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Melitopol', city in southern Ukraine, in the southern part of Zaporizhzhya Oblast, on the Molochnaya River. Melitopol' is about 100 km (about 60 mi) south of Zaporizhzhya, in a steppe region where vegetables, grapes, and other fruits are grown. The city serves as a regional and manufacturing center. Products include automobile engines, tractor parts, refrigerators, food products, and consumer goods. In Melitopol' are the Melitopol' Institute of Agricultural Mechanization (founded in 1930), the Melitopol' Pedagogical Institute (1922) and a regional museum. Nearby is the Melitopol'kurhan, a royal burial mound of the Scythians from the 4th century BC, excavated in 1954. The settlement was founded in 1784 as Novooleksandrivka (in Russian, Novo-Aleksandrovka), but renamed Melitopol' in 1841. In Ukrainian, it is also spelled Melitopil'. Population (1996 estimate) 174,000.
