Samar Самар | |
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 Flag  Coat of arms | |
 Interactive map of Samar | |
  Samar Location of Samar Show map of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Samar Samar (Ukraine) Show map of Ukraine | |
| Coordinates:48°38′N35°13′E / 48.633°N 35.217°E /48.633; 35.217 | |
| Country |  Ukraine |
| Oblast | Dnipropetrovsk Oblast |
| Raion | Samar Raion |
| Hromada | Samar urban hromada |
| Founded | 1672 |
| City status | 1784 |
| Area | |
• Total | 36 km2 (14 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 62 m (203 ft) |
| Population (2022) | |
• Total | 69,855 |
• Estimate (2024)[1] | 66,973 |
| • Density | 1,900/km2 (5,000/sq mi) |
| Postal code | 51200-51214 |
| Area code | +380-5693 |
Samar (Ukrainian:Самар[sɐˈmɑr]), formerly known asNovomoskovsk (Ukrainian:Новомосковськ) until 2024, is acity andmunicipality inDnipropetrovsk Oblast,Ukraine. It serves as the administrative centre ofSamar Raion within the oblast. Samar is located predominantly on the right bank of theSamara River, a lefttributary of theDnieper River. The city is located 27 kilometres (17 mi) from the administrative center of the oblast,Dnipro. As of January 2022, Samar's population was approximately69,855.[2]
A city with the name Samar (now known asOld Samar) has existed from the end of the 17th century.[3][4] The Cossacks abandoned the town in 1688 whenRussia built theBohorodytska Fortress in the city. Soon after, the former inhabitants of the Old Samar founded another settlement named Samar upstream the Samara River. In 18th-century documents, the city is also named Samarchyk, Novoselytsia or Palanka. The town was the administrative center of theSamar Palanka [uk] (province) of theZaporozhian Cossacks.[3][5]
In 1777, a town named Yekaterinoslav, meaning "the glory of Catherine" (after Russian empressCatherine II),[6] was built on the location. The site was badly chosen – spring waters transformed the city into a bog.[7][8] The surviving settlement was in 1794 renamed to Novomoskovsk.[3][9][10] The city name Yekaterinoslav was given to currentDnipro.[8]
The city is famous for theHoly Trinity Cathedral, built in 1778 byYakym Pohrybniak from wood without any nails.A novel dedicated to the cathedral by Ukrainian writerOles Honchar became a classic of 20th-century Ukrainian literature.
In 1917 theUkrainian People's Republic tried to rename Novomoskovsk to Samar.[3][5]
Until 18 July 2020, Novomoskovsk was incorporated as acity of oblast significance and served as the administrative center ofNovomoskovsk Raion though it did not belong to the raion. In July 2020, aspart of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions ofDnipropetrovsk Oblast to seven, the city of Novomoskovsk was merged into Novomoskovsk Raion.[11][12]
Following theRussian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the city council voted in January 2024 to rename Novomoskovsk to Nova Samar (Нова Самарь).[13] On 19 September 2024, theSupreme Council of Ukraine voted to rename Novomoskovsk to Samar.[14]
In 2001, Samar (at the time Novomoskovsk) had a population of 71,860 people. In terms of ethnicity,Ukrainians constitute a large majority, accounting for over 80% of the population. The second-largest group are people with anethnic Russian background (13%), while the remaining population consists ofBelarusians,Germans,Armenians,people of Turkic origin,Jews andRomani people. The exact ethnic composition was as follows:[15]
| percent | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ukrainians | 84.45% | |||
| Russians | 13.34% | |||
| Belarusians | 0.48% | |||
| Armenians | 0.30% | |||
| Gypsies | 0.28% | |||
| Moldovans | 0.11% | |||
| Azerbaijanis | 0.11% | |||
| Jews | 0.10% | |||
| Tatars | 0.10% | |||
| Germans | 0.07% | |||
