Kuznetsk
city
Kuznetsk
Кузнецк
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List of cities in Russia |
Kuznetsk ( Russian Кузнецк ) is a Russian city with 88,839 inhabitants (as of October 14, 2010) in the Penza Oblast . It is the capital of the district of the same name ( Rajons ) and in terms of population the second largest city in the oblast.
geography
Kuznetsk is around 250 meters above sea level on the Volga Heights , on the banks of the Trujow River from the Volga river system. The regional capital Penza is located about 120 km west of Kuznetsk; the closest towns are Sursk (60 km west of Kuznetsk) and Gorodishche (62 km west).
history
After the regional capital Penza, Kuznetsk is the second oldest city in the oblast. It was founded at the end of the 17th century and was initially called Trujowo (Труёво) after the local river Trujow. In the 18th century the village was named Naryschkino (Нарышкино) in reference to its first owner, Vasily Naryshkin, who was related to the Tsar Peter the Great . In 1699 the first stone building was erected in the village with the Church of the Resurrection of Christ. Later, thanks to the favorable geographical conditions, trade and handicrafts flourished here, and in the late 18th century regular annual fairs were held in Naryschkino.
In 1780, as part of an administrative reform, Naryschkino was declared a city by decree of Catherine the Great and was given the name Kuznetsk , which is still in existence today, from the Russian word kuznets for "blacksmith". The reason for this was that the iron forging trade particularly flourished in the city at that time. At that time, Kuznetsk was the capital of the district of the same name in the Saratov governorate .
In the 19th century, the first factories, including an iron foundry, were built in Kuznetsk in addition to the handicrafts. In 1874 the city received a railway connection. After the October Revolution of 1917, other industrial companies were added, including the city's first power station. During the Second World War , a number of important factories were evacuated from the European part of the Soviet Union to Kuznetsk. On this basis, the city's economy was able to develop further in the post-war period.
Population development
year | Residents |
---|---|
1897 | 20,473 |
1926 | 30,000 |
1939 | 37,842 |
1959 | 56,880 |
1970 | 84.102 |
1979 | 93,642 |
1989 | 98,588 |
1992 | 100,600 |
2002 | 92,050 |
2010 | 88,839 |
Note: except for 1992 census data (1926 rounded)
Economy and Transport
Important branches of the city today are electrical engineering, light industry and shoe production. There are also chemical plants and food manufacturers. After Penza , Kuznetsk is the second most important industrial center in the area.
Kuznetsk is on the M5 trunk road , which is a Russian section of European route 30 . There are regular passenger rail connections with Penza on the Penza – Sysran line .
Culture and sights
In Kuznetsk there are several museums (including the local history museum and the war museum) as well as architectural monuments from the 19th century (including the new Church of the Assumption of Christ (1842-1856) or the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God from Kazan (1886-1890)) .
sons and daughters of the town
- Pavel Kaplun (* 1965), artist and photographer
- Roman Karmasin (* 1973), professional boxer and former world and European champion
- Igor Tschetwerikow (1904–1987), aircraft designer
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Itogi Vserossijskoj perepisi naselenija 2010 goda. Tom 1. Čislennostʹ i razmeščenie naselenija (Results of the All-Russian Census 2010. Volume 1. Number and distribution of the population). Tables 5 , pp. 12-209; 11 , pp. 312–979 (download from the website of the Federal Service for State Statistics of the Russian Federation)
Web links
- Official Website (Russian)
- Unofficial Portal (Russian)
- Kuznetsk on mojgorod.ru (Russian)