Mariupol

Mariupol Маріуполь (Ukrainian)
City
From top to bottom and left to right: Night view of Mariupol in 2020 Old Tower one of the houses with a spire Pryazovskyi State Technical University Donetsk Regional Drama Theatre
Flag Coat of arms Brandmark
Mariupol Mariupol shown within Donetsk Show map of Donetsk Oblast Mariupol Mariupol shown within Ukraine Show map of Ukraine
Coordinates: 47°5′45″N 37°32′58″E / 47.09583°N 37.54944°E / 47.09583; 37.54944
Country	Ukraine[1]
Oblast	Donetsk Oblast
Raion	Mariupol Raion
Hromada	Mariupol urban hromada
Founded	1778
City districts	List of 4 Kalmiuskyi Raion Livoberezhnyi Raion Prymorskyi Raion Tsentralnyi Raion
Government
• Mayor	Vadym Boychenko[2] (Vadym Boychenko Bloc[2])
Area
• Total	244 km2 (94 sq mi)
Population  (2022)
• Total	120,000 (per Ukraine)
	(May 2023, after 2022 Russian siege and attacks)[3] before this, the January 2022 estimate was 425,681[4]
Postal code	87500—87590
Area code	+380 629
Climate	Hot summer subtype
Website	mariupolrada.gov.ua/en
City government website maintained in exile

Mariupol (UK: /ˌmæriˈuːpɒl/ MARR-ee-OO-pol, US: /ˌmɑːriˈuːpəl/ ^ⓘ MAR-ee-OO-pəl; Ukrainian: Маріуполь [mɐr⁽ʲ⁾iˈupolʲ] ^ⓘ; Russian: Мариуполь, IPA: [mərʲɪˈupəlʲ]; Greek: Μαριούπολη, romanized: Marioúpoli) is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius River. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was the tenth-largest city in the country and the second-largest city in Donetsk Oblast, with an estimated population of 425,681 people in January 2022;^[4] Ukrainian authorities estimate the population of Mariupol at approximately 120,000.^[3] Mariupol has been occupied by Russian forces since May 2022.

Historically, the city of Mariupol was a centre for trade and manufacturing, and played a key role in the development of higher education and many businesses and also served as a coastal resort on the Sea of Azov. In 1948, Mariupol was renamed Zhdanov after Andrei Zhdanov, a native of the city who had become a high-ranking official of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and a close ally to Joseph Stalin. The name was part of a larger effort to rename cities after high-ranking political figures in the Soviet Union. The historic name was restored in 1989.^[5]

Mariupol was founded on the site of a former encampment for Cossacks, known as Kalmius,^[6] and was granted city rights within the Russian Empire in 1778. It played a key role in Stalin-era industrialization; it was a centre for grain trade, metallurgy, and heavy engineering—including the Illich Iron and Steel Works and the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works.

Beginning on 24 February 2022, a three-month-long siege by Russian forces largely destroyed the city, for which it was named a "Hero City of Ukraine" by the Ukrainian government.^[7] On 16 May 2022, the last Ukrainian troops who remained in Mariupol surrendered at Azovstal Iron and Steel Works, and the Russian military secured complete control over the city by 20 May 2022.^[8]