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Chelyabinsk ( rus, Челя́бинск, p=tɕɪˈlʲæbʲɪnsk, a=Ru-Chelyabinsk.ogg; ba, Силәбе, ''Siläbe'') is the administrative center and largest
city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
of
Chelyabinsk Oblast Chelyabinsk Oblast (russian: Челя́бинская о́бласть, ''Chelyabinskaya oblast'') is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia in the Ural Mountains region, on the border of Europe and Asia. Its administrative center is the city ...
, Russia. It is the seventh-largest city in Russia, with a population of over 1.1 million people, and the second-largest city in the Ural Federal District, after Yekaterinburg. Chelyabinsk runs along the Miass River, and is just east of the Ural Mountains. The area of Chelyabinsk contained the ancient settlement of Arkaim, which belonged to the Sintashta culture. In 1736, a fortress by the name of Chelyaba was founded on the site of a Bashkir village. Chelyabinsk was granted town status by 1787. Chelyabinsk began to grow rapidly by the early 20th century as a result of the construction of railway links from the Russian core to Siberia, including the Trans-Siberian Railway. Its population reached 70,000 by 1917. Under the Soviet Union, Chelyabinsk became a major industrial centre during the 1930s. The Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant was built in 1933. During World War II, the city was a major contributor to the manufacture of tanks and ammunition. Chelyabinsk remains an important industrial centre, especially heavy industries such as
metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...
and military production. It is home to several educational institutions, mainly
South Ural State University South Ural State University (SUSU) (russian: Южно-Уральский Государственный Университет (ЮУрГУ)) in Chelyabinsk is an educational institution in Russia. It is among the top-ten of the Russian universiti ...
and Chelyabinsk State University.


History


Ancient Sintashta civilization

Archaeologists have discovered ruins of the ancient town of Arkaim in the vicinity of the city of Chelyabinsk. Ruins and artifacts in Arkaim and other sites in the region indicate a relatively advanced civilization existing in the area since the 2nd millennium BC, which was of
proto-Indo-Iranian Proto-Indo-Iranian, also Proto-Indo-Iranic is the reconstructed proto-language of the Indo-Iranian/Indo-Iranic branch of Indo-European. Its speakers, the hypothetical Proto-Indo-Iranians, are assumed to have lived in the late 3rd millennium B ...
origin. The Arkaim site, located in the Sintashta-Petrovka cultural area, was known by Russian archaeologists for at least 70 years, however it was mostly ignored by non-Russian anthropological circles. The borders of the Sintashta-Petrovka cultural area run along the eastern Urals of the
Eurasian steppe The Eurasian Steppe, also simply called the Great Steppe or the steppes, is the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia in the temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands biome. It stretches through Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Transnistri ...
to about 400 km south of Chelyabinsk and to the east for about 200 km. 23 archaeological sites are recognized as being part of this area. The sites resemble towns, laid out in round, square, or oval shapes. Although most of the sites have been discovered by aerial photography, only two, Arkaim and Sintashta, have been thoroughly excavated. These sites are characterized by their fortification, connected houses, and extensive evidence of metallurgy. The people of the Sintashta culture are thought to have spoken
Proto-Indo-Iranian Proto-Indo-Iranian, also Proto-Indo-Iranic is the reconstructed proto-language of the Indo-Iranian/Indo-Iranic branch of Indo-European. Its speakers, the hypothetical Proto-Indo-Iranians, are assumed to have lived in the late 3rd millennium B ...
, the ancestor of the Indo-Iranian language family. This identification is based primarily on similarities between their language in comparison to sections of the '' Rigveda'', and based on funerary rituals of the Sintashta culture, as revealed by archaeological studies in the area..


