Tomsk

This article is about a major city in Russia. For Tomsk the Womble, see The Wombles.
Tomsk (English)
Томск (Russian)
-  City[1]  -
City Under Oblast Jurisdiction[1]


Location of Tomsk Oblast in Russia
Tomsk
Location of Tomsk in Tomsk Oblast
Coordinates: 56°30′N 84°58′E / 56.500°N 84.967°E / 56.500; 84.967Coordinates: 56°30′N 84°58′E / 56.500°N 84.967°E / 56.500; 84.967
Coat of arms
Flag
City Day June 7
Administrative status (as of April 2011)
Country Russia
Federal subject Tomsk Oblast
Administratively subordinated to Tomsk City Under Oblast Jurisdiction[1]
Administrative center of Tomsk Oblast,[1] Tomsky District,[1] Tomsk City Under Oblast Jurisdiction[1]
Municipal status (as of January 2005)
Urban okrug Tomsk Urban Okrug[2]
Administrative center of Tomsk Urban Okrug,[2] Tomsky Municipal District[3]
Mayor Ivan Klein[4]
Representative body Duma of Tomsk[5]
Statistics
Area (2008) 297.2 km2 (114.7 sq mi)[6]
Population (2010 Census) 524,669 inhabitants[7]
- Rank in 2010 32nd
Density (2008) 1,755.2/km2 (4,546/sq mi)[6]
Time zone KRAT (UTC+07:00)[8]
Founded 1604
Postal code(s)[9] 634xxx
Dialing code(s) +7 3822
Official website
Tomsk on Wikimedia Commons

Tomsk (Russian: Томск; IPA: [tomsk]) is a city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Tom River. One of the oldest towns in Siberia, Tomsk celebrated its 410th anniversary in 2014. Population: 524,669 (2010 Census);[7] 487,838 (2002 Census);[10] 501,963 (1989 Census).[11]

History

The "Where Tomsk was Founded" marker at the Tomsk History Museum

Tomsk originated with a decree from Tsar Boris Godunov in 1604 after Toian , the Tatar duke of Eushta , asked for the Tsar's protection against Kirghiz bandits.[12] The Tsar sent 200 Cossacks under the command of Vasily Fomich Tyrkov and Gavriil Ivanovich Pisemsky to construct a fortress on the bank of the Tom River, overlooking what would become the city of Tomsk. Toian ceded the land for the fortress to the Tsar.[13]

In 1804 the Imperial Russian government selected Tomsk as the seat of the new Tomsk Governorate, which would include the modern cities of Novosibirsk, Kemerovo, and Krasnoyarsk, as well as the territories now in Eastern Kazakhstan. The new status brought development and the city grew quickly.[13]

The discovery of gold in 1830 brought further development to Tomsk in the 19th century; however, when in the 1890s the Trans-Siberian Railway bypassed the city in favor of the village of Novonikolayevsk (Novosibirsk), development began to move south to connect with the railway. In time, Novosibirsk would surpass Tomsk in importance.

In the mid-19th century one fifth of the city's residents were exiles. However, within a few years, the city would be reinvented as the educational center of Siberia with the establishment of Tomsk State University (founded in 1880) and Tomsk Polytechnic University (founded in 1896). By World War II, every twelfth resident of the city was a student,[13] giving rise to the city's informal name - the Siberian Athens.

After the October Revolution of 1917 the city became a notable center of the White movement, led by Anatoly Pepelyayev and Maria Bochkareva, among others. After the victory of the Red Army in the 1920s, Soviet authorities incorporated Tomsk into the West Siberian Krai and later into Novosibirsk Oblast.

Like many Siberian cities, Tomsk became the new home for many factories relocated out of the war zone from 1941. The resulting growth of the city led the Soviet government to establish the new Tomsk Oblast, with Tomsk serving as the administrative center.[13]

During the Cold War Tomsk became one of many designated closed cities,[14] which outsiders and, in particular, foreigners, could not visit. In 1949 matters went a stage further with the establishment of a secret city, known as "Tomsk-7" (or sometimes simply as "Postbox 5") 15 kilometres (9 miles) north-west of Tomsk; the new settlement became the home of the Tomsk Nuclear Plant (subsequently renamed the Sibirskaya Nuclear Power Plant), the Soviet Union's first industrial-scale nuclear-power station. Tomsk-7 received municipal status in 1956 and was renamed Seversk in 1992.

