-year period (1978–1988), these train ferries had transported 1,000,000 freight cars between Illichivsk and Varna. This train ferry service took 17 hours in both directions. The Bulgarians built break of gauge apparatus at Varna which made it possible to change bogies of 24 freight cars in one hour thirty minutes.
Industries
Chornomorsk's economy is largely oriented to the sea. The biggest employer is the Port of Chornomorsk. The headquarters and manufacturing facilities of "Antarctica" (Ukraine's largest fishing company) are located in the city, and other major maritime shipping companies have also chosen to open their offices there.
The city also has a freight railway station. The port is on one of the freight routes of China's proposed Eurasian Land Bridge (part of the "New Silk Road"), which would see an eastern link to China via ferry to Georgia, Azerbaijan and across the Caspian Sea, and a western link by train to western Europe.[7]
International relations
References
- Чисельність наявного населення України на 1 січня 2022 [Number of Present Population of Ukraine, as of January 1, 2022] (PDF) (in Ukrainian and English). Kyiv: State Statistics Service of Ukraine. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 July 2022.
- "Черноморская громада" (in Russian). Портал об'єднаних громад України.
- Poroshenko signed the laws about decomunization. Ukrayinska Pravda. 15 May 2015
Poroshenko signs laws on denouncing Communist, Nazi regimes, Interfax-Ukraine. 15 May 20
Goodbye, Lenin: Ukraine moves to ban communist symbols, BBC News (14 April 2015) - "Decommunisation continues: Rada renames several towns and villages". UNIAN. 4 February 2016.
"Rada de-communized Artemivsk as well as over a hundred cities and villages" (in Ukrainian). Pravda.com.ua. 4 February 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016. - "Про утворення та ліквідацію районів. Постанова Верховної Ради України № 807-ІХ" [About the formation and liquidation of districts. Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine No. 807-IX]. Голос України (in Ukrainian). 18 July 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
- "Нові райони: карти + склад" [New areas: maps + warehouse] (in Ukrainian). Міністерство розвитку громад та територій України. 17 July 2020.
- Dyussembekova, Zhazira (21 January 2016). "Silk Road Renewed With Launch of New Commercial Transit Route". The Astana Times.
External links
Media related to Chornomorsk at Wikimedia Commons