Novaya Chara

Coordinates: 56°49′N 118°18′E / 56.817°N 118.3°E / 56.817; 118.3

Novaya Chara (Russian: Новая Чара) is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) in Kalarsky District of Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia. Population: 4,318 (2010 Census preliminary results);^[1] 4,693 (2002 Census);^[2] 8,787 (1989 Census).^[3]

Geography

The settlement lies in the basin of the Chara River, in the eastern Stanovoy Range, approximately 600 kilometers (370 mi) in a straight line northeast of the krai's administrative center of Chita, and 16 kilometers (9.9 mi) from the district's administrative center of Chara.

History

It was founded in connection to the construction of the Baikal Amur Mainline in the 1980s, near the older village of Chara, named for the river on which it stood. The station and settlement were built by workers from the Kazakh SSR; as part of the BAM project, sections of the route were placed under the patronage of Komsomol brigades from different parts of the Soviet Union.

Regular rail traffic from Tynda in Amur Oblast to Novaya Chara began in 1988; traffic from the west of the settlement on the section from Severobaykalsk started in 1989. The completion of the BAM did not bring the expected economic development to the area, and with the economic crisis of the late 1980s, around half the population left. Nearby are the Udokan copper mines and the Chineysky vanadium deposit.

Tourism

The Chara Sands, a "desert" in the middle of Siberia, near Novaya Chara. The Kodar Mountains lie in the background.

Novaya Chara is the starting point for trekking tours in the Kodar Mountains, as well as the Chara Sands, a 37 square kilometers (14 sq mi) area of sand dunes northwest of the settlement, across the river.

Economy and infrastructure

Novaya Chara's only real economic activity centers around its situation as an important station on the BAM. However, there is potential for the settlement to become the center for a mining region currently under development, with a 66-kilometer (41 mi) branch line built between 1998 and 2002 from Novaya Chara to the titanium, vanadium, and iron ore mine Chineyskoye.^[4]

The Chineyskoye mine contains both Russia's largest titanium deposit, and the world's largest recorded vanadium deposit. Due to financing problems with the mines, located at an altitude of over 2,000 meters (6,600 ft), the branch line has been poorly maintained and damaged by landslides, meaning that in 2008 only 26 kilometers (16 mi) were in use; with trucks being used to transport ore to the railhead. Repair and reconstruction of the line is currently being undertaken.

Also on this branch line are the rare earth metal mine Katuginskoye, iron ore mine Sulumatskoye, and large anthracite deposits at Chitkanda.^[5]

The settlement is also serviced by a small airport.

References

1. ^ Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal State Statistics Service) (2011). "Предварительные итоги Всероссийской переписи населения 2010 года (Preliminary results of the 2010 All-Russian Population Census)" (in Russian). Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2010). Federal State Statistics Service. http://www.perepis-2010.ru/results_of_the_census/results-inform.php. Retrieved 2011-04-25. 
2. ^ Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal State Statistics Service) (2004-05-21). "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)" (in Russian). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2002). Federal State Statistics Service. http://www.perepis2002.ru/ct/doc/1_TOM_01_04.xls. Retrieved 2010-03-23. 
3. ^ "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.)" (in Russian). Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года (All-Union Population Census of 1989). Demoscope Weekly (website of the Institute of Demographics of the State University—Higher School of Economics. 1989. http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/rus89_reg.php. Retrieved 2010-03-23. 
4. ^ Viktor Verti: China nachinayetsya s dorogi. In Trud, 28. September 2001 (Russian)
5. ^ Article from Sergey Rinchinov from metaltorg.ru, 17. October 2008 (Russian)