Administrative and municipal status

Tomsk serves as the administrative center of the oblast and, within the framework of administrative divisions, it also serves as the administrative center of Tomsky District, even though it is not a part of it.[1] As an administrative division, it is, together with seven rural localities, incorporated separately as Tomsk City Under Oblast Jurisdiction—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.[1] As a municipal division, Tomsk City Under Oblast Jurisdiction is incorporated as Tomsk Urban Okrug.[2]

City divisions

Tomsk is divided into four city districts: Kirovsky, Leninsky, Oktyabrsky, and Sovetsky.

Climate

Tomsk has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb) barely escaping a subarctic classification. The annual average temperature is +0.87 °C (33.57 °F). Winters are severe and lengthy, and the lowest recorded temperature was −55 °C (−67 °F) in January 1931. However, the average temperature in January is between −21 °C (−6 °F) and −13 °C (9 °F). The average temperature in July is +18.7 °C (65.7 °F). The total annual rainfall is 568 millimeters (22.4 in). In 2006, Tomsk experienced what might have been its first recorded winds of hurricane force, which toppled trees and damaged houses.[15]

Climate data for Tomsk
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 3.7
(38.7)		 7.1
(44.8)		 17.7
(63.9)		 26.5
(79.7)		 34.4
(93.9)		 34.7
(94.5)		 35.1
(95.2)		 33.8
(92.8)		 31.7
(89.1)		 25.1
(77.2)		 11.6
(52.9)		 6.5
(43.7)		 35.1
(95.2)
Average high °C (°F) −13
(9)		 −9.6
(14.7)		 −1.1
(30)		 7.0
(44.6)		 17.5
(63.5)		 22.3
(72.1)		 24.8
(76.6)		 21.7
(71.1)		 14.4
(57.9)		 6.0
(42.8)		 −4.7
(23.5)		 −11.1
(12)		 6.2
(43.2)
Daily mean °C (°F) −17.1
(1.2)		 −14.7
(5.5)		 −7
(19)		 1.3
(34.3)		 10.4
(50.7)		 15.9
(60.6)		 18.7
(65.7)		 15.7
(60.3)		 9.0
(48.2)		 1.7
(35.1)		 −8.3
(17.1)		 −15.1
(4.8)		 0.9
(33.6)
Average low °C (°F) −20.9
(−5.6)		 −18.9
(−2)		 −12
(10)		 −3.3
(26.1)		 4.7
(40.5)		 10.5
(50.9)		 13.7
(56.7)		 11.0
(51.8)		 5.1
(41.2)		 −1.4
(29.5)		 −11.4
(11.5)		 −18.9
(−2)		 −3.5
(25.7)
Record low °C (°F) −55
(−67)		 −51.3
(−60.3)		 −42.4
(−44.3)		 −31.1
(−24)		 −17.5
(0.5)		 −3.5
(25.7)		 1.5
(34.7)		 −1.6
(29.1)		 −8.1
(17.4)		 −29.1
(−20.4)		 −48.3
(−54.9)		 −50
(−58)		 −55
(−67)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 35
(1.38)		 24
(0.94)		 25
(0.98)		 33
(1.3)		 41
(1.61)		 60
(2.36)		 75
(2.95)		 67
(2.64)		 50
(1.97)		 56
(2.2)		 52
(2.05)		 49
(1.93)		 567
(22.32)
Average rainy days 0.3 0.3 2 12 16 17 17 17 19 15 5 1 122
Average snowy days 23 21 17 13 4 0.3 0 0 2 14 22 26 142
Average relative humidity (%) 81 78 72 65 61 70 76 79 79 80 83 82 76
Mean monthly sunshine hours 57 104 169 224 258 314 316 253 171 86 51 41 2,044
Source #1: Pogoda.ru.net[16]
Source #2: NOAA (sun, 1961–1990)[17]

Politics

Tomsk City Administration building
Tomsk, view from the fire-observation tower

Tomsk is governed by a mayor and a 33-member Duma. The current mayor, appointed in 2013, is Ivan Klyain,[18] a member of The United Russia party.

