Odessa

Principal seaport of Ukraine, on the Black Sea, and capital of the Odessa region (oblast); population (2001) 1,029,000. Odessa is a commercial port, naval base, and tourist resort. The principal industries here are shipbuilding, fishing, steelmaking, and food processing. Products manufactured in the city include chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and machinery. Among the main goods handled in the port are grain, sugar, timber, and oil.

The site of Odessa was under Turkish Ottoman control from 1526 to 1789. The city was founded by Catherine (II) the Great in 1795 near what was believed to be the ancient Greek settlement of Odessos, from which it took its name. It was bombarded during the Crimean War. In the Revolution of 1905, Odessa was the site of a mutiny by sailors of the battleship Potemkin. It changed hands several times during the Russian Civil War 1918–20. Taken by German and Romanian forces in 1941, the city suffered severe damage from its three-year occupation and its recapture.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, Odessa had a large Jewish community; in 1897, Jews were estimated to comprise some 37% of the population. This ethnic group was the subject of sustained persecution; anti-Semitic pogroms were carried out in 1821, 1859, 1871, 1881, and 1905. Many sought refuge abroad; Odessa became an early centre of Zionism, and the port was a focus for emigration to Palestine and elsewhere from 1882 onwards. During the Nazi occupation, the entire remaining community was deported to extermination camps and murdered.

Odessa

City and administrative headquarters of Ector County, west Texas, USA, 94 km/59 mi southwest of Big Springs; population (1996 est) 90,900. Situated on the high plains, it is a service and distribution centre for the oilfields of the Permian Basin, and the Texas ranchlands. Industries include the manufacture of cement, petroleum, petrochemicals, rubber, and meat products. It is the home of Odessa College (1946) and the University of Texas of the Permian Basin (1969). A Shakespeare Festival is held here annually.

The city was founded in 1886.