Modern Russian history

The fortress of Chelyaba, from which the city takes its name, was founded at the location of the Bashkir village of Chelyaby ( ba, Силәбе, Siläbe) by colonel Alexey (Kutlu-Muhammed) Tevkelev in 1736 to protect the surrounding trade routes from possible attacks by Bashkir outlaws. During Pugachev's Rebellion, the fortress withstood a siege by the rebel forces in 1774, but was eventually captured for several months in 1775. In 1782, Chelyabinsk became a seat of the uyezd of
Ufa Viceroyalty The Ufa Viceroyalty (russian: Уфа Наместничество) was a viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, with the largest city being Ufa. The viceroyalty was created in 1781 which form the lands now known as the Republic of Bashkortostan, a r ...
, which was later reformed into Orenburg Governorate. In 1787, Chelyabinsk was granted town status by the government. Until the late 19th century, Chelyabinsk was a small provincial town. In 1892, the Samara-Zlatoust Railway was completed, which connected it with Moscow and the rest of European Russia. Also in 1892, construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway started from Chelyabinsk, and in 1896, the city was linked to
Ekaterinburg Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administrat ...
. Chelyabinsk then became the main hub for travel to Siberia. For fifteen years, more than fifteen million people - a tenth of Russia's population at the time - passed through Chelyabinsk. Some of them remained in Chelyabinsk, which contributed to its rapid growth. In addition a so-called “customs fracture” was created in Chelyabinsk, which imposed duties on the shipment of goods between the European and Asian parts of Russia, which led to the emergence of mills and notably, a tea-packing factory. As a result, Chelyabinsk became a major trade center. Its population reached 20,000 inhabitants by 1897, 45,000 by 1913, and 70,000 by 1917. Because of its rapid growth at the turn of the 20th century, similar to that of midwestern American cities, Chelyabinsk was sometimes called "the Chicago of the Urals". During the first
five-year plans Five-year plan may refer to: Nation plans *Five-year plans of the Soviet Union, a series of nationwide centralized economic plans in the Soviet Union *Five-Year Plans of Argentina *Five-Year Plans of Bhutan, a series of national economic developm ...
of the 1930s, Chelyabinsk experienced rapid industrial growth. Several important factories, 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 manufacturing to areas removed from the reach of the advancing German military as part of a general exodus from western occupied areas. This brought new industries and thousands of workers to Chelyabinsk, including facilities for the production of T-34 tanks and Katyusha rocket launchers. During World War II, the city's industries produced 18,000 tanks and 48,500 tank diesel engines as well as over 17 million units of ammunition. During that time Chelyabinsk was informally called “
Tankograd Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (russian: Челябинский тракторный завод, Chelyabinskiy traktornyy zavod, abbreviated , ) also known as CTZ-Uraltrak (''ЧТЗ-УРАЛТРАК'') is a tractor construction plant in the Russian ...
” (English: “Tank City”). During World War II, the S.M. Kirov Factory no. 185 or “OKMO” was moved to Chelyabinsk from Leningrad to produce heavy tanks, although it was transferred to
Omsk Omsk (; rus, Омск, p=omsk) is the administrative center and largest city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia, and has a population of over 1.1 million. Omsk is the third largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk ...
after 1962.


2013 meteor

Shortly after dawn on February 15, 2013, a
superbolide A bolide is normally taken to mean an exceptionally bright meteor, but the term is subject to more than one definition, according to context. It may refer to any large crater-forming body, or to one that explodes in the atmosphere. It can be a ...
meteor descended at over over the Ural Mountains, exploding at an altitude of . The meteor created a momentary flash as bright as the sun and generated a shock wave that injured over a thousand people. Fragments fell in and around Chelyabinsk. Interior Ministry spokesman Vadim Kolesnikov said 1,100 people had called for medical assistance following the incident, mostly for treatment of injuries from broken glass by the explosions. One woman suffered a broken spine. Kolesnikov also said about of a roof at a zinc factory had collapsed. A spokeswoman for the Emergency Ministry told the Associated Press that there was a
meteor shower A meteor shower is a celestial event in which a number of meteors are observed to radiate, or originate, from one point in the night sky. These meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids entering Earth's atmosphere at extre ...
; however, another ministry spokeswoman was quoted by the
Interfax Interfax (russian: Интерфакс) is a Russian news agency. The agency is owned by Interfax News Agency joint-stock company and is headquartered in Moscow. History As the first non-governmental channel of political and economic informatio ...
news agency as saying it was a single meteor. The size has been estimated at diameter with a mass of 10,000 or 11,000 metric tons. The power of the explosion was about 500 kilotons of TNT (about 1.8 PJ), which is 20–30 times more energy than was released from the
atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
detonated in
Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...
. The city managed to avoid large casualties and destruction due to the high altitude of the explosion.


Administrative and municipal status

Chelyabinsk is the administrative center of the oblast.Resolution #161 Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is incorporated as the
City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
of Chelyabinsk, an administrative unit with a status equal to that of the oblast's
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 ...
. As a municipal division, the City of Chelyabinsk is incorporated as Chelyabinsky Urban Okrug. In June 2014, Chelyabinsk's seven city districts were granted civil status.Law #706-ZO


Administrative districts

200px, Administrative districts of Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk is divided into seven administrative districts.


Geography

Chelyabinsk is located east of the Ural Mountains, 200 km (100 miles) south of Yekaterinburg. It is elevated 200-250 meters (650' to 825') above sea level. The city is bisected by the Miass River, which is regarded as the border between the Urals and Siberia. This is reflected in the geology of the area, with the granite foothills of the Ural Mountains to the west and the lower sedimentary rock of the West Siberian Plain to the east. The Leningrad bridge crosses the river, due to this it is known as “the bridge between the Urals and Siberia". Chelyabinsk itself is also known as "the gateway to Siberia". Like Rome, Constantinople, San Francisco and Moscow, Chelyabinsk is said to be located on seven hills.


