Irkutsk
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Irkutsk (Russian: ) is one of the largest cities in Siberia. It is a fortified military post, an archbishopric of the Russian Orthodox Church, and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast. It is situated at , 5,185 km by rail from Moscow. In the most recent Census, taken in 2002, the city's population was 593,604. This was an increase from a figure of 500,000 in 1975, and a great increase over the 1900 and 1875 levels of 49,106 and 32,512, respectively.
Geography and Climate
The town proper lies at the Angara, a tributary of the Yenisei, 45 mi (72 km) below its outflow from Lake Baikal, and on the bank opposite the suburb of Glaskovsk. The river, which has a breadth of 1900 ft (579 m) is crossed by a flying bridge. The Irkut River, from which the town takes its name, is a small river which joins the Angara directly opposite the town. The main portion of the town is separated from several important landmarks - the monastery, the fort, and the port, as well as its suburbs by another tributary, the Ida, or Ushakovka River.
As a Siberian city, Irkutsk experiences a continental climate, characterized by extreme variation of temperatures between seasons. Temperatures can be very warm in the summer, and brutally cold in the winter. The warmest month of the year in Irkutsk is July, when the mean temperature is 18°C (64°F), and the coldest month of the year is January, when the mean temperature is only -19°C (-2°F). Precipitation also varies widely throughout the year, with the wettest month also being July, when precipitation averages 119 mm (4.70 in). The driest month is February, when precipitation averages only 7.6 mm (.30 in), mainly due to the fact that almost all precipitaion during the Siberian winter falls as fluffy, low moisture content snow.
History
Irkutsk grew out of the winter quarters established (1652) by Ivan Pokhabov for the collection of the fur tax from the Buryats. The town gained official city rights from the government in 1686. The first road connection between Moscow and Irkutsk, the Siberian Road (Russian: Сибирский Тракт, Sibirskiy Trakt), was built in 1760. The city benefitted economically from this new road. Many new products, often imported from China, were widely available in Irkutsk for the first time, including gold, diamonds, furs, wood, silk, and tea.
In the early nineteenth century, many Russian artists, officers and nobles were sent into exile to Siberia for their part in the Decembrist revolt against Tsar Nicholas I. Irkutsk became the major center of intellectual and social life for these exiles, and much of the city's cultural heritage comes from them; also, many of their wooden houses, adorned with ornate, hand-carved decorations, survive today in stark contrast with the standard Soviet apartment blocks that surround them.
Irkutsk has long been reputed to be a remarkably fine city — its streets being straight, broad, well paved and well lighted; but in 1879, on July 4 and 6, the palace of the (then) Governor General, the principal administrative and municipal offices and many of the other public buildings were destroyed by fire; and the government archives, the library and museum of the Siberian section of the Russian Geographical Society were utterly ruined. Three quarters of the city were destroyed, including approximately 4,000 houses. However, the city quickly rebounded, with electricity arriving in 1896, the first theater being built in 1897, and a major train station in 1898. The first train arrived in Irkutsk on August 16 of that year. By 1900, the city had earned the nickname "The Paris of Siberia."
During the civil war that broke out after the Bolshevik Revolution, Irkutsk became the site of many furious, bloody clashes between the "Whites" and the "Reds". In 1920, Kolchak, the once-feared commander of the largest contingent of anti-Bolshevik forces, was executed there, effectively destroying the anti-Bolshevik resistance.
During the Communist years, the industrialization of Irkutsk, and Siberia in general, was heavily encouraged. A large Reservoir was built on the Angara between 1950 and 1959 in order to facilitate industrial development.
On July 27, 2004, Irkutsk's synagogue built in 1881 suffered an electrical fire. A cathedral (built of wood in 1693 and rebuilt of stone in 1718), the governor's palace, a school of medicine, a museum, a military hospital, and the crown factories are among the public institutions and buildings.
Transport
Important roads and railways like the Trans-Siberian Railway connect Irkutsk to other regions in Russia and Mongolia. Also, the city is served by the Irkutsk International Airport.
On July 9, 2006, S7 Airlines Flight 778 crashed upon landing at the airport. 125 people died in the resulting fire.
References
- This article incorporates text translated from [the corresponding German Wikipedia article] as of 10 July 2006.
External links
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