Closed city
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A closed city or a closed town is a city or town with travel and residency restrictions in the former Soviet Union, or in a CIS country. There are two major categories of closed cities: closed because of the presence of sensitive military or nuclear industry and border cities (in fact, whole border areas) closed for security reasons (military locations, radar stations, etc.). Foreigners, and in some cases local citizens, may not travel to closed cities.
For example, the whole Kaliningrad Oblast was restricted for travel for Soviet citizens who were not local residents. The cities of Sevastopol and Vladivostok were also closed because of their naval bases. Gorky was closed (this was one reason why it was chosen as the place of Sakharov's exile; so that foreign correspondents could not communicate with him).
Included among the closed cities were the Zakrytye Administrativno-Territorial’nye Obrazovaniia (or ZATO; literally: 'closed administrative-territorial formations'), which were secret cities built by the Soviet Union. They were built for academic or scientific (Naukograd) purposes. There are an estimated 40 known ZATO, with approximately 15 unaccounted for.
The major cities were opened after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Russian Federation
The number of closed cities in Russia is not publicly known, but it is estimated that up to two million people may live in them.Cities still closed today are:
- Arkhangelsk Oblast—Mirny;
- Astrakhan Oblast—Znamensk;
- Republic of Bashkortostan—Mezhgorye;
- Chelyabinsk Oblast—Ozyorsk, Snezhinsk, and Tryokhgorny;
- Kamchatka Oblast—Vilyuchinsk;
- Krasnoyarsk Krai—Zelenogorsk, Norilsk and Zheleznogorsk;
- Moscow Oblast—Krasnoznamensk;
- Murmansk Oblast—Gadzhiyevo, Ostrovnoy, Polyarny, Severomorsk, Snezhnogorsk, and Zaozyorsk;
- Nizhny Novgorod Oblast—Sarov;
- Penza Oblast—Zarechny;
- Primorsky Krai—Bolshoy Kamen and Fokino;
- Saratov Oblast—Shikhany;
- Sverdlovsk Oblast—Lesnoy and Novouralsk;
- Tomsk Oblast—Seversk;
- Vladimir Oblast—Raduzhny.
Some of them are open for foreign investment, but travel of foreigners is by permits only. An example is the Nuclear Cities Initiative (NCI), a joint effort of the United States National Nuclear Security Administration and Minatom, which involves in part the cities of Sarov, Snezhinsk, and Zheleznogorsk.
The number of closed cities has been significantly reduced since the mid-1990s. However, on October 30 2001, foreign travel was restricted in the northern cities of Norilsk, Talnakh, Kaierkan, Dudinka, and Igarka. Russian citizens visiting these cities are also required to have travel permits.
Ukraine
In Ukraine, in addition to Sevastopol, Dnipropetrovs'k was a closed city until the mid-1990s.
See also
External links
- [Current list of (acknowledged) closed cities/areas from the Russian Federation Administration website (in Russian)]
- [Russia’s closed cities are open and shut case] - article from Russia Journal. (original source requires paid subscription [link])
- [NCI website]
- [Global Security article on ZATO]
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