Chelyabinsk

[chel-yah-binsk; Russ. chyi-lyah-byinsk]

Chelyabinsk, city (1989 pop. 1,142,000), capital of Chelyabinsk region, W Siberian Russia, in the southern foothills of the Urals and on the Mias River. It also lies on the Trans-Siberian RR. One of the major metallurgical and industrial centers of Russia, Chelyabinsk produces steel, zinc, metal alloys, heavy chemicals, and agricultural machinery. The city has many industrial and scientific institutes, but severe pollution makes it one of the least attractive Russian cities. Founded in 1736 as a Russian frontier outpost, it was chartered in the 1740s and grew into an agricultural and coal-trading town. Its industrial growth began with the building of its first steel plant in 1930.

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Chelyabinsk

City (pop., 2002: 1,078,300), west-central Russia. Located 125 mi (200 km) southeast of Yekaterinburg on the Trans-Siberian Railroad, it is the capital of Chelyabinsk oblast. Founded as a frontier outpost on the site of a Bashkir village in 1736, its growth was greatly stimulated by the eastward evacuation of Russian industry in World War II.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

Chelyabinsk

Chelyabinsk (Челя́бинск) is a city in Russia, located just to the east of the Ural Mountains, on Miass River. It is the administrative center of Chelyabinsk Oblast. Population:

History

Fortress Chelyaba, from which the city takes its name, was constructed on the site in 1736; the city was incorporated in 1781. Around 1900, it served as a center for the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway.

During the Soviet industrialization of the 1930s, Chelyabinsk experienced a fast growth. Several industrial establishments, including the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant and the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant, were built at this time. During World War II, Joseph Stalin decided to move a large part of Soviet factory production to places out of the way of the advancing German armies in late 1941. This brought new industries and thousands of workers to Chelyabinsk—still essentially a small city. Several enormous facilities for the production of T-34 tanks and Katyusha rocket launchers existed in Chelyabinsk, which became known as "Tankograd" (Tank City). Chelyabinsk was built essentially from scratch at this time. A small town existed before this, signs of which can be found in the centre of the city. The S.M. Kirov Factory no. 185 moved here from Leningrad to produce heavy tanks—it was transferred to Omsk after 1962.

A serious nuclear accident in 1957 at the Mayak nuclear fuel reprocessing plant, 150 km north-west of the city, caused deaths in Chelyabinsk Oblast but not in the city. The province was closed to all foreigners until 1992.

Geography

The city is located in the nort-western side of its Oblast, 210 km south of Yekaterinburg.

Education

There are over a dozen universities in Chelyabinsk. The main ones are South Ural State University, Chelyabinsk State University and Chelyabinsk Medical Academy. The oldest one is Chelyabinsk State Pedagogical University, which was founded in 1934. There are 13 faculties at the University including the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Mathematics, Physics, and others.

Economy

Chelyabinsk is one of the major industrial centers of Russia. Heavy industry predominates, especially metallurgy and military machinery, notably the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Combinate (CMK, ChMK), Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (CTZ, ChTZ), Chelyabinsk Electrode plant (CHEZ) and the Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant (CHTPZ).

Chelyabinsk also has several electronics plants, including Metran, Polet and Zavod Electromashina, that serve both military and civil needs.

Transport

Chelyabinsk Metro

Chelyabinsk started construction of a 3-line subway network in 1993. It is proceeding slowly using the New Austrian Tunneling method. Pending financing, the opening of the first section is scheduled for 2010.

Airport

The city is served by Chelyabinsk Balandino Airport.

Famous people from Chelyabinsk

Politicians

Viktor Khristenko - politician, the Industry and Energy Minister since March 9, 2004. Prior to that, held a number of government posts, including a brief stint in 2004 as an acting Prime Minister (from February, 24 to March, 5)
Nelly Rokita - adviser of Polish President Lech Kaczyński, wife of politician Jan Rokita