About Mariupol

Mariupol was known from the beginning of the XVI century as the Cossacks fortress Kalmius. After the migration of the Greeks from the Crimea to that region in 1780 the town was renamed in Mariupol at their request. It is a splendid city situated on the coast of the Azov Sea, at the mouth of Kalmius River, only 116 km from Donetsk. During World War II it was occupied by German forces from 1941 to 1943 and suffered heavy damage. For 41 years it was called Zhdanov in honor of Andrey Zhdanov, a Communist official. Population of the city is more than 500,000 people. Mariupol is an important seaport, a railroad terminus, and an industrial center. There are steel mills, shipyards, chemical plants, fish canneries and a metallurgical institute in the city. The modern emblem of the city was confirmed in 1989. It is the shield per fess wavy to argent and azure. In the shield is the anchor with a ring as a ladle with poured metal. Number "1778" means year of the city foundation. The argent symbolizes steel, azure means sea, anchor means the port, ladle - metallurgy.