Urban layout

The city of Chelyabinsk developed as a fortress. The first streets began to appear soon after the construction of the fortress on the right (southern) bank of the Miass River - already in September 1736. No residential buildings were built directly in the fortress itself; the houses of the inhabitants were located in the adjoining settlement, which was surrounded by a defensive wall. The very first street was formed between the northern wall of the fortress and the Miass River. A fragment of it is shown already in the foreground of the Chelyabinsk Fortress, attached by Colonel A.I. Tevkelev to his report to V.N. Tatishchev on September 10, 1736. Soon it received the name Sibirskaya (now Truda Street), since outside Chelyabinsk it crossed into the Siberian tract leading to Tobolsk. Apparently, there were also other names: in a number of sources it is called Bolshaya Beregovaya, as mentioned in a document dated March 10, 1753 The western end of the street in the last years of the 18th century acquired an independent name - on the pasture near the outskirts of the Ivanovo fair appeared. Apparently, according to it, this part of the street began to be called Sibirskaya-Ivanovskaya (as it is called in the list of 1795). Then, already in the 19th century, it was a little later upstream and downstream of the Miass (that is, west and east of the fortress). Perpendicular to the river, several more streets were planned. At first there were four of them - two each on the western and eastern sides. The first street to the east got its name from the first Chelyabinsk church, consecrated in 1739 in honor of
Nicholas the Wonderworker Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day Demre ...
- Nikolaevskaya street (nowadays Sovetskaya). It was one-sided and went west towards the church and the fortress. After the Chelyabinsk fortress was assigned the status of the center of the Isetskaya province in 1743, the construction of administrative buildings began here, and another street was formed between Nikolaevskaya Street and the square with the church, ending in the south with the Orenburg Gate and continuing further after the then city limit by the road to Orenburg - Orenburgskaya (now Tsvillinga Street). On Orenburgskaya Street, in 1787 only four courtyards were counted, and in the list of 1795 it was already called Khristorozhdestvenskaya, and there were eleven courtyards on it. In the 18th and first half of the 19th century, Khristorozhdestvenskaya Street was the main street in the city, it was the place where its social and business life was concentrated. The urban planning on the territory of the historical center of Chelyabinsk almost without changes coincides with the plan of Chelyabinsk in 1838. The Chelyabinsk fortress was built in the center of this territory in 1736. The plan of 1784 was supposed to streamline not only the layout of the city, but the development and maintenance of quarters. Along with the city center, a district center and a second city square are being laid in the riverside part. The plans of 1768 and 1784 were not carried out, though the existing Troitskaya Square, Truda Street and Tsvilinga Street are historical traces remained of them. In 1838, the land surveyor Sidorov drew up a new plan to streamline the city. In many ways, it was the starting point for the further development of the city. By 1934, during the Soviet period and the mass industrialization, about 250 thousand people lived in the city. Large-scale urban planning tasks necessitated the development of the first master plan of the city, executed under the guidance of the architect N. G. Eismont in 1936 (Leningrad branch of Giprogor, architects N. G. Berlinerblau, S. M. Gotlib, N. V. Gromov, K. M. Zaichenko and A. M. Suborov). The estimated population according to the general plan of 1936 was to reach 550 thousand people. The city developed around the historical core, including by cutting down the island birch forest, in the planning of the central part, a rectangular grid of streets was preserved, but with the enlargement of quarters. The Metallurgichesky, Traktorozavodsky and Leninsky district were built and developed with heavy industry. Along with the city center, the centers of 5 administrative districts were planned, interconnected by a system of transport highways. The main street - Spartak Street (now Lenin Avenue) - appears as a link between the Traktorozavodsky district, Revolution Square and the future ensemble of the pre-park square. Historically developed streets of Kirov and Zwilling connected the main square of the city with the system of squares in Zarechye. The master plan of 1936 provided for the creation of urban recreation areas on the basis of Shershnevsky Bor and Lake Smolino, for the first time the issue of creating a large reservoir on the Miass River (Shershnevskoye reservoir) was raised. The war prevented the implementation of the master plan in full. The Chelyabinsk industrial complex has become a deep rear defense base of the country. The relocation of 60 industrial enterprises from the center of the country, the evacuation of the population were accompanied by mass construction of isolated villages from barracks and dugouts in free territories. At the same time, the urban area has grown significantly. The need to streamline the development of the post-war city is one of the driving reasons for the development of a new master plan, carried out in 1947 under the leadership of D. D. Bagarin (Lengiprogor, architects A. Slonimsky, L. Vertousov, engineers J. Rotenberg, I. Benevich and others). The second general plan is designed for a city with a population of more than 700 thousand people (in 1946, 450 thousand people lived in the city). Chelyabinsk was considered as a center of energy-intensive production, so the main attention was paid to the formation of 4 industrial hubs based on the capacities of existing enterprises. The main architectural and planning idea was the unification of disparate parts of the city into a single organism - was transferred from the general plan of the pre-war period. Along with the territory of the districts that had reserves for development (Traktorozavodsky - towards Lake First, Metallurgical - with partial use of the territory of Kashtaksky Bor, Leninsky - to Lake Smolino), new sites for promising construction were envisaged (North-West and Churilovo). The issues of transport construction were actively resolved: the creation of a bypass ring highway connecting the city districts, the routing of the main highways from east to west (Pobedy Avenue, Khudyakov - Dzerzhinsky) and from north to south ("Meridian" and Tchaikovsky Street) with access to the main roads beyond outside the city. In 1951, the master plan was adjusted in terms of the number of floors of the building: the share of multi-storey (up to 5 floors) buildings increased by reducing the share of 2-story and estate buildings to 25%. The third master plan of the city (1967) was developed by the team of authors of the Chelyabinskgrazhdanproekt Institute. The city had a population of 857,000. The main architectural and planning idea was the active inclusion in the composition of the city of Shershnevsky and Kashtak forests, the Shershnevsky reservoir and the Miass River. Building on the free territories of the northwestern residential area, designed for a population of up to 300 thousand people, as a new direction for the development of the city, proposed by the master plan, has been carried out since the late 60s. The existing historically polycentric system of the center was enriched by the creation of new complexes: at the turn of the river near the Garden Island, along Tchaikovsky Street and the three-beam center of the northwest. The master plan of 1967 provided for the creation of new main streets and a ring road, the construction of bridges and overpasses, which was planned free the city center from transit traffic. In 1990 new city plan was approved and again in 2021.


