page_title: Kryvyi Rih
section_title: Early history
hierarchical_section_title: Kryvyi Rih / History / Early history
caption_attribution_description: English: Synagogue of kryvyi Rih
context_page_description: Kryvyi Rih or Krivoy Rog is a city in Central Ukraine; it is the 7th-most populous city in the country. It lies within a large urban area, administratively incorporated with Kryvyi Rih Municipality as a city of regional significance. It also serves as the administrative center of the district, although it is not part of it. Population: 624,579
  Located at the confluence of the Saksahan and Inhulets rivers, Kryvyi Rih has been a major settlement for most of its history. It was founded as a postal city in 1775 by the Cossacks. Developed as a military settlement until 1860, it formed part of Kherson Governorate. It was incorporated during the 20th century with areas of Yekaterinoslav. The township began to expand "at an astonishing rate" at the beginning of the 1880s. Kryvyi Rih's urbanization was unplanned and stimulated by mining exploitation. French and English investment contributed to a boom in metallurgy, iron mining, and investigation of rich deposits of iron ore. The Yekateryninska Railway was built in 1884 to transport iron ore to the Donbas. This catalyzed the growth of Kryvyi Rih into a major industrial town; it gained city status in 1919.
context_section_description: The Ingulets Palanka (an administrative division of the Zaporizhian Sich, a polity of the Cossacks) was established in 1734. A list of villages and winter camps from that time mentions Kryvyi Rih. In 1770 the camp of Zaporizhian Sich was founded. Four years later Johann Anton Güldenstädt visited the area and made the first survey and scientific description.
  On May 8, 1775, after the end of the Russian-Turkish War, Russian authorities opened a postal station and railway track, linking this settlement to Kremenchuk, Kinburn foreland and Ochakov, all garrisons of the Imperial Russian Army. The station was tended by five Cossacks.
  Kryvyi Rih was still a village in the early 1800s. It had three water mills, which made up the largest industry. The first stone houses were built in 1828. The village became a township in 1860.
  The tallest building at the end of the 1800s was the Central Synagogue, built by the thriving Jewish community. They worked as artisans, traders and merchants.
caption: Synagogue of Kryvyi Rih, 19th century
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