Mga

For other uses, see MGA (disambiguation).

Coordinates: 59°45′0″N 31°4′0″E / 59.75°N 31.066667°E / 59.75; 31.066667

Mga (Russian: Мга) is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) in Kirovsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia. Population: 10,227 (2010 Census preliminary results);^[1] 9,613 (2002 Census);^[2] 9,852 (1989 Census).^[3]

The name is almost certainly from the identically named river Mga on which it lies (which in turn is probably of Finno-Ugric origin); the suggestion that it comes from the initials of the owner of the land in the 19th century, Maria Grigorievna Apraksin (a member of the same family for which the Apraksin Dvor in St. Petersburg is named), is extremely unlikely.^[4]

There is a train service from St. Petersburg that passes through Mga leaving from the Moskovsky and Ladozhsky train stations in the eastward direction. This train also serves many other settlements in this region, and is used for travel to summer houses (dachas) by many St. Petersburg residents during the warmer seasons.

During World War II, Mga was a vital communications node; its capture by the Germans on August 30, 1941, cut the last rail connection between Leningrad and the remainder of the country.^[5] Later, it was one of the points in which the Soviet Army broke the Siege of Leningrad. The region, mainly comprising forests, was the scene of brutal fighting during the war years and was a resistance point to the Nazi blockade and occupation. As a result, helmets, bullets, parts of weapons and heavy ammunition and other military equipment used both by Nazi and Soviet forces during the war are found in sizable amounts in the forests of the region. Recently, inhabitants have often found armed bombs and grenades from the war years.

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. ^ Мга (поселок) – происхождение названия.
5. ^ Harrison E. Salisbury, The 900 Days (Avon, 1970), p. 304.