Surgut

Railway station in Surgut

Coat of arms of Surgut

Surgut (Russian: ) is a city in Russia, the largest one in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District. Geographic coordinates: [61°16′N 73°24′E]. Its population according to the 2002 Census was 285,027.

Surgut is one of the oldest Siberian cities. It was founded in 1594 by order of Tsar Feodor I.

The name of the city, according to one tradition, originates from the Khanty words "sur" (fish) and "gut" (hole, pit).

The urbanization of Surgut took place in the 1960s, when it became a center of oil and gas production. On June 25, 1965 the working settlement of Surgut was reorganized into a city. The day of the city is celebrated yearly on June 12.

The current mayor of Surgut is Alexander Leonidovich Sidorov (since 1996). He oversaw the construction of the Surgut Bridge, the longest one-tower cable-stayed bridge in the world.

Economy

Surgut's economy is tied to oil production and the processing of natural gas. The most important enterprises are the oil firm Surgutneftegaz (often known as Surgut) and Surgutgazprom (a unit of Gazprom).

Sports

Universitet Surgut - basketball team in the Russian Basketball Super League

Transport

The city has it's own airport, with flights to Moscow, Irkutsk, and a number of other cities.

The city is also on the Tyumen - Novy Urengoy railway line - the next stations away from Tyumen are Noyabrsk and ?? (the line forks). Going towards Tyumen the next station is Salym, where Royal Dutch Shell has a substantial development. This section of the route takes about 6 hours.

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