District town and seaport in the government of Taurida Crimea, Russia, on the northwestern coast of the Sea of Azof, at the Berdyansk estuary, near the mouth of the rivulet Berdyanka. It was built by the efforts of Prince M. S. Vorontzov in 1827, and soon became a lively little port, the trade to a considerable extent, especially the export of grain, being in the hands of the Jews. In 1892 the Jewish population of the town was 1,653 and the Karaite population 243, of a general total of 21,959. In the district the Jews numbered 3,416 in the general total of 227,780.