The small Belarusian town of the Gomel region is a major industrial center of the country. When from Zlobin he became Zhlobin it is not known for certain. However, despite the somewhat negative connotation of both names, this is a very nice place.
general information
The city is located on the banks of the Dnieper. It is located on the plain of Gomel Polesie, at a distance of 215 km from the capital of Belarus and 94 km to the regional center. It is a major railway junction in the direction of Minsk, Mogilev and Gomel. This settlement is the administrative center of the district of the same name. The population density of the city of Zhlobin is 2315 people per km².
The village has a developed industry, one of the largest metallurgical enterprises in Europe - JSC "Belarusian Metallurgical Plant" operates here. Other significant enterprises include the Dnieper Zhlobin Mechanical Plant OJSC. Light and food industry enterprises work well, including a meat factory, a poultry farm, a dairy factory and a garment factory.
First information
The first documented references date back to the time of the Russo-Polish war (1654-1667). In a letter dated July 15, 1654, Cossack hetman Ivan Zolotarenko reports to the command of the Russian army that the troops under his command burned down Zlobin Castle along with other cities.
Like many Belarusian settlements, the village in those days was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. How many people lived in Zhlobin in that historical era is not reliably known. Later, the city went to the Commonwealth, from which it was conquered by the Russian Empire.
The first data on the population of Zhlobin belong to 1847, then 965 inhabitants lived in it. In the city 4 fairs were held annually, a pier was built, river ships were built, the Holy Cross Exaltation Church worked. The abolition of serfdom increased the mobility of the peasants, many of them moved to the city in search of work. The construction of railways in the directions of Libavo-Romenskoye and Petersburg-Odessa in the late 19th and early 20th centuries served as a strong catalyst for the development of industry. The population of Zhlobin in 1897 reached 2.1 thousand people. The latest pre-revolutionary data on the number of citizens were recorded in 1909. Then in this provincial town there were 4,270 inhabitants.
Between two wars
During the First World War in 1918, the city was occupied first by the Poles, then by the Germans. After the civil war, it became part of the Byelorussian SSR. After the upheavals of the revolutionary and war years, the population of Zhlobin more than doubled compared to imperial times. In 1924, there were 9.6 thousand inhabitants in the village. A year later, he received the status of a city. During the years of Soviet industrialization, it began to develop, new schools and industrial enterprises were built.
In the pre-war 1939, the city had 19.3 thousand inhabitants. The population grew due to the influx of peasants from the surrounding villages and the annexation of some villages. The years of German occupation (from August 14, 1941 to June 26, 1944) severely affected the local population. Many people died in the underground and partisan detachments, then in the Red Army. Only by 1959 was it possible to restore the pre-war population of Zhlobin. Until 1979, the number of citizens was constantly increasing. Mainly due to natural growth and migration of the surrounding population.
Industrial centre
The construction of the Belarusian Metallurgical Plant (BMZ) by Austrian and Italian companies caused a sharp influx of labor resources from various regions of the country. The plant launched its first steel in 1984. In 1989, the city had a population of 57,000. In subsequent years, the number of citizens increased regularly, even in the crisis nineties. Due to the demand for metallurgical products, the city-forming enterprises worked rhythmically, new industries were introduced.
In 2001, the population of Zhlobin for the first time exceeded 70,000 people. In the period from 2011 to 2015, a large-scale modernization of the metallurgical enterprise was carried out, production volumes increased. The supply of jobs has also increased. In 2012, there were 80,200 inhabitants in Zhlobin, for the first time exceeding the 80,000 mark. The following year, there was a decrease in the number of citizens to 75,335 people. Which is largely due to the completion of the bulk of the work at BMZ. In subsequent years, the population increased, mainly due to natural growth. According to 2018 data, there are 76,220 residents in Zhlobin.