Kirov ( rus, Ки́ров, p=ˈkʲirəf, a=Ru-Киров.ogg) is the 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 ...

and

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 ...

Kirov Oblast Kirov Oblast (russian: Ки́ровская о́бласть, ''Kirovskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) in Eastern Europe. Its administrative center is the city of Kirov. Population: 1,341,312 ( 2010 Census). Geography 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 ...

. It is located on the Vyatka River in

European Russia European Russia (russian: Европейская Россия, russian: европейская часть России, label=none) is the western and most populated part of Russia. It is geographically situated in Europe, as opposed to the cou ...

, 896 km northeast of

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. Its population was 518,348 in 2020. Kirov is a historical, cultural, industrial, and scientific center of Priural'e (territory on the west side of the

Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...

); place of origin for

Dymkovo toys Dymkovo toys, also known as the Vyatka toys or Kirov toys ( in Russian) are moulded painted clay figures of people and animals (sometimes in the form of a pennywhistle). It is one of the old Russian folk art handicrafts, which still exists in the ...

; the most eastern city founded during the times of

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas o ...

. The city also had the names of Khlynov (, from 1457 to 1780), and Vyatka (, until 1934).

History

Principality and republic

The native Slavic tribe of Central Russia and Volga regions, the Vyatichis (also called Viatichi), mixed here with the Novgorodian Slovenes and Finno-Ugric people. According to the medieval chronicles the first Russian settlements in the area appeared in 12th century. Kirov itself was first mentioned (as Vyatka) for the first time in 1374 when Novgorod ushkuyniks plundered it on their way to

Bolghar Bolghar ( tt-Cyrl, Болгар, cv, Пăлхар) was intermittently the capital of Volga Bulgaria from the 8th to the 15th centuries, along with Bilyar and Nur-Suvar. It was situated on the bank of the Volga River, about 30 km downstrea ...

. Vyatka was governed by a public assembly (

veche Veche ( rus, вече, véče, ˈvʲet͡ɕe; pl, wiec; uk, ві́че, víče, ; be, ве́ча, viéča, ; cu, вѣще, věšte) was a popular assembly in medieval Slavic countries. In Novgorod and in Pskov, where the veche acquired gr ...

) as other Northern Russian republics of

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=pskov-ru.ogg, p=pskof; see also names in other languages) is a city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, located about east of the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population ...

and

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ...

. At different times in the late 14th and 15th centuries Vyatka militias raided

Ustyug Veliky Ustyug (russian: Вели́кий У́стюг) is a town in Vologda Oblast, Russia, located in the northeast of the oblast at the confluence of the Sukhona and Yug Rivers. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 31,665. Veliky ...

and Tatar lands on Kama and

Volga The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catch ...

. Vyatka supported Yury of Zvenigorod during the Muscovite Civil War and after his party lost the victorious Vasily II sent Muscovite armies twice against Vyatka to subjugate it and eventually it was forced to accept the suzerainty of Moscow while retaining a significant measure of autonomy. In 1469 Vyatka allied with Khan Ibrahim of the Khanate of Kazan and did not take part in the campaign of Ivan III against the khanate. After several unsuccessful campaigns by Moscow against Vyatka in 1480s, the latter was finally annexed in 1489.

Part of Grand Duchy of Moscow and Russian Empire

Khlynov became known throughout Russia for its clay statuettes and whistles. The town's oldest surviving monument is the Assumption Cathedral (1689), an imposing structure surmounted by five globular domes. In 1780,

Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...

renamed the town Vyatka and made it the seat of Vyatka Governorate. The town also served as a place of exile, notably for

Alexander Herzen Alexander Ivanovich Herzen (russian: Алекса́ндр Ива́нович Ге́рцен, translit=Alexándr Ivánovich Gértsen; ) was a Russian writer and thinker known as the "father of Russian socialism" and one of the main fathers of agra ...

, Alexander Vitberg, and Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin. By the end of the 19th century, it was an important station 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 ...

Soviet and post-Soviet period

In December 1934, it was renamed after the Soviet leader

Sergey Kirov Sergei Mironovich Kirov (né Kostrikov; 27 March 1886 – 1 December 1934) was a Soviet politician and Bolshevik revolutionary whose assassination led to the first Great Purge. Kirov was an early revolutionary in the Russian Empire and memb ...

