Historically, at various times, the territory was ruled either entirely or partly by Scythia, ancient Greeks, Old Great Bulgaria, Khazars, Kipchaks, Italians (Pisa,[14] Venice, Genoa)[15] the Mongol Empire, the Crimean Khanate, the Ottoman Empire,[15] Russia and Soviet Ukraine.

Taganrog served as the capital of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic in March-April 1918,[16] and was the place of establishment of the Communist Party of Ukraine.

Other important groups are the 35,902 Turks (0.9%); 16,493 Belarusians (0.4%); 13,948 Tatars (0.3%); 17,961 Azerbaijanis (0.4%); 11,449 Chechens (0.3%); 16,657 Romani (0.4%); 11,597 Koreans (0.3%); 8,296 Georgians (0.2%), and 2,040 Assyrians (.05%).

In addition, 26% of the population declares to be "spiritual but not religious", 12% is atheist, and 3.5% follows other religions or did not give an answer to the question.

[25]The Ascension Cathedral is the largest Russian Orthodox church in Novocherkassk, Rostov Oblast, Russia.

The five-domed building, which stands 75 meters tall, is a notable example of Russian Neo-Byzantine architecture.

The status changed in 1822, when Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the decree of the Holy Synod was declared cathedral.

These include lower-Gnilovskaya, a settlement and a necropolis, fragments of the walls of the Genoese fortress of the 14th century, the archaeological Museum-reserve "Tanais", and many burial mounds and necropolises.

[citation needed] The theater has two stages as well as a music and entertainment center, and hosts about 300 performances and concerts annually, as well as various forums and festivals.

[30] The largest companies in the region include Novoshakhtinsk Petrochemical Plant, Gloria Jeans Corp., Rostvertol, Oil-extracting factory "Yug Rusi", North Caucasian Railway.

[34] On 28 August 2024 a fire broke out at the Atlas oil depot in the Kamensky District in the Rostov region following a drone strike by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.