Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in Ukraine, although currently it is occupied by Russia. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be , making Luhansk the most populous city in the region and the 12th-largest in Ukraine. In 2001, nearly half of the population was ethnically Ukrainian, and 47% was ethnically Russian. Luhansk has been the capital and administrative center of Luhansk Oblast, although the Ukrainian administration was relocated to Sievierodonetsk when the War in Donbas broke out following the establishment of the LPR. Etymology Luhansk was named after the Luhan River, which flows through the city. According to folk etymology, the name is also derived to the word "Luh" (Ukrainian: Луг), which means "meadow", referring to the floodplains around the river. History The city traces its history to 1795 when the British industrialist Charles Gascoigne founded a metal factory near the Zaporizhian Cossacks settlement Kamianyi Brid. The settlement around the factory was known as Luganskiy Zavod. In 1882 the factory settlement Luganskiy Zavod was merged with the town of Kamianyi Brid into the city of Luhansk (also Luhanske, according to the Kharkiv orthography). Located in the Donets Basin, Luhansk developed into an important industrial center of Eastern Europe, particularly as a home to the major locomotive-building company Luhanskteplovoz. The city was occupied by Nazi Germany between 14 July 1942 and 14 February 1943. On 5 November 1935, the city was renamed Voroshilovgrad (; ) in honour of Soviet military commander and politician Kliment Voroshilov. On 5 March 1958, after Khrushchev's call to not name cities after living people, the old name was reinstated. On 5 January 1970, after the death of Voroshilov on 2 December 1969, the name changed again to Voroshilovgrad. On 4 May 1990, a decree of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR gave the city back its original name. In 1994 a consultative referendum took place in the Donetsk Oblast and the Luhansk Oblast, with around 90% supporting the Russian language gaining status of an official language alongside Ukrainian, and for the Russian language to be an official language on a regional level. During the war in Donbas, separatists seized governmental buildings in the region, proclaiming the Luhansk People's Republic. An independence referendum, unconstitutional under Ukrainian law, was held on 11 May 2014. This referendum was not recognized as legitimate by any government.