, who was assassinated on December 1. However, whilst the name Kirov has remained since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, numerous institutions such as the university bear the former name of Vyatka.

Administrative and municipal status

Kirov is the

of the

oblast An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdo ...

.Law #387-ZO Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with 134 rural localities, 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 Kirov—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 ...

. As a municipal division, the City of Kirov is incorporated as Kirov Urban Okrug.Law #284-ZO

Economy

Kirov is a major

transport hub A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles and/or between transport modes. Public transport hubs include railway stations, rapid transit stations, bus stops, tram stops, airports and ferry slips. F ...

(railway; Trans-Siberian main) and

river port An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the sea. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port. Examples The United States Army Corps of Engineers ...

. It is served by Kirov Pobedilovo airport. During the 1990s this airport was closed and for several years provided only irregular service. During the 2003-2006 summer seasons there were signs of a revival in air transportation as several companies attempted to establish flight routes from Kirov to Moscow and Krasnodar. Since 2006 Kirov airport has been used by a local company operating flights to Moscow. The Kirov River port went bankrupt in the late 1990s and all its river boats were sold to other regions. Kirov is a center of machine building; metallurgy, light, the printing trade, biochemical and the timber industry.

Culture

Museums

* Kirov Regional Museum *

Kirov Regional Art Museum in honor V.M. and A.M. Vasnetsov Kirov may refer to: *Sergei Kirov (1886–1934), Soviet Bolshevik leader in Leningrad after whom all other entries are named * Kirov (surname) Places Armenia * Amrakits or Kirov * Taperakan or Kirov Azerbaijan * Kirov, Baku * Kirov, Lankaran * Ki ...

Vyatka Museum of Art, one of the oldest museums in Russia, was founded in 1910 by local artists. The idea of creation belongs to natives of Vyatka land, brothers artists Viktor Vasnetsov and

Apollinary Vasnetsov Apollinary Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov (russian: Аполлина́рий Миха́йлович Васнецо́в; August 6, 1856 – January 23, 1933) was a Russian painter and graphic artist whose elder brother was the more famous Viktor Vasnetsov. ...

. At the core of the collection — works that received the most part in the 1910-1920s from the State Museum Fund, private collections and as gifts — from patrons and artists. Today the museum has more than fifteen thousand exhibits and is located in four buildings in Kirov downtown. * Museum of K.E. Tsiolkovsky, Aviation & Space * Vyatka cabinet of curiosities *

Kirov diorama Kirov may refer to: *Sergei Kirov (1886–1934), Soviet Bolshevik leader in Leningrad after whom all other entries are named * Kirov (surname) Places Armenia * Amrakits or Kirov * Taperakan or Kirov Azerbaijan * Kirov, Baku * Kirov, Lankaran * Ki ...

* House-Museum of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin * Museum of A. Green * House-Museum of N. Khokhryakova * Kirov exhibition hall * Kirov Planetarium * Vyatka paleontological museum

Theaters

* Kirov Oblast Drama Theater * Kirov State Puppet Theater *Kirov State Theater of Young Spectators "Theater of the Spasskaya"

Circus

* Kirov State Circus According to a report in ''

Pravda ''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the ...

'' dated January 4, 2005, Kirov is known as the "city of twins" for the unusually high number of multiple births there. According to a report, the city is home to a high concentration of red-haired individuals.

Sports

Vyatka-Kirov asv2019-05 img04 Forestry College

Rodina plays in the highest division of

Russian Bandy League The Russian Bandy Super League (russian: Чемпионат России по хоккею с мячом — Суперлига), is a men's professional bandy league in Russia, the top division of Russian bandy. There is no definite rule which t ...

. Their home arena has a capacity of 7500. It was the venue of the national final in 2013. Rodina-2 will participate in the Russian

Rink Bandy Rink bandy is a variant of the larger sport of bandy. Unlike bandy which is played on a large bandy field, rink bandy is played on significantly smaller ice hockey sized ice rinks. While a bandy field is about the same size as a football pitc ...

Cup 2017.

Education

Kirov is the home of Vyatka State University, former Vyatka University for the Humanities, Vyatka Agricultural Academy and Kirov State Medical University.

Climate

Kirov has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freez ...

(

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, nota ...

''Dfb''). Summers