In the east of the Donetz course lie several small cities, e. g., Zolochiv, with its annual fairs; Valki, with a considerable home industry and large fruit-gardens. In the country about the source of the Donetz, on the border of the Ukraine, lies Bilhorod (22,000 pop.), a commercial city with a woolen industry. Downstream, on the Donetz, lie Vovchansk (11,000 pop.), Chuhuyiv (13,000 pop.) and Smiiv. Korocha (14,000 pop.) carries on grain, cattle and fruit trade in its annual fairs, and has some industry (oil-pressing, alcohol-distillation, and albumen manufacture). On the Oskol lie the following: Stari-Oskol (17,000 pop.), with a considerable trade and with a leather, wax, mead and tobacco industry; the insignificant town of Novi-Oskol, Valuiki, Urasova (13,000 pop.), with grain trade, tanneries and rope factories; Kupiansk at a railroad junction. On the Tikha Sosna lies Biriuch (13,000 pop.), with annual fairs and oil factories, Olexiyivka, known for sunflowerculture and painters' guilds, and Ostrohorsk (22,000 pop.), with a large grain, cattle and bacon trade, and soap, wax and tobacco industry, once a center of the fish trade. Starobilsk (13,000 pop.) has lively annual fairs.
On the Don, within the province of the plateau, there are no larger cities. Korotoiak (10,000 pop.) carries on an active trade, Pavlovsk has soap factories, fat-extraction and oil-presses, and is an important river-port, from which the regular Don navigation begins. Altogether, on the eastern border country of the Ukraine, there are no larger cities or even towns. Only a few isolated large villages gain greater significance thru their markets and industry. One of these is the largest village of the Ukraine: Buturlinivka (38,000 pop.), with important annual fairs, with brick-kilns, tanneries, alcohol-stills, as well as very considerable furriery and shoemaking.
The Donetz Plateau is, from an anthropogeographical point of view, a very remarkable country, which has its closest analogy in the North American mining districts. Only the northern edge of the country on the Donetz has an appearance analogous to the adjacent Kharkiv country, with large, typically Ukrainian villages and village-towns. All the remaining region of the Donetz Plateau is a naked steppe. Here and there factory chimneys, isolated or in groups, rise, surrounded by factory buildings and laborers' huts. The settlements come into existence and grow with true American speed. The Donetz Plateau embraces parts of the Governments of Kharkiv, Katerinoslav and Don.
One of the farthest advance guards of the typical Ukrainian settlements is Isium (23,000 pop.), on the Donetz, one of the chief centers of the pottery industry.
Slaviansk, once Tor (20,000 pop.), on the Torez, has large salt mines and salt lakes, with bathing pavilions, which draw many guests in the summer, large salt-works and a number of mills, porcelain and metal industries. Besides, Slaviansk has important horse-markets. Nearby, on the chalk-cliffs of the Donetz, lies the famous convent of the Holy Mountains. On the eastern border of the Ukraine, on the Donetz, lies the river port of Kamenske (51,000 pop.), with a great grain trade and glass-works.
In the mining and factory district of the Donetz Plateau there lie, besides innumerable small industrial towns, a number of more important centers. Luhan (60,000 pop.) has a large metallurgical industry with foundries and hammer-works, machine-factories, numerous alcohol-stills, breweries, tanneries, soap and tile factories. Bakhmut (33,000 pop.) has large salt mines and salt-works and considerable trade; the adjacent town of Mikitivka, mercury and coal mines. Yusivka (49,000 pop.) is the chief center of the coal mines, iron and steel factories; Hrushivka (46,000 pop.) the center of the anthracite mines.