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Tomsk

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Main railway station in Tomsk
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Main railway station in Tomsk

Tomsk State University main building
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Tomsk State University main building

Silver three-rouble coin, 2004
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Silver three-rouble coin, 2004

Tomsk (Russian: ) is a city on the Tom River in the southwest of Siberian Federal District, Russia, the administrative centre of Tomsk Oblast. It is located about twenty kilometres south-east of the town of Seversk, a major centre of plutonium and uranium enrichment in Russia. One of the oldest towns in Siberia, Tomsk celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2004. Population: 487,838 (2002 Census).

Contents

Geography

Tomsk is divided into four city districts: Kirovsky, Leninsky, Oktyabrsky, and Sovetsky. The historical areas of Tomsk include: Voskresenskaya Gora (Resurrection Hill), the Swamp, Belozerye, Greater and Lesser Yelany, Zaistochye (Tatar settlement), the Lakeside, Kashtak, Kirpichi, and Mukhin Mound#redirect .

In 2005, the city annexed the settlements of Eushta, Dzerzhinsky, Timiryazevskoye, Zonalny, Loskutovo, Svetly, Kirgizka, and Kopylovo.

Climate

Tomsk has a continental climate. The annual average temperature is −1.3°C. Winters are severe and lengthy, and the lowest recorded temperature was −55°C in January 1969. However, the average temperature in January is between −21°C and −19°C. The average temperature in July is 17°C to 18°C. The total yearly rainfall is 435 mm.

History

In 1604, the Russian tsar Boris Godunov ordered Cossack leader Gavril Pisemsky and boyar son and strelets officer Vasiliy Tyrkov to found a fort on the Tom River, on Tatar land, to protect the river crossing and Eushta population from Kalmyk and Kyrghiz tribes. It became important as a military center for pacifying the native people and evolved into a regional administrative center. Beginning in the late 1830s, its population grew quickly thanks to the intensifying gold-mining activity in Siberia.

Politics and government

Tomsk is governed by a mayor and a 33-member city Duma. The current mayor is Aleksandr Makarov and the current Duma chairman is Nikolai Nikolaichuk, both members of United Russia. Of the 33 members, 16 are elected from the eight double mandate districts while 17 are chosen from party lists.

In the October 2005 local elections, United Russia was expected to cruise to a solid victory, however, the Pensioners Party put up a strong showing. The final count was:

Proportional representation
Double Mandates

Education

Tomsk has a number of prominent universities:

Thanks to its strong university presence, Tomsk has become a center of the IT industry in Russia.

Culture

Tomsk Regional Studies Museum and the Organ Hall of the Philarmony
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Tomsk Regional Studies Museum and the Organ Hall of the Philarmony

Tomsk has many local cultural institutions including drama theaters, a children's theater and a puppet theater. One can find music at the city concert hall, home of the local orchestra, or the sports palace where pop and rock stars perform. The city also has centers of German, Polish and Tatar culture where residents can study languages or learn about other countries.

Unfortunately, one of Tomsk's theaters was destroyed in a bloody act of terrorism in 1905. The Korolevskii Theater (built in 1884-85) was being used by a group of communist revolutionaries one evening, when members of the Black Hundred struck. The Black Hundred was a hardline organ of the tsar and brutally stamped out opposition. The theater was set on fire with Black Hundred members shooting those who tried to escape the flames. Estimates of casualties ranged from 200 to 1000 people.

There are a number of museums in Tomsk including those devoted to art, local history and wood carving. Tomsk State University has a number of small museums with exhibits on archaeology, paleontology, zoology as well as a herbarium and botanical garden.

The Epiphany Cathedral at the Lenin square
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The Epiphany Cathedral at the Lenin square

As in many other cities in the Former Soviet Union, the government destroyed a number of old churches in the city including two that had existed since the 17th century. However, Tomsk managed to retain some of its churches by creating alternative uses for them such as machine shops, warehouses, archives, and even residences. Since the end of communism, some of the churches have been renovated and handed back to their congregations.

Tomsk is well-known for its (gingerbread) carved wooden houses. The quantity of these wooden houses is constantly decreasing due to fire and new construction.

Trud (Labor) Stadium, in central Tomsk, plays host to FC Tom' Tomsk, the city's soccer team. Thanks to the team's promotion to the Russian Premier League in 2005, local fans have the opportunity to see Russia's best soccer teams when they visit each year.

Tomsk does have many local media outlets including a television station TV2, radio stations (Radio Siberia and Echo Moscow - Tomsk) and newspapers (Tomskii Vestnik, Tomskaya Nedelya, Krasnoye Znamya and Vechernii Tomsk).

Tomsk received notoriety thanks to a major economic cooperation summit to be held in Tomsk between Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in April 2006.

Famous people

Ironical monument to Anton Chekhov who visited Tomsk on the way and mentioned it in his diary unfavourably
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Ironical monument to Anton Chekhov who visited Tomsk on the way and mentioned it in his diary unfavourably

Tomsk Sister Cities

External links

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