THE SOUTH RUSSIAN INDUSTRIAL REGION may be considered, apart from the Black Soil, as it owes its importance to the large supplies of coal and iron which it contains. The coal occurs in the Donetz basin, which includes the southern portion of the govern ment of Kharkov, the eastern portion of that of Ekaterinoslav, and the western part of the Don Cossack province. The quality varies in different parts of the field from lignite to anthracite, but it is bituminous coal which is chiefly The total production of the Donetz region has been increasing rapidly ; in 1898 it was less than 7,500,000 tons, but thirteen years later it exceeded 19,500,000 tons. The coal is extensively used in the metallurgical industries of South Russia ; large quantities are sent to the Moscow Industrial region ; some goes to the Baltic by ship ; and it is proposed to build a new railway from the Donetz field to facilitate the trade with the St. Petersburg district.
Deposits of iron ore are found in the vicinity of Krivoi Rog, on the boundary of the governments of Kherson and Ekaterinoslav, where it is estimated that there are at least 82,000,000 tons of haematite and red haematite. In the east of the Crimea, near Kertch, also, there is believed to exist 700,000,000 tons of ore similar in character to that obtained from Luxemburg. In addition to
the proximity of coal, these fields are favoured by the presence of large supplies of manganese ores near Nikopol in South Russia, and by the ease with which metallic fluxes and building materials can be obtained. The growth of the industry here has also been encouraged by the development of railway communications, heavy import duties on iron from abroad, the influx of foreign capital and labour, and the adoption of modern methods of manufacturing iron. During the last few years the output has not been sufficient to meet the demands of the country, and it has been found necessary to reduce the duties on imported iron. At present the South Russian fields produce over two-thirds of the output of pig-iron in the whole country.
The chief ports of the agricultural and industrial regions of South Russia are situated on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Odessa still has the largest trade, and imports considerable quantities of oil, raw cotton, tea, and coffee, but it has lost much of its grain trade owing to the improved access to Nikolaiev at the mouth of the Bug, and Kherson at the mouth of the Dnieper. On the Sea of Azov, Mariupol, Taganrog, and Rostov-on-Don are all largely engaged in exporting cereals.