Tomsk

Infobox Russian city
EnglishName=Tomsk
RussianName=Томск
Skyline
SkylineLegend
LatDeg=56
LatMin=30
LatSec
LonDeg=84
LonMin=58
LonSec
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LocatorMap

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CityDay=June 7
FederalSubject=Tomsk Oblast
MunStatus
InJurisdictionOf=Tomsk Oblast
AdmCtrOf=Tomsk Oblast, Tomsky District
LeaderType=Mayor
LeaderName=Alexander Makarov
Legislature=Duma
Charter=Charter of Tomsk
Area_km2=294.6
AreaRank
Population=487838
PopulationRank=34^th
FoundationDate=October 7, 1604
Event1=Town status
Event1Date=1782
PostalCode=634xxx
DialingCode=3822
Website=http://www.admin.tomsk.ru/

Tomsk ( _ru. Томск) is a city on the Tom River in the southwest of Siberian Federal District, Russia, the administrative centre of Tomsk Oblast. One of the oldest towns in Siberia, Tomsk celebrated its 400^th anniversary in 2004. Population: ru-census|p02=487838|p89=501963 It is served by Bogashevo Airport.

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 MoundFact|date=February 2007.

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

Tomsk is located about twenty kilometres south-east of the town of Seversk, a major centre of plutonium production and reprocessing and uranium enrichment in Russia.

Climate

Tomsk has a continental climate. The annual average temperature is C to F|-1.3. Winters are severe and lengthy, and the lowest recorded temperature was C to F|-56 in January 1996. However, the average temperature in January is between C to F|-21 and C to F|-19. The average temperature in July is C to F|24. The total yearly rainfall is 435 mm. In 2006 Tomsk experienced what might have been its first hurricane - strong winds that toppled trees and damaged houses.

History

In 1604, Tomsk was established under a decree from Tsar Boris Godunov. He sent 200 Cossacks under the command of Vasiliy Tyrkov and Gavriil Pisemsky to construct a fortress on the bank of the Tom River overlooking what would become the city of Tomsk. A tribal leader, Toyan, accepted Russian control and ceded the land for the fortress to the Tsar. [http://www.kommersant.com/t-72/r_5/n_416/Tomsk_Region/ General Information about Tomsk, Kommersant Daily] ]

In 1804, the government selected Tomsk to become the center for a new governorate which would include the modern cities of Novosibirsk, Kemerovo, Krasnoyarsk and eastern Kazakhstan. The new status brought development and the city grew quickly.

The discovery of gold in 1830 brought further development to Tomsk in the 19^th century. However, when the Trans-Siberian Railroad bypassed the city in favor of the village of Novonikolayevka (now Novosibirsk), development began to move south to connect with the railroad. In time, Novosibirsk would surpass Tomsk in importance.

In the mid-19^th century, one-fifth of the city’s residents were exiles. However, within a few years, the city would be reinvented as an educational center in Siberia with the establishment of Tomsk State University and Tomsk Polytechnic University. By World War II, every 12^th resident of the city was a student. For this reason, Tomsk has been known as the "Siberian Athens".

After the Russian Revolution the city was a notable centre of the White movement, led by Anatoly Pepelyayev and Maria Bochkareva, among others. After the town’s capture by the Red Army, Tomsk was incorporated into the West Siberia region and later into the Novosibirsk Region.

As in many Siberian cities, Tomsk found many factories relocated there to protect them from the Nazi invasion. The Soviet government then established Tomsk Oblast with Tomsk as the center. The city of Tomsk was closed to foreigners until 1991. When it opened, the first American to enter the city, Gary Barnes, was arrested and expelled after only five days for unspecified violations of the city criminal code. It was three years before another American was admitted to the city legally. Although, others came to the city in the interim.

Politics

Tomsk is governed by a mayor and a 33-member city Duma. The current mayor is Alexander Sergeyevich Makarov (who was arrested in 2006) and the current Duma chairman is Nikolay Nikolaychuk, both members of United Russia. Mayor Makarov is currently suspended from his post pending the outcome of criminal proceedings against him. [http://www.vesti70.ru/news/full/?id=10537 in russian] 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

*19.42%—5 seats—Pensioners Party
*17.85%—5 seats—United Russia
*9.95%—3 seats—Communist Party
*8.57%—2 seats—Union of Right Forces/Yabloko coalition
*7.77%—2 seats—Liberal Democratic Party of Russia—
*14.67%—Against all candidates

Double mandates

*10 seats—No party affiliation
*4 seats—United Russia
*1 seat—Pensioners Party
*1 seat—Liberal Democratic Party of Russia

Education

Tomsk has a number of prominent universities:
*Tomsk State University is the first university in Siberia (founded in 1878, opened in 1888). The prominent Tomsk State University library book reserve is considered to be among the richest in Russia.
*Tomsk Polytechnic University which opened in 1900 is the first technical university in Siberia.
*Siberian State Medical University, one of the oldest and highest rated medical schools in Russia.
*Tomsk State Pedagogical University
*Tomsk State University of Architecture and Building
*Tomsk State University of Control Systems and Radioelectronics
*Tomsk Economics and Law University
*Tomsk Institute of Business

Thanks to its strong university presence, Tomsk has become a center of the IT industry in Russia. Internet connection in Tomsk was available even in early 1990-s due to grants received by the universities and scientific cooperation.

Culture

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 an 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.

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 17^th 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 international attention thanks to a major economic cooperation summit, held in Tomsk between Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in April 2006.

Famous people

*Mikhail Bakunin—anarchist
*Nikolai Burdenko—surgeon, the first president of the USSR’s Academy of Medical Science
*Edison Denisov—composer, musicologist, public servant
*Nikolai Erdman—dramatist
*Abram Petrovich Gannibal—famous as “The Negro of Peter the Great” and great-grandfather of Alexander Pushkin, lived in Tomsk from December 1729 to February 1730
*Leonid Govorov—Marshal of the Soviet Union
*Nikolay Kamov—chief engineer of the Kamov helicopter
*Sasha Kaun—University of Kansas basketball player
*Sergei Kirov—revolutionary
*Nikolai Klyuev—poet
*Vladimir Korolenko—writer
*Valerian Kuybyshev—revolutionary
*Yegor Ligachev—second in command to Mikhail Gorbachev (name pronounced “Ligachyov”)
*Mikhail Mil—helicopter engineer
*Nikolai Nikitin—scientist involved in oblast’ creation
*Vladimir Obruchev—geologist, geographer, writer, academic
*Anatoly Pepelyayev—White Russian general
*Grigory Potanin—geographer, ethnographer, publicist, folklorist, oblast supporter
*Alexander Radishchev—writer, philosopher
*Nikolai Rukavishnikov—cosmonaut
*Gustav Shpet—philosopher
*Konstantin Staniukovich—writer
*Kanysh Satpayev—Soviet geologist
*Mikhail Usov—geologist, academic
*Alexandr Volkov—writer
*Lyubov Yegorova—six-time Olympic cross-country ski champion
*Yakov Yurovsky—Bolshevik, chief executioner of the last Romanovs

Economics

Energetics

The Tomsk energy system is the oldest in Siberia. There are three power stations in the city:
#TEC-1 (started on January 1, 1896)
#GRES-2 (started on May 28, 1945)
#TEC-3 (started on October 29, 1988)

Tomsk consumes more electric energy than it produces. Main volume of electric and thermal energy is produced by GRES-2 (281 MWt) and TEC-3 (140 MWt) that belong to Tomskenergo Inc. Tomsk also uses energy that is produced in Seversk (this energy is called “far heat”).

Transport

Roads:
*northern branch of M 53 federal road;
*road R 398 to Kolpashevo;
*road R 400 to Mariinsk;
*Northern latitude highway Perm—Surgut—Tomsk (under construction).

Port on the Tom River. Bogashevo Airport.

Railways

Tomsk is a small railway center that is situated on the Tayga (Тайга)—Bely Yar line (Tomsk branch) that connects Tomsk to the Trans-Siberian railway.

The Trans-Siberian railway (Transsib) was build in 1896 and bypasses Tomsk, which remains 50 km to the north of it. Access from Tomsk to the Trans-Siberian railway is available via the town of Taiga. A regional rail links Tomsk with Taiga.

The Tomsk Railway existed 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 Taiga.

City transport

The main part of inner-city and suburban transportations is provided by minibuses (so-called marshrutnye taksi, about 1.000, mainly PAZ), serving about 40 bus routes.

In addition, city buses (11 routes), trolleybuses (since 1967, 8 routes), trams (since 1949, 5 routes) and taxis are available forms of public transport.

Tomsk Sister Cities

*flagicon|Michigan Monroe (Michigan, USA)
*flagicon|Georgia (country) Tbilisi (Georgia)
*flagicon|South Korea Ulsan (South Korea)

References

External links

* [http://www.admin.tomsk.ru/ Tomsk City Administration]
* [http://album.tomsk.ru/ Fotoalbum to the 400^th anniversary of Tomsk]
* [http://flickr.com/search/?q=tomsk The Pictures of Tomsk on Flickr.com]
* [http://www.catalog.tomsk.ru Tomsk Site Catalog]
* [http://T-sk.ru/ T-sk.ru Tomsk Search Engine]