Initially, the term Kuzbass was formed from a combination of parts of the name of the Kuznetsk coal basin, which is located in the Kemerovo region. In March 2019, the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation assigned the new name to the region – Kemerovo Region – Kuzbass – to be included in Article 65 of the Russian Federation Constitution.
The first official document informing of a coal deposit available in Kuzbass was the report of ore prospector Mikhailo Volkov’s in 1721.
In 1842, geographer, geologist, diplomat and traveler Pyotr Chikhachev was the first to introduce the term “Kuznetsk coal basin”.
At the end of the 19th century, the construction and operation of the Trans-Siberian Railway increased sharply the demand for coal. At that time, Kuzbass gained the lead of the extent of coal mining in Siberia.