Міста сучасної Луганщини в ХІХ – на початку ХХ ст. (на матеріалах статистики)

Abstract

The article analyzes the situation of cities in the modern Luhansk region during the XIX – early XX centuries on the basis of statistical materials collected and published by the official bodies of the Russian Empire. The main attention is paid to the cities that had the official status – Starobilsk, Slavyanoserbsk, Belovodsk, Luhansk. At the same time, the statistics included the largest rural settlements of the region, information about which is also taken into account in the work. The population dynamics of cities and the largest settlements of the region is studied. The issue of population density in urban settlements is considered separately are given. Another indicator under consideration is social composition and employment. Much of the article is devoted to the analysis of the economic condition of cities according to statistical collections. Quantitative indicators of industrial development, handicrafts, fair, market and stationary trade are analyzed. It was found that by the beginning of the twentieth century. each city had its own economic specialization – industrial (Luhansk), trade (Starobilsk), craft (Belovodsk). In addition, some rural settlements were no less important as economic centers than cities (Belovodsk, Svatova Luchka). It turned out that all this affected the amount of income that cities received, which was studied. It is concluded that the development of the cities of Luhansk region was embedded in the general trends in the Russian Empire, but from the second half of the nineteenth century. Under the influence of industrial development Luhansk gradually occupied a central place in the region, which, having a significant peasant component, combined the features of old rural and new industrial settlements.