Climate

The city has a humid continental climate ( Köppen: ''Dfb'') similar to that of the Canadian prairies, despite being located further north. The average temperature in January is well below the freezing point at . July has a relatively cool average of , and the annual average is a few degrees above the freezing point at , indicating some moderation. The range of extremes allegedly reaches , claimed to be typical of a mid-latitude climate on a large continent such as Eurasia. The majority of precipitation occurs in the summer, with less in the winter. The month of July experiences the most, with an average of precipitation, while January, the driest month, experiences . Total precipitation reaches an average of annually, consistent with the city's semi-arid influence. On average, 119 days of the year experience precipitation.


Population

As of 2020, the population of Chelyabinsk is 1,196,680; up from 1,130,132 recorded in the 2010 Census. At the time of the official 2010 Census, the ethnic makeup of the city's population whose ethnicity was known (1,082,269) was:


Cityscape


Architecture

Дом облисполкома.JPG, Historical residential building on Revolution square built in socialist classicism style (1938) Сквер.на.Алом.поле(Челябинск).jpg, Aloye Pole Park Челябинский государственный академический ТЕАТР ДРАМЫ им. Наума Орлова.JPG, Chelyabinsk Drama Theater The architecture of Chelyabinsk has been shaped through its history by the progression of historical eras in Russia. Before the
1917 Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...
, the city was a trading center, with numerous merchant buildings in the eclectic and modern styles with elements of Russian Revival architecture, some of which are preserved on the pedestrian-only Kirovka Street.
Industrialization Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...
in Chelyabinsk started in the late 1920s. The construction of large plants was accompanied by the construction of new residential and public buildings in the constructivist style. Entire constructivist neighborhoods can be seen in the area of the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant. In the late 1930s, a new era began in the city, with large-scale construction of
Stalinist architecture Stalinist architecture, mostly known in the former Eastern Bloc as Stalinist style () or Socialist Classicism, is the architecture of the Soviet Union under the leadership of Joseph Stalin, between 1933 (when Boris Iofan's draft for the Palace ...
. Many of the buildings in and around the city center and central avenue are constructed in this style. The next 60 years saw extensive construction of residential
high-rise building A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdictio ...
s as the city's population rose to about one million, notably within the large residential area called "Severo-Zapad" (English: North-West). With the market reforms of the 1990s, there was an increase in the construction of office buildings and major shopping malls in
postmodern Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...
and
high-tech High technology (high tech), also known as advanced technology (advanced tech) or exotechnology, is technology that is at the cutting edge: the highest form of technology available. It can be defined as either the most complex or the newest te ...
styles.


Parks and gardens

Chelyabinsk has seventeen public parks. The largest is
Gagarin Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who became the first human to journey into outer space. Tr ...
Central Park. Its territory includes large areas of rocky and forested terrain, located around several now-flooded abandoned quarries.


