Donets Basin also known as Donbass or Donbas (Russian: Донбасс from Donetskiy bassein) is a historical, economic and cultural region of Ukraine. It combines two oblasts (provinces) in the east of the country: Donets'ka oblast' and Luhans'ka oblast', with the centers in Donetsk and Luhans'k correspondingly. The city of Donetsk is considered the unofficial capital of Donbass.

The name of the region originates from the coal-field discovered in late 19th century which was named after the Donets river flowing across the region.

In 1676 the first town of the Donbass emerged: Sol'anoje (now Slavyansk) which was built for the high-profit business of extracting newly-discovered rock-salt reserves. In 1721 vast and rich coal fields were found, which started the "industrial boom" which led to the flourish of the region in 18th–first half of 20th century.

Donbass may sometimes be refer to a larger supranational region also consisting a part of neighbouring Rostovskaya oblast' in Russia. This is explained by the fact that Donets' coal basin geographically extends to that area (also specializing in coal-mining), which sometimes called a "Russian Donbass". But lesser economical and, most of all, sociopolitical significance of that Russian area (compared with the Ukrainian part) leads to gradual abandonment of such generic usage of the Donbass term.

External links

• History of Donbass (in Russian)

Regions of Ukraine | Ukrainian historical regions

Donezbecken | Donetsin laakio | Donbass | Donetsbekken | Donieckie Zagłębie Węglowe | Донецкий угольный бассейн