Chapayevsk (russian: Чапа́евск) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

Samara Oblast Samara Oblast ( rus, Сама́рская о́бласть, r=Samarskaya oblast, p=sɐˈmarskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localitie ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, located from the city of

Samara Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with ...

, on the right bank of the

Chapayevka River The Chapayevka (russian: Чапа́евка) is a river in Samara Oblast, Russia, a left tributary of the Volga. It origins at the slope of Siny Syrt and flows to the Saratov Reservoir, near Novokuybyshevsk, Samara, Russia, Samara agglomeration. I ...

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the

Volga River The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the List of rivers of Europe#Rivers of Europe by length, longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Cas ...

). Population: It was previously known as ''Ivashchenkovo'' (until 1927), ''Trotsk'' (until 1929).

History

The town's history dates back to 1909 when by

Nicholas II Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...

's decree a military plant was established in the area. In 1929, the settlement was renamed Chapayevsk after the celebrated

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

commander

Vasily Chapayev Vasily Ivanovich Chapayev or Chapaev (russian: link=no, Василий Иванович Чапаев; 5 September 1919) was a Russian soldier and Red Army commander during the Russian Civil War. Biography Chapayev was born into a poor peasan ...

. The town served as a base for secret military production, hosting four such factories until the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

in 1991. On June 18, 2013, several strong explosions rocked the town and several villages around; 5,000 people were evacuated. According to Russian media, at least 34 people where injured in the explosions that originated in the town's ammunition storage facilities.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with one

rural locality In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

, incorporated as the town of oblast significance of Chapayevsk—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

.Charter of Samara Oblast'' As a municipal division, the town of oblast significance of Chapayevsk is incorporated as Chapayevsk Urban Okrug.Law #189-GD

Ecology

Chapayevsk is known as the "town of death" due to the high amount of toxins present in the environment. According to doctors, more than 80% of children suffer from chronic diseases. Since 1991, the birthrate in the city decreased by 40%. In the women's breast milk dioxin was found at 400 times above the normal level. In 1994, a special committee of the United Nations, after much research announced the town of Chapayevsk as an ecological disaster zone.

References

Notes

Sources

* *

External links

Official website of Chapayevsk

Chapayevsk Business Directory
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Samara Oblast