Dnipro (pop. 993,094) is a major industrial city in Ukraine. It lies in east-central Ukraine, on the Dnieper River.
Mines near Dnipro supply the city’s iron and steel industry. Building materials, chemicals, food products, and heavy machinery are also produced in the city. Dnipro has an airport and a large harbor.
Dnipro is the home of a national university and a number of specialized technical schools. Shevchenko Park, named for the Ukrainian patriot and poet Taras Shevchenko, is a popular recreation area.
Prince Gregory Potemkin of Russia founded the city as Ekaterinoslav in 1784. In the late 1800’s, the city expanded with the development of the coal and iron industries. The city took the name Dnipropetrovsk in 1926, when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the city became part of independent Ukraine. The city was renamed Dnipro in 2016.