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

Economy

Lenina Square in Tomsk

Energy generation

Tomsk has the oldest electrical grid in Siberia. There are three powerstations in the city:

  1. TEC-1 (launched on January 1, 1896)
  2. GRES-2 (launched on May 28, 1945)
  3. TEC-3 (launched on October 29, 1988)

Tomsk consumes more electric energy than it produces. The bulk of the city's electric and thermal energy is produced by the GRES-2 (281 MWt) and TEC-3 (140 MWt) powerplants, belonging to Tomskenergo Inc. Tomsk supplements its energy needs with electricity generated at Seversk.

Transportation

Lenina Prospekt in Tomsk

Road network:

There is a commercial and passenger port on the Tom River.

The city is served by the Bogashevo Airport.

Railways

Tomsk is a small railway center that is situated on the Tayga—Bely Yar line (Tomsk branch) of the Trans-Siberian Railway

The main line of the Trans-Siberian railway, built in 1896, passes 50 km (31 mi) south of Tomsk and bypasses Tomsk. Access from Tomsk to the Trans-Siberian railway is available via the town of Tayga. A regional rail line links Tomsk with Tayga.

The Tomsk Railway existed as an independent entity until 1961. At the present time, the Tomsk line belongs to the West-Siberian Railway, branch of Russian Railways Corp.. Trains link Tomsk to Anapa, Asino, Barnaul, Bely Yar, Moscow, Novokuznetsk, Novosibirsk, Sochi, and Tayga.

Public transportation

The main part of inner-city and suburban transportation is provided by marshrutkas (routed taxis), mainly PAZ) minibuses, which serve about forty routes.

Additionally, the city has eleven proper bus routes, eight trolleybus lines (built in 1967), and five tram lines (constructed in 1949). Private taxis are also readily available.

Air transportation

Tomsk Bogashevo Airport is served by the following airlines:

AirlinesDestinations
Aeroflot Moscow-Sheremetyevo
NordStarKrasnoyarsk, Sochi, Surgut
NordwindAntalya (Turkey)
S7 AirlinesMoscow-Domodedovo
UTair Aviation Barnaul, Moscow-Vnukovo, St Petersburg, Surgut

The airport is also served by charter flights operated by UTair and Alrosa Mirny Air Enterprise

Education

Main article: Education in Siberia

Tomsk has a number of prominent institutions of higher education, including:

A large number of educational institutions in the city have contributed to making Tomsk a major center for Russia's IT industry. Tomsk was one of the first cities in Russia to gain access to the Internet, which became available in the early 1990s owing to grants received by universities and scientific cooperation.

Culture

Tomsk Museum for Regional Studies and the Organ Hall of the Philharmonic
Example of wood carving in Tomsk wooden architecture

Tomsk has many local cultural institutions including several drama theaters as well as a children's theater and a puppet theater. Major concert venues in the city include the Conservatory Concert hall and the Tomsk Palace of Sport. The city also boasts cultural centers dedicated to German, Polish and Tatar languages and culture.

One of the city's prominent theaters was destroyed in an act of terrorism in 1905. The Korolevsky Theater (built in 1884–85) was being used by a group of communist revolutionaries when the theater was attacked and set on fire by members of the Black Hundred, a hard-line nationalist organization. Those who escaped the flames were gunned down by Black Hundred members waiting outside the theater. Estimates put the number of casualties between 200 and 1000.

There are a number of museums in Tomsk devoted to various subjects, most notably art, local history and wood carving. There is also a Museum of Oppression, housed in a former KGB dungeon. Tomsk State University has a number of small museums with exhibits on archaeology, paleontology, zoology, as well as a herbarium and a botanical garden

As in many other cities in the former Soviet Union, the revolutionary government destroyed a number of old churches in the city including two that had existed since the 17th century. However, Tomsk managed to save some of its churches by transforming them into machine shops, warehouses, archives, and even residential buildings. Since the end of the communist era some of the churches have been renovated and returned to their congregations.

Tomsk is well known for its intricate "gingerbread" decoration of traditional wooden houses in the area. However, the number of old homes in this style is decreasing due to redevelopment or some of them catching fire, as the structures have little to no fire protection.

Trud (Labor) Stadium, in central Tomsk is the base for matches with the FC Tom Tomsk, the city's professional football club. The team's 2004 promotion to the Russian Premier League gave local fans a chance to see some of the nation's best teams play at the city's own stadium.