Education

There are over a dozen universities in Chelyabinsk. The oldest,
Chelyabinsk State Agroengineering Academy Chelyabinsk ( rus, Челя́бинск, p=tɕɪˈlʲæbʲɪnsk, a=Ru-Chelyabinsk.ogg; ba, Силәбе, ''Siläbe'') is the administrative center and largest city of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the seventh-largest city in Russia, with a p ...
, was founded in 1930, followed by the Chelyabinsk State Pedagogical University in 1934. Major universities include
South Ural State University South Ural State University (SUSU) (russian: Южно-Уральский Государственный Университет (ЮУрГУ)) in Chelyabinsk is an educational institution in Russia. It is among the top-ten of the Russian universiti ...
, Chelyabinsk State University, South Ural State University of Arts, and
Chelyabinsk Medical Academy South Ural State Medical University (russian: Южно-Уральский государственный медицинский университет) is a public university in Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk ( rus, Челя́бинск, p=tɕɪˈl ...
. After World War II, Chelyabinsk became the main center of vocational education of the entire Ural region.


Economy

Chelyabinsk is one of the major industrial centers of Russia. Heavy industries, especially
metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...
and military production, are predominant in the area, notably the
Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Combinate Chelyabinsk ( rus, Челя́бинск, p=tɕɪˈlʲæbʲɪnsk, a=Ru-Chelyabinsk.ogg; ba, Силәбе, ''Siläbe'') is the administrative center and largest city of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the seventh-largest city in Russia, with a p ...
(CMK, ChMK), owned by the mining corporation Mechel. Other important industries include Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (CTZ, ChTZ), Chelyabinsk Electrode Plant (ChEZ), the machine part-producing
Chelyabinsk Forge-and-Press Plant OAO Chelyabinsk Forge-and-Press Plant (russian: Челябинский Кузнечно-прессовый завод, , Chelyabinsk Forge-and-Press Plant, abbreviated as OAO ChKPZ) is a machine building and automobile component manufacturing com ...
(ChKPZ), the crane-producing Chelyabinsk Mechanical Plant (ChMZ), and
Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant (also known as ChelPipe; abbreviated as ChTPZ; russian: Челябинский трубопрокатный завод, ЧТПЗ) manufactures every kind of steel pipe, including pipes used for the construction of pet ...
(ChTPZ), which is included in the "Big Eight" of pipe producers in Russia, and produces large-diameter pipes for use in pipelines. Chelyabinsk Zinc Plant, owned by the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company, produces about 2% of the world's zinc supply and over 60% of the Russian supply. Kolyuschenko Road Machinery Plant produces construction machinery and dump trucks for the American manufacturer Terex. Molnija Watch Factory produces pocket watches, as well as technical watches for use in aircraft and ships. In 1980, Molnija watches were given as gifts to participants of the Moscow Olympic Games. The agro-industrial company Makfa, the largest producer of pasta in Russia, and one of the five largest producers in the world, is based in Chelyabinsk. The largest manufacturer of footwear in Russia, Unichel Footwear Firm, owns a factory in Chelyabinsk. Chelyabinsk is also home to the agricultural firm Ariant, which leads in the production of beverages and meat products in the Urals Federal District of Russia. The American corporation Emerson Electric owns part of the local company Metran, as well as a factory for the production of industrial equipment. In recent years, Chelyabinsk has had a significant role in other sectors of the Russian economy, hosting insurance firms, logistics centers, tourism, And important regional banking firms, such as Chelindbank and Chelyabinvestbank. There are several large shopping malls. The largest of them are Gorky (English: Hills), built in 2007 with an area of 55,000 meters2 (13½ acres), and Rodnik (English: Spring) built in 2011 with an area 135,000 meters2 (33¼ acres). At least two more are under construction: Almaz (English: Diamond), and Cloud, beginning construction in 2015 and 2018, with planned areas of 220,000 and 350,000 meters2 (54¼ and 86½ acres), respectively.


Transportation

Chelyabinsk tramway, trolleybus and cars.jpg, Tram and trolleybus in Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk Metro English.png, Planned metro network Tram 2005 model 71-623 Chelyabinsk front right.jpg, Chelyabinsk Trams Железнодорожный вокзал (Челябинск-Главный) f002.jpg, Chelyabinsk railway Station Челябинский_аэропорт_(Баландино)_2020.jpg, Chelyabinsk Airport terminal Public transport in Chelyabinsk consists of bus (since 1925), tram (since 1932) and trolleybus (since 1942) networks, as well as private '' marshrutka'' (routed cab) services. The city has several taxi companies. In 2014 in Chelyabinsk began to run electric buses, trolleybuses fitted to run electrically. In 2011 the telecommunications company Beeline and Chelyabinsk city transport signed an agreement to provide passengers free internet. Currently Wi-Fi is available in some public trams and trolleybuses in Chelyabinsk. Chelyabinsk started the construction of a three-line subway network in 1992. The city is served by the Chelyabinsk Airport.


