Odessa (Ukraine)

Principal seaport of Ukraine, on the Black Sea, and capital of the Odessa region (oblast); population (2001) 1,029,000. Odessa is a commercial port, naval base, and tourist resort. The principal industries here are shipbuilding, fishing, steelmaking, and food processing. Products manufactured in the city include chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and machinery. Among the main goods handled in the port are grain, sugar, timber, and oil.

The site of Odessa was under Turkish Ottoman control from 1526 to 1789. The city was founded by Catherine (II) the Great in 1795 near what was believed to be the ancient Greek settlement of Odessos, from which it took its name. It was bombarded during the Crimean War. In the Revolution of 1905, Odessa was the site of a mutiny by sailors of the battleship Potemkin. It changed hands several times during the Russian Civil War 1918–20. Taken by German and Romanian forces in 1941, the city suffered severe damage from its three-year occupation and its recapture.