Tomsk has many local media outlets including the TV2 television station, shut down by the authorities and turned into an internet TV medium,[19] the radio stations Radio Siberia and Echo of Moscow in Tomsk along with several newspapers (Tomskaya Nedelya, Krasnoye Znamya and Vechernii Tomsk).

In April 2006 Tomsk received international media attention as the venue of a major summit on economic cooperation, held in the city between Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Tomsk was the name given by children's author Elizabeth Beresford to one of her fictional characters The Wombles, all of whom are named after places.

Notable people

International relations

Tomsk is the only non-capital member of the Asian Network of Major Cities 21.

Twin towns and sister cities

Tomsk is twinned with:

See also

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Law #271-OZ
  2. 1 2 3 Law #238-OZ
  3. ↑ Law #241-OZ
  4. ↑ Мэр города (in Russian). Tomsk official web portal. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  5. ↑ Дума города Томска (in Russian). Tomsk City Duma. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  6. 1 2 Official website of the City of Tomsk. Structure of the Territory's Economy (Russian)
  7. 1 2 Russian Federal State Statistics Service (2011). "Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том 1" [2010 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года (2010 All-Russia Population Census) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved June 29, 2012.
  8. ↑ Правительство Российской Федерации. Федеральный закон №107-ФЗ от 3 июня 2011 г. «Об исчислении времени», в ред. Федерального закона №271-ФЗ от 03 июля 2016 г. «О внесении изменений в Федеральный закон "Об исчислении времени"». Вступил в силу по истечении шестидесяти дней после дня официального опубликования (6 августа 2011 г.). Опубликован: "Российская газета", №120, 6 июня 2011 г. (Government of the Russian Federation. Federal Law #107-FZ of June 31, 2011 On Calculating Time, as amended by the Federal Law #271-FZ of July 03, 2016 On Amending Federal Law "On Calculating Time". Effective as of after sixty days following the day of the official publication.).
  9. ↑ Почта России. Информационно-вычислительный центр ОАСУ РПО. (Russian Post). Поиск объектов почтовой связи (Postal Objects Search) (Russian)
  10. ↑ Russian Federal State Statistics Service (May 21, 2004). "Численность населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов – районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более человек" [Population of Russia, Its Federal Districts, Federal Subjects, Districts, Urban Localities, Rural Localities—Administrative Centers, and Rural Localities with Population of Over 3,000] (XLS). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года [All-Russia Population Census of 2002] (in Russian). Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  11. ↑ Demoscope Weekly (1989). "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г. Численность наличного населения союзных и автономных республик, автономных областей и округов, краёв, областей, районов, городских поселений и сёл-райцентров" [All Union Population Census of 1989: Present Population of Union and Autonomous Republics, Autonomous Oblasts and Okrugs, Krais, Oblasts, Districts, Urban Settlements, and Villages Serving as District Administrative Centers]. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года [All-Union Population Census of 1989] (in Russian). Институт демографии Национального исследовательского университета: Высшая школа экономики [Institute of Demography at the National Research University: Higher School of Economics]. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  12. ↑ Хахалкин А.А. "Томская Хроника XVII—XVIII вв.". Хронос. Всемирная история в Интернете. Archived from the original on 2012-02-03. Retrieved 2015-09-25. 1603.12. - 1604.01. Поездка Тояна в Москву. Тоян подал челобитную царю Борису Годунову с просьбой принять его со всеми 'томскими людьми под высокую государеву руку'. [December 1603 to January 1604: Toyan's visit to Moscow. Toyan swore homage to Tsar Boris Godunov, requesting him to take himself and all 'the people of the Tom under his Lordship's protection'.]
  13. 1 2 3 4 General Information about Tomsk, Kommersant Daily Archived February 7, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  14. ↑ Stewart, Will (December 6, 2009). "Were Russian security services behind the leak of 'Climategate' emails?". Daily Mail. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  15. ↑ Погода и климат - Климат Томска (Weather and climate - Climate of Tomsk)
  16. ↑ "Pogoda.ru.net" (in Russian). Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  17. ↑ "Tomsk Climate Normals 1961–1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  18. ↑
  19. ↑ "Томский телеканал ТВ2, закрытый властями, работает в Интернете" (in Russian). Voise of America. 14 February 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.

Sources

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