PROKOPYEVSK

also spelled Prokopjevsk, or Prokopevsk, city, Kemerovo oblast (province), central Russia, on the Aba River. A small village of 18th-century origin, it expanded rapidly in the 1920s to become the largest coal-mining centre of the Kuznetsk Basin, although it is gradually declining. There is a large coal-enriching plant, and coal miners' lamps are made at Prokopyevsk, which is the site of a coal-research institute. Other industries produce flour and machinery for mills and grain elevators. Pop. (1991 est.) 273,100.