Donets Basin
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The name of the region originates from the coal-field discovered in late (19th century). That field (basin) 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 referr 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.
The Donbass region overwhelmingly supported Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych in Ukraine's 2004 presidential elections. Yanukovych, who is a native of Donetsk and once served as the region's governor, was accused of being complicit in large scale electoral fraud during the presidential election. In the subsequent "orange revolution,' the Donbass remained an unwavering bastion of support for Yanukovych.
External links
History of Donbass, (in Russian) (http://www.ukrindustrial.com/regions/?fuseaction=adm_oda.showSection&rgn_id=24&sc_id=2)