Enerhodar ( ; , , ; ) is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the northwest of

Zaporizhzhia Oblast Zaporizhzhia Oblast (), commonly referred to as Zaporizhzhia (), is an oblast (region) in south-east Ukraine. Its administrative centre is the city of Zaporizhzhia. The oblast covers an area of , and has a population of The oblast is an import ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. It is on the left bank of the

Dnieper River The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...

, on the opposite side of the Kakhovka Reservoir from Nikopol and Chervonohryhorivka. Its main industry is electricity generation, at coal-fired and large nuclear power stations. It has an estimated population of About 11,000 residents work at the nuclear power station. Since early 2022, it has been under Russian occupation.

History

Enerhodar was founded on 12 June 1970 to build and serve the Zaporizhzhia thermal power station. For two years, the town had no name. Zaporizhzhia TPP was under construction, and the city grew. On 23 November 1972, the village of power engineers was named Enerhodar. The complex development of Enerhodar was combined with the high rate of construction of the thermal power plant. Residential areas, kindergartens, the Energodar Hotel, and the Palace of Culture "Sovremennik" were built simultaneously with the plant's units. Zaporizhzhia Thermal Power Plant reached full capacity in September 1977. It obtained city status in 1985, while part of the

Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest

nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP), also known as a nuclear power station (NPS), nuclear generating station (NGS) or atomic power station (APS) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power st ...

in Europe, was built there in the 1980s. Construction of the building began in 1980, and its first unit was commissioned in late 1985. In 1991, the city became part of independent

. The city's two power plants continue to be major employers for its inhabitants into the 21st century.

Russo-Ukrainian War

On 28 February 2022,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

claimed to have captured the city and the nuclear power plant. The mayor of Enerhodar, Dmytro Orlov, denied the claim. Civilians built a large

barricade Barricade (from the French ''barrique'' - 'barrel') is any object or structure that creates a barrier or obstacle to control, block passage or force the flow of traffic in the desired direction. Adopted as a military term, a barricade denotes ...

of sandbags and vehicles on the road to the nuclear power plant in an attempt to hinder Russian troop advancement. The Ukrainian military administration for the southeast confirmed on 7 March that Enerhodar had been occupied by Russian forces.

Demographics

As of the Ukrainian national census in 2001, Enerhodar had a population of 56,180 inhabitants, making it the fourth-largest city in the

. In terms of ethnicity,

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

make up a solid majority in the city, followed by a large minority of

ethnic Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

. Small Belarusian, Bulgarian and

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

communities also exist in Enerhodar. When being asked about their native language, roughly 62% of the population stated that they primarily spoke

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

, while almost 38% spoke Ukrainian. The exact ethnic and linguistic composition was as follows:

Points of interest

* Enerhodar Dnipro Powerline Crossing * Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant * Zaporizhzhia thermal power station (Zaporizhzhia DRES)

Gallery

Парк Победы. Главный вход. Энергодар.jpg, Victory Park Merija Energodar P1060045.JPG, City Hall ДК Современник Елка зима 2014.jpg, Suchasnyk Palace of Culture Братська могила радянських воїнів, Енергодар.jpg, The Great Patriotic War memorial Гостиница «Энергодар».JPG, Enerhodar Hotel Теннисный корт в парке Победы. Энергодар.jpg, A tennis court Kernkraftwerk Saporischschja.JPG, Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

Notable people

* Liudmyla Babak (born 1997), Ukrainian canoer * Valeriy Sydorenko (born 1976), Ukrainian boxer * Volodymyr Sydorenko (born 1976), Ukrainian boxer

References

External links

Official municipality site

Enerhodar portal

Enerhodar, Ukraine — statistics
Cities in Zaporizhzhia Oblast Populated places established in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Populated places established in 1970 Cities of regional significance in Ukraine Populated places on the Dnieper in Ukraine Company towns in Ukraine Populated places of Kakhovka Reservoir 1970 establishments in Ukraine Socialist planned cities Territorial disputes of Ukraine {{Zaporizhzhia-geo-stub