Berdiansk

(from 1939 to 1958, Osipenko), city in Zaporozh’e Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, and port on the Sea of Azov. It has a railroad station and a population of 95,000 (1969). Berdiansk has a farm machine plant, a cable plant, a road machinery plant, a petroleum refinery, a fiberglass plant, and other enterprises. Its industries include footwear, clothing and food. Educational institutions include a pedagogical institute, a machine-building technicum, a viticultural and wine-making technicum, and a medical school. There is an art museum and a museum of local lore. A viticultural sovkhoz is near the city.

A coastal mud health resort is located 5 km from Berdiansk. Summers are dry and warm (mean July temperature, 24° C), winters are mild (mean January temperature, -4° C), and annual precipitation is 380 mm. Medicinal remedies are the silt mud and brine of three lakes—Krasnoe, Maloe, and Velikoe (Bol’shoi Liman)—as well as grape cures. Treatment is given for disorders of the organs of motion and support, nervous system, female organs, and respiratory organs (nontubercular diseases). There are sanatoriums for children and adults, a water and mud treatment center, and a workers’ resort. The city was founded in 1827.