Sports

Traktor Arena.jpg, ''Traktor'' Arena Sports arena (13125585255).jpg, ''Uralskaya Molniya'', one of the indoor speed skating arenas in Russia Sports_arena_(13125895444).jpg,
Yunost Sport Palace Yunost Sport Palace () is an indoor sporting arena located in Chelyabinsk, Russia. The capacity of the arena is 3,500. It was built in 1967 and served as the home arena for the ice hockey team Traktor Chelyabinsk until 2009, at which time the te ...
Стадион Центральный (Челябинск) f001.jpg, Central Stadium of Chelyabinsk
Several sports clubs are active in the city: In recent history, Chelyabinsk has hosted several important sporting events, especially in martial arts. These events include the
2012 European Judo Championships The 2012 European Judo Championships were held at the Traktor Ice Arena in Chelyabinsk, Russia, from 26 to 29 April 2012. Medal overview Men Women Medal table Results overview Men –60 kg –66 kg –73 kg –81 kg –90 ...
, the
2014 World Judo Championships The 2014 World Judo Championships were held in Chelyabinsk, Russia, from 25–31 August 2014, in the Traktor Ice Arena. Each participating country was permitted to present a total of 18 men and women judokas to participate in the 14 weight cate ...
, and the 2015 World Taekwondo Championships. 2015 also saw Chelyabinsk host the
European Speed Skating Championships The European Speed Skating Championships are a series of long track speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of Europe. History The International Skating Union The International Skating Union (ISU) is the ...
. In 2018, Chelyabinsk and nearby Magnitogorsk hosted the IIHF World U18 Championship.


Culture

The city has several libraries, notably Chelyabinsk Regional Universal Scientific Library, the largest public library in the
Chelyabinsk Oblast Chelyabinsk Oblast (russian: Челя́бинская о́бласть, ''Chelyabinskaya oblast'') is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia in the Ural Mountains region, on the border of Europe and Asia. Its administrative center is the city ...
. The library has more than 2 million books, over 12,000 of which are rare, originating from the 17th to 19th centuries. Chelyabinsk is home to several theatres. The
Chelyabinsk Opera and Ballet Theatre The Chelyabinsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre or Glinka State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre (russian: Челябинский театр оперы и балета имени М. И. Глинки), named after Mikhail Glinka, is an ...
, also known as the Glinka State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, was built in 1936–55 on the site of the former
Nativity Cathedral Nativity or The Nativity may refer to: Birth of Jesus Christ * Nativity of Jesus, the Gospel stories of the birth of Jesus Christ * Nativity of Jesus in art, any depiction of the nativity scene ** ''Nativity'' (Campin), a 1420 panel painting by ...
, which existed from 1748 to 1932. The opening of the theatre eventually took place on September 29, 1956, with a production of
Alexander Borodin Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin ( rus, link=no, Александр Порфирьевич Бородин, Aleksandr Porfir’yevich Borodin , p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr pɐrˈfʲi rʲjɪvʲɪtɕ bərɐˈdʲin, a=RU-Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin.ogg, ...
's " Prince Igor". Others include the Nahum Orlov State Academic Drama Theatre, Chelyabinsk State Chamber Theater, Chelyabinsk State Puppet Theater, Chelyabinsk State Youth Theatre, Mannequin Theater, Chelyabinsk New Arts Theatre, and Chelyabinsk Contemporary Dance Theatre. There are nine museums in Chelyabinsk. Chelyabinsk Regional Museum was founded in 1913 and holds about 300,000 exhibits. Important expositions include the "Land of Cities" exhibit relating to the 2nd and 3rd millennium BCE settlement of Arkaim, the 570 kg largest fragment of the
Chelyabinsk meteor The Chelyabinsk meteor was a superbolide that entered Earth's atmosphere over the southern Ural (region), Ural region in Russia on 15 February 2013 at about 09:20 Yekaterinburg Time, YEKT (03:20 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC). It was caused ...
, ornate 19th and 20th century blades made by Zlatoust arms factory, exhibits of Kasli artistic cast iron, and much more. Chelyabinsk Regional Picture Gallery has more than 11,000 works. The museum displays collections of Russian, European, and international works originating from the Middle Ages to modern times. The museum has significant collections of religious icons from the 16th to 20th centuries, along with early printed books and manuscripts. The Museum of History of the Southern Ural Railway hosts more than 30 exhibits of equipment used on the railway after its opening in Chelyabinsk in 1892. The Museum of Military Equipment in the Garden of Victory was founded in 2007. It has 16 exhibits, including models of T-34 and
IS-3 The IS-3 (also known as Object 703) is a Soviet heavy tank developed in late 1944. Its semi-hemispherical cast turret (resembling that of an upturned soup bowl), became the hallmark of post-war Soviet tanks. Its pike nose design would also be ...
tanks, along with Katyusha rocket launchers produced in Chelyabinsk during World War II. In addition, the city is home to the Chelyabinsk Regional Geological Museum, the Malgobekskii Museum of Military and Labor Glory, the Chelyabinsk Postal Service Museum, and the Entertaining Sciences Museum Eksperimentus. Chelyabinsk Zoo is located in the central region of Chelyabinsk. It has an area of 30 hectares (75 acres) with more than 110 species of animals, of which more than 80 are listed in the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation. The zoo participates in international programs for the conservation of endangered species, including amur (siberian) tigers, far eastern leopards and polar bears. The zoo holds regular sightseeing tours, lectures, exhibitions and celebrations. Other cultural attractions include the Chelyabinsk State Circus, the Chelyabinsk State Philharmonic Concert Hall named after Sergei Prokofiev, and Organ and Chamber Music Hall Rodina. Chelyabinsk is home to several churches built from the 19th to 21st centuries.


