Balagansk
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Balagansk (russian: Балага́нск) is an urban locality (a work settlement) and the
administrative center An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...
of
Balagansky District Balagansky District (russian: Балаганский райо́н) is an administrative district, one of the thirty-three in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia.Charter of Irkutsk Oblast Municipally, it is incorporated as Balagansky Municipal District.Law #64 ...
,
Irkutsk Oblast Irkutsk Oblast (russian: Ирку́тская о́бласть, Irkutskaya oblast; bua, Эрхүү можо, Erkhüü mojo) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in southeastern Siberia in the basins of the Angara, Lena, and N ...
,
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
.Law #49-OZ It is located on the left bank of the
Angara River The Angara ( Buryat and mn, Ангар, ''Angar'',  "Cleft"; russian: Ангара́, ''Angará'') is a major river in Siberia, which traces a course through Russia's Irkutsk Oblast and Krasnoyarsk Krai. It drains out of Lake Baikal and is ...
, downstream from
Svirsk Svirsk (russian: Свирск) is a town in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Angara River northwest of Irkutsk. Population: 21,000 (1974). History Svirsk was granted town status in 1949. Administrative and municipal sta ...
and by road northwest of
Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat and mn, Эрхүү, ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 617,473 as of the 2010 Census, Irkutsk is the 25th-larges ...
and to the southeast of Sayansk. Population: On three sides of Balagansk is the
Bratsk Reservoir Bratsk Reservoir (russian: Бра́тское водохрани́лище, ''Bratskoye Reservoir'') is a reservoir on the Angara River, located in the Lena-Angara Plateau of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. It is named after the city of Bratsk, the larges ...
. The settlement is best known for Balagansk Prison, which was used as one of the Siberian exile camps during the
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
era.


History

Balagansk was founded in 1654 on the left bank of the Angara River opposite to the mouth of the Unga River by the Cossack detachment led by Dmitry Firsov in the course of Russian colonization of Siberia. Its name is derived from the word "Bulagat", literally meaning '' sable hunters'', a Buryat tribe. From 1655, mass settlement started in the area; eventually, a colony was built and iron mining developed. In 1658, Ivan Pokhabov, the administrator (''prikazchik'') of Balagansk, caused an outbreak and many Russians were killed by them. Balagansk Fortress ('' ostrog'') was built in Balagansk; the Buryats were attached to it and paid tributes to the Russians. Buryats grew to dominate the area and on April 1, 1818, seventeen clans of the Balagansk Buryats met and adopted a memorandum to submit to the Russian authorities. In their memorandum they raised six issues and also provided action to be taken on each of them which related to courts, private law, criminal law, the rights and duties of the chief Taisha and heads of clans. In the course of the administrative reform carried out in 1708 by Peter the Great, the area was included in
Siberia Governorate Siberia Governorate (russian: Сибирская губерния) was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Tsardom of Russia and then the Russian Empire, which existed from 1708 until 1782. Its seat was in Tobolsk (initially sp ...
. In 1764, Irkutsk Governorate split off, and in 1775, Balagansk became a town and the seat of Balagansky Uyezd of Irkutsk Governorate. In 1924, the uyezds were abolished, the governorate was split into districts, and Balagansk became a part of Ziminsky District. In 1925, it lost town status and was downgraded to a '' selo''. In 1926, Balagansky District was established, and Balagansk became the district center. In the 19th and the 20th centuries, Balagansk, along with all Siberian towns, was widely used for political exile.
Catherine Breshkovsky Catherine Breshkovsky (real name Yekaterina Konstantinovna Breshko-Breshkovskaya (born Verigo), russian: Екатерина Константиновна Брешко-Брешковская; born 25 January (13 January old style) 1844 – 12 Sept ...
, known as the Little Grandmother of The Russian Revolution, was sent to Balagansk, a place of her choice on exile, as she expressed that her health would be better protected here.
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
, when he tried to escape from exile in 1902, visited Balagansk. Balagansk Prison was used as one of the Siberian exile camps for dissidents, persecuted ethnic groups and criminals, and Stalin sent many Jews to the camp. It was one of the oldest buildings in the city but has long been in a dilapidated state. During the construction of Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Station, Balagansk had to be evacuated as it was slated to be submerged under water. A new settlement, Novobalagansk (literally, New Balagansk), was founded in 1957 several dozens kilometers north of the original location of Balagansk to house the residents. The name passed to the new settlement, when it was renamed Balagansk and granted urban-type settlement status on June 5, 1962. In the same year, Balagansky District was abolished, and the settlement was transferred to Zalarinsky District, in 1965 to
Ust-Udinsky District Ust-Udinsky District (russian: Усть-Удинский райо́н) is an administrative district, one of the administrative divisions of Irkutsk Oblast, thirty-three in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia.Charter of Irkutsk Oblast Subdivisions of Russia#Mun ...
, and in 1989 Balagansky District was established, and Balagansk became the administrative center of the district.


Geography

Balagansk is situated on the left bank of the Angara River at the average elevation of . A grotto is located near Balagansk. It is a natural cave or opening whose entrance is formed in a rock face that is in height with a width of about . When viewed from a distance, it appears to be ruins. In the large opening there are three caverns which lead into three large galleries, each of which is about in length. These join at the end to form a larger cavern which extends further for some distance and terminates at a dead end of a huge mass of ice.


Climate and vegetation

During the
Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...
period, the
climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
s that occurred were severe, which caused changes in distribution patterns of flora and fauna. These changes which occurred between
glacial A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betwe ...
and
interglacial period An interglacial period (or alternatively interglacial, interglaciation) is a geological interval of warmer global average temperature lasting thousands of years that separates consecutive glacial periods within an ice age. The current Holocene in ...
s have been explained under the refugia theory propounded in 1969 by Jürgen Haffer. Balagansk, which is part of the eastern forest-steppes of Tulun-
Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat and mn, Эрхүү, ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 617,473 as of the 2010 Census, Irkutsk is the 25th-larges ...
- Balagansk, is reported to possess a different type of Arboreal vegetation. These are mainly
pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...
and
larch Larches are deciduous conifers in the genus ''Larix'', of the family Pinaceae (subfamily Laricoideae). Growing from tall, they are native to much of the cooler temperate northern hemisphere, on lowlands in the north and high on mountains fur ...
. The area which is forested constitutes a much greater area than cultivated lands. Balagansk has a subarctic climate (
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
''Dfc''). Winters are very cold and long while summers are warm and wet. Average monthly temperatures range from in July to in January. Precipitation is moderate and is significantly higher in summer than at other times of the year.


Economy


Industry

The economy of Balagansk is based on timber and food industries. south of Balagansk, there is a quarry which supplies clay for brick production.


Transportation

The settlement is connected by road with Zalari, where it has access to the M53 highway, connecting Novosibirsk with
Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat and mn, Эрхүү, ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 617,473 as of the 2010 Census, Irkutsk is the 25th-larges ...
. The closest accessible railway station is also in Zalari, which lies on the
Trans-Siberian Railway The Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR; , , ) connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway line in the world. It runs from the city of Moscow in the west to the city of Vladivostok in the ea ...
. The Angara is navigable.


Culture

The tomb of Władysław Anielewski, a Polish social-democrat who died in 1898, at the old cemetery in Balagansk is protected as a cultural monument of federal significance.


References


Notes


Sources

* * {{Irkutsk Oblast Urban-type settlements in Irkutsk Oblast Irkutsk Governorate Populated places established in 1654 1654 establishments in Russia