Dnipropetrovsk is Ukraine ‘s third largest city with 1.1 million inhabitants. It is located southeast of Ukraine’s capital Kiev on the Dnieper River , in the south-central region of the country. Dnipropetrovsk is the administrative center of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast (province). Within the Dnipropetrovsk Metropolitan area there are 1,860,000 people (2001).
A vital industrial center of Ukraine, Dnipropetrovsk was one of the key centers of the nuclear, arms, and space industries of the former Soviet Union . In particular, it is home to Yuzhmash, a major space and ballistic missile designer and manufacturer. Because of its military industry, the city was a closed city until the 1990s.
Dnipropetrovsk has a highly-developed public transportation system, including the Dnipropetrovsk Metro, which consists of one metro line with a total of 6 stations.
The city is built mainly upon the banks of the Dnieper river, in the loop of a major meander where the river changes its course from the north west to continue southerly and later south-westerly through Ukraine, ultimately reaching Kherson where it discharges into the Black Sea . This location always provided significant opportunities for the advancement of agriculture, mainly thanks to the natural irrigation provided by the river and the resulting fertile soils.
The current city centre is constructed on a large plateau next to the Dnieper , the old town however, is situated atop of a hill, formed as a result of the river’s change of course to the south. Karl Marx Prospekt links the two major architectural ensembles of the city and constitutes an important thoroughfare through the city centre, which along with various suburban radial road systems, provides some of the area’s most vital transport links for both suburban and inter-urban travel.
During the summer, Dnipropetrovsk is very warm (average day temperature in July is +24 to +27 °C (75 to 81 °F)), and in the winter, it is cold (average day temperature in January is −3 to +4 °C (+27 to +39 °F).
The best time for visiting the city is in late spring — second part of April and May, and early in autumn: September, October, when the city’s trees turn yellow. Long periods of rain are normal in autumn. Other times are mainly dry with a few showers.
The climate is a mixture of temperate and continental climates and sometimes in the winter it is very cold and snowy (sometimes dropping down to −10 to −15 °C), and in summer, the city is very hot (up to +29 to +30 °C).
The first people settled around the bend of the Dnieper River about 15,000 years ago. Traces of this settlement were discovered on Monastyrsky Island . This unique island appears throughout the history of Prydniprovia, as a consistent center of events as well as the ancient nucleus of the city. After the last Ice Age (10,000 years ago) the settling of the Prydniprovia area began more intensely. In c.3500–2700 BC the first farmers lived here (the so-called Cucuteni-Trypillia culture people).
The Cimmerians, ancient equestrian nomads who bred cattle, occupied the North Pontic steppe zone including Prydniprovye; their culture and civilization flourished between about 1000 and 800 BC The Cimmerians were driven out by the nomadic Scythians (700 BC), who in turn were overcome by the Sarmatians from the East (200 BC).
The mighty, broad Dnieper River with its picturesque islands and peaceful backwaters, lush flood-meadows and shadowy oak woods stretches along river valleys and ravines. Abundant game and fish in local forests and waters are a result of good climate and vast fertile land… All this attracted hunters, fishers, cattle-breeders and land-tillers to those parts.
Sport
The Dnipro Arena in Dnipropetrovsk
The city also houses the Ukrainian Premier League football club, FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. This club, commonly seen as representing the city at large, holds a record for being the only Soviet team to win the USSR Federation Cup twice; since independence they have gone on to win the Ukrainian Championship once and the Ukrainian League Cup three times. Despite Dnipro’s dominance, a number of other teams also call Dnipropetrovsk their home, these include, amongst others, FC Lokomotyv Dnipropetrovsk and FC Spartak Dnipropetrovsk, both of which have large fan bases in the city. On a national/international stage however, no team from the city has met with the same level of success experienced by FC Dnipro.
Recently the city built a new football stadium; the Dnipro Arena has a capacity of 31,003 people and was built as a replacement for Dnipro’s old stadium, Stadium Meteor. The Dnipro Arena was initially chosen as one of the Ukrainian venues for their joint Euro 2012 bid with Poland . However it was dropped from the list in May 2009 as the capacity fell short of the minimum 33,000 seats required by UEFA.
Economy
Dnipropetrovsk is a major industrial centre of Ukraine . It has several facilities devoted to heavy industry that produce a wide range of products, including cast-iron, rolled metal, pipes, machinery, different mining combines, agricultural equipment, tractors, trolleybuses, refrigerators, different chemicals and many others. The most famous and the oldest (founded in the 19th century) is the Metallurgic Plant named after Petrovsky. The city also has big food processing and light industry factories. Many sewing and dress-making factories work for France, Canada, Germany and Great Britain , using the most advanced technologies, materials and design. Dnipropetrovsk has also dominated in the aerospace industry since the 1950s; construction department Yuzhnoye Design Bureau and Yuzhmash are well known to the specialists all over the world.
Railroads
The city is a large railway junction. Daily trains run to and from many parts of Eastern Europe . There are two rapid trains at day time from Kiev to Dnipropetrovsk and there are a few express trains at night. Other trains come from Moscow (Kursky), Lviv, Saint Petersburg (Vitebsky), and other places.
Air travel
The city is served by an Dnipropetrovsk International Airport (IATA: DNK) and is connected to other European cities with daily flights.