Notable people

* Ariel, Soviet pop rock band * Lera Auerbach (born 1973), composer and musician, born and grew up in Chelyabinsk * Svyatoslav Belza (1942–2014), musical scholar, critic and essayist, born in Chelyabinsk * (born 1943), jazz musician, bandleader, composer, born and started his career in Chelyabinsk *
Zhan Bush Zhan Viacheslavovich Bush (russian: Жан Вячеславович Буш born 1 April 1993) is a Russian figure skater. He is the 2013 Cup of Nice bronze medalist, a four-time medalist on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series, and 2011 Russian nat ...
(born 1993), figure skater *
Dmitry Shishkin Dmitry Igorevich Shishkin (russian: Дмитрий Игоревич Шишкин), born 12 February 1992, is a Russian classical pianist. He is best known for winning the 2nd prize at the XVI International Tchaikovsky Competition in 2019. In 2 ...
born in 1992 Classical Pianist * Yekaterina Gamova (born 1980), Olympic volleyball player, born and grew up in Chelyabinsk * Makhmut Gareev (1923–2019), historian and military scientist, born and grew up in Chelyabinsk *
Sidney Gordin Sidney Alexander Gordin (1918–1996) was a Russian-born American artist and educator, known for his abstract paintings, prints, and sculptures. He was a Professor Emeritus at University of California, Berkeley, where he taught from 1958 to 1986. ...
(1918–1996), artist, professor * Viktor Khristenko (born 1957), politician and statesman born and grew up in Chelyabinsk * Igor Kurnosov (1985–2013), chess grandmaster, born in Chelyabinsk * Oleg Mityaev (born 1956), singer-songwriter and actor, born, grew up, and came into prominence in Chelyabinsk * Vadim Muntagirov (born 1990), ballet dancer, born in Chelyabinsk *
Staņislavs Olijars Staņislavs Olijars (russian: Станисла́в Олия́р, born 22 March 1979 in Chelyabinsk, RSFSR, Soviet Union) is a retired Latvian athlete mainly competing in the 110 metres hurdles. He is the 2000 European indoor champion, and in 2002 ...
(born 1979), Latvian 110m hurdler, gold medallist at the
2006 European Athletics Championships The 19th European Athletics Championships were held in Gothenburg, Sweden, between 7 August and 13 August 2006. The competition arena was the Ullevi Stadium and the official motto "Catch the Spirit". Gothenburg also hosted the 1995 World Champions ...
, born in Chelyabinsk *
Georgy Ratner Georgy L. Ratner (1923–2001) was a Soviet and Russian surgeon, head of surgery at Samara State Medical University, and the founder of a school of vascular and heart surgeons in Russia. References *Obituary at the site of Cardiothoracic Surgery ...
(1923–2001), surgeon, born in Chelyabinsk *
Nelli Rokita Nelli Rokita (née Nelli Arnold; June 26, 1957) is a Polish politician who was elected an MP as a Law and Justice candidate. Her husband Jan Rokita was a prominent activist of a Civic Platform who retreated in September 2007 when Rokita started ...
(born 1957), Polish politician, born in Chelyabinsk *
Eugene Roshal Eugene Roshal (russian: Евгений Лазаревич Рошал, translit=Yevgeny Lazarevich Roshal; born 1972) is a Russian software engineer. Career Roshal is best known as the developer of: * RAR file format (1993) * WinRAR WinRAR ...
(born 1972), software developer, born in Chelyabinsk * Mariya Savinova (born 1985), Olympic athlete, born in Chelyabinsk * Galina Starovoytova (1946–1998), politician and human rights activist, born in Chelyabinsk * Maksim Surayev (born 1972), cosmonaut, born in Chelyabinsk * Evgeny Sveshnikov (born 1950), chess grandmaster and writer, born and grew up in Chelyabinsk * Anna Trebunskaya (born 1980), ballroom and Latin dancer, born in Chelyabinsk * Ivan Ukhov (born 1986), Olympic high jumper, born in Chelyabinsk *
Mikhail Yurevich Mikhail Valeriyevich Yurevich (russian: Михаил Валериевич Юревич; born February 13, 1969) is a Russian businessman and politician, who was the governor of Chelyabinsk Oblast (2010–2014). He was also a deputy of the 3rd ...
(born 1969), businessman, politician, born in Chelyabinsk * Mikhail Koklyaev (born 1978), Russian strongman competitor


