page_title: Donetsk Oblast
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Donetsk Oblast / Geography
context_page_description: The Donetsk Oblast, also referred to as Donechyna, is an oblast of eastern Ukraine. It is the most populated oblast, with around 4.5 million residents. Its administrative center is Donetsk; however, its Regional State Administration has been temporarily relocated to Kramatorsk because of the ongoing crisis in Donetsk. Historically, the region is an important part of the Donbas region. Until November 1961, it bore the name Stalino Oblast as Donetsk was then named "Stalino", in honor of Joseph Stalin. As part of the de-Stalinization process, it was renamed as its administrative center after Siversky Donets, the main artery of Eastern Ukraine.
  The oblast is known for its urban sprawl of Donetsk–Makiivka and Horlivka–Yenakiieve and it is often associated with coal mining industry.
  On April 7, 2014, following the annexation of Crimea by Russia, Russian-backed militants occupying the Donetsk Oblast administrative building declared independence from Ukraine and staged an unrecognized referendum on separating from Ukraine on 11 May 2014. Subsequently, the War in Donbass started.
context_section_description: Donetsk Oblast is located in southeastern Ukraine. The area of the oblast (26,517 km²), comprises about 4.4% of the total area of the country. The oblast borders the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia Oblasts on the southwest, the Kharkiv Oblast on the north, the Luhansk Oblast on the northeast, the Rostov Oblast in Russia on the east, and with the Sea of Azov on the south.
  Its longitude from north to south is 270 km, from east to west – 190 km. The extreme points of the oblast's borders are: Bilosarayska Kosa (spit) on the south, Shevchenko of Velykonovosilkivskyi Raion on the west, Verkhnyi Kut of Shakhtarskyi Raion on the east, and Lozove of Lyman Raion on the north.
  The state historic-architectural preserve near the city of Sviatohirsk with the Sviatohirsk Lavra was nominated for the Seven Wonders of Ukraine.
caption: Detailed map of Donetsk Oblast
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