Nikopol

Nikopol is a large city in southeastern Ukraine that stretches along the right bank of the Dnipro River, shaped by its industrial facilities and residential neighborhoods. The city sits beside the Kakhovka Reservoir and spreads across a flat landscape with factories interspersed between housing blocks and green spaces.

The settlement was founded in 1639 as a Zaporizhian Sich and became the site where Bohdan Khmelnytskyi was elected hetman during a Cossack Council in April 1648. Over the following centuries, the town evolved into a major center for heavy industry, particularly for the production of ferroalloys and manganese products.

The population of 105,000 residents maintains Ukrainian traditions through annual City Day celebrations on September 28, highlighting local manufacturing and industrial achievements.

The city is accessible through its bus station, railway terminal, and river port, with regular buses and trains connecting to other towns in the region. Visitors can navigate the central areas on foot or by local transport, though many industrial zones remain off-limits to the public.

The local ferroalloy plant ranks among the world's largest producers of manganese alloys and processes ore from nearby deposits. The facility exports its products to many countries and plays a central role in European metal processing.