Donetsk Oblast (Ukrainian: Донецька область, Donets’ka oblast’; also referred to as Donechchyna — Ukrainian: Донеччина Donechchyna; Russian: Донецкая область, Donetskaya oblast) is an oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. Its administrative center is Donetsk. Historically, the province is an important part of the Donbas region. Until November, 1961, it bore the name Stalino Oblast in honour of Joseph Stalin.

Important cities within the oblast include: Sloviansk, Horlivka, Kramatorsk, Makiivka, Mariupol, Yenakiieve.

Donetsk Oblast is located in southeastern Ukraine. The area of the oblast (26,900 km²), comprises about 4.4% of the total area of the country. The oblast borders the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia Oblasts on the southwest, the Luhansk Oblast on the northeast, the Rostov Oblast in Russia on the east, and with the Sea of Azov on the south.

Its longitude from north to south is 270 km, from east to west – 190 km. The extreme points of the oblast's borders are: Bilosarayska Kosa (spit) on the south, Shevchenko of Velykonovosilkivskyi Raion on the west, Verkhnyi Kut of Shakhtarskyi Raion on the east, and Lozove of Krasnolymanskyi Raion on the north.

Donetsk (Ukrainian: Донецьк Ukrainian pronunciation: [doˈnɛt͡sʲk], translit. Donets’k; Russian: Доне́цк, translit. Donetsk; former names: Yuzovka, Staline, Stalino, see also: Cities' alternative names), is a large city in eastern Ukraine on the Kalmius river. Administratively, it is a center of Donetsk Oblast, while historically, it is the unofficial capital and largest city of the larger economic and cultural Donets Basin (Donbass) region. Donetsk is a major economic, industrial and scientific center of Ukraine with a high concentration of companies and a skilled workforce.

The city was founded in 1869 by a Welsh businessman, John Hughes, who constructed a steel plant and several coal mines in the region; the town was thus named Yuzovka (Юзовка) in recognition of his role in its founding ("Yuz" being a Russian or Ukrainian approximation of Hughes). During Soviet times, the city's steel industry was expanded. In 1924–1931, the town was renamed in Stalino (Сталино). In 1932 the city became the center of Donetsk region. Today, the city remains the center for Ukraine's coal mining and notable steel industry center.