Ice hockey players

*
Sergei Babinov Sergei Pantilimonovich Babinov (russian: Сергей Пантилимонович Бабинов; born 11 July 1955 in Chelyabinsk, Soviet Union) is a retired ice hockey player who played in the Soviet Hockey League. Babinov played for Traktor ...
(born 1955), Soviet player, Canada Cup champion * Sergei Starikov (born 1958), Soviet Olympian and NHL player * Vyacheslav Bykov (born 1960), Soviet player *
Stanislav Chistov Stanislav Mikhailovich Chistov (russian: Станислав Михайлович Чистов; born April 17, 1983) is a Russian professional ice hockey player currently playing for HC Lada Togliatti of the Supreme Hockey League. Playing career ...
(born 1983), NHL and KHL player * Evgeny Davydov (born 1967), NHL player, USSR champion * Sergei Gonchar (born 1974), NHL player,
Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
champion * Dmitri Kalinin (born 1980), NHL and KHL player, Gagarin Cup champion *
Alexandra Vafina , image = Svetlana Tkacheva (l) Darcia Leimgruber (c) Alexandra Vafina (r).jpg , image_size = , caption = Vafina (r) and teammate Svetlana Tkacheva (l) challenge Swiss forward Darcia Leimgruber (c) at the 2011 World Championship. , birth_ ...
(born 1990), Russian Olympic ice hockey player (2010, 2014) * Evgeny Kuznetsov (born 1992), NHL and KHL player,
Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
champion * Sergei Makarov (born 1958), NHL player * Andrei Nazarov (born 1974), NHL player and KHL coach * Nikita Nesterov (born 1993), NHL and KHL player *
Valeri Nichushkin Valeri Ivanovich Nichushkin (russian: Валерий Иванович Ничушкин; born March 4, 1995) is a Russian professional ice hockey right winger who currently plays for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL). He w ...
(born 1995), NHL and KHL player,
Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
champion * Valeri Karpov (1971–2014), Russian Superleague and NHL player * Dmitri Tertyshny (1976–1999), Russian Superleague and NHL player *
Slava Voynov Vyacheslav Leonidovich "Slava" Voynov (russian: Вячесла́в Леони́дович Во́йнов; born 15 January 1990) is a Russian professional ice hockey defenceman for Ak Bars Kazan of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Voynov was ...
(born 1990), NHL player,
Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
champion * Danil Yerdakov (born 1989), KHL player * Danis Zaripov (born 1981), KHL player, Gagarin Cup champion *
Yakov Trenin Yakov Vyacheslavovich Trenin (born 13 January 1997) is a Russian professional ice hockey forward currently playing for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing career Trenin was drafted 55th overall by the Nashville Pr ...
(born 1997), NHL player


International relations


Twin towns – sister cities

Chelyabinsk is
twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...
with: * Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom * Ramla, Israel * Ürümqi, China *
Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...
, United States


Diplomatic and consular missions and visa centers

* Italy: Honorary Consulate, Visa center * Poland: Visa center


See also

*
Chelyabinsk Trade Center Chelyabinsk Trade Center (russian: Челябинский Торговый центр) is a building on the embankment of the Miass River in Chelyabinsk, Russia, built in 1975. The Trade Center silhouette became one of the symbols of the city. The ...


References


Notes


Sources

* * * *Anne Garrels, ''Putin Country: A Journey Into The Real Russia'' (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2016). *Lennart Samuelson, ''Tankograd: The Formation of a Soviet Company Town: Cheliabinsk, 1900s–1950s'' (Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011).


External links


Official website of ChelyabinskChelyabinsk Business Directory

Chelyabinsk News Agency
*
Interactive book about Chelyabinsk in iBooks Store
{{Use mdy dates, date=April 2013 History of Ural Chelyabinsky Uyezd Populated places established in 1736