Tomsk
| Coat of Arms | Flag |
|---|---|
 |  |
| Data | |
| Federal District: | Siberian |
| Subdivision: | Tomsk Oblast |
| Founded: | 1604 |
| Nicknames: | Tomich, Tomichka, Tomichi |
| Location: | 56°30′N 84°58′E |
| Area: | 292.89 km² |
| Population: | 448,400 (2004) |
| Population density: | 1,500.1 persons/km² |
| Postal code: | 634xxx |
| Dialling code: | +7 3822 |
Tomsk (Russian: Томск) (2002 pop. 487,838) is a city on the Tom River in the southwest of Siberian Federal District, Russia, the administrative centre of Tomsk Oblast. It is about 20 km south-east of the town of Seversk, a major centre of Plutonium and Uranium enrichment in Russia.
Contents |
Geography
Tomsk is divided into four city districts: Kirovsky, Sovetsky, Leninsky, and Oktyabrsky. 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 Mound[citation needed].
In 2005, the city gained territory, with Eushta, Dzerzhinsky, Timiryazevskoye, Zonalny, Loskutovo, Svetly, Kirgizka, and Kopylovo considered to be within its boundaries.
Climate
Tomsk has a continental climate. The annual average temperature is −1.3°C. Winters are severe and lengthy, and the lowest recorded temperature was −55°C in January 1969. However, the average temperature in January is between −21°C and −19°C. The average temperature in July is 17°C to 18°C. The total yearly rainfall is 435 mm.
History
In 1604, the Russian tsar Boris Godunov ordered Cossack leader Gavril Pisemsky and boyar son and strelets officer Vasiliy Tyrkov to found a fort on the Tom River, on Tatar land, to protect the river crossing and local people of Eushta tatar tribe from Kalmyks ans Kyrgises. It became important as a military center for pacifying the native people and evolved into a regional administrative center. Beginning in the late 1830s, its population grew quickly thanks to the intensifying gold-mining activity in Siberia.
Culture
Tomsk State University is the first university in Siberia (was founded in 1880). The prominent Tomsk State University library book reserve is considered to be among the richest in Russia.
In April 2006 Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will hold an economic summit in Tomsk.
In 2004, Tomsk celebrated its 400th anniversary.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.
It is also home to the local non-governmental TV station, TV-2.
Tomsk has one soccer team, FC Tom' Tomsk, which has played in the Russian Premier League since 2005. The team plays in Trud (Labour) Stadium.
Tomsk is a well known centre of the IT industry. There are several dozen software companies in the city. Conteksoft is the largest one.
Famous people
- Mikhail Andreev - poet
- Mikhail Bakunin - anarchist
- Gavriil Batenkov - Decembrist, philosopher
- Nikolai Burdenko - surgeon, the first president of the USSR's Academy of Medical Science
- Edison Denisov - composer, musicologist, public servant
- Yekaterina Dolgorukova - Duchess (see knyaz), bride of Peter II from (Old Style)22 December 1740 until 10 January 1742.
- Nikolai Erdman - dramatist
- Ibrahim Petrovich Gannibal - Peter the Great's arab, from December 1729 to February 1730
- Nikolai Garin-Mikhailovskiy - writer
- Leonid Govorov - Marshal of the Soviet Union
- Nikolai Il'yich Kamov - chief engineer of the Kamov helicopter
- Sergei Kirov - revolutionary
- Nikolai Klyuev - poet
- Vladimir Korolenko - writer
- Valerian Kuybyshev - revolutionary
- Yegor Ligachev - second in command to Mikhail Gorbachev (name pronounced "Ligachyov")
- Pyotr Makushin - founded Tomsk's first public library and helped found Tomsk University
- Mikhail Mil' - helicopter engineer
- Nikolai Nikitin - scientist involved in oblast' creation
- Vladimir Obruchev - geologist, geographer, writer, academic
- Grigoriy Potanin - geographer, ethnographer, publicist, folklorist, oblast' supporter
- Alexander Radishchev - writer, philosopher
- Nikolai Rukavishnikov - cosmonaut
- Vyacheslav Shishkov - writer
- Gustav Shpet - philosopher
- Konstantin Staniukovich - writer
- Kanysh Satpaev - Soviet geologist
- Leontiy Usov - actor, sculptor
- 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
Towns twinned with Tomsk
External links
- Google Maps
- Institute of Strength Physics and Materials Science
- Tomsk Polytechnic University
- Fotoalbum to the 400-th anniversary of Tomsk
- Tomsk City Administration
- Tomsk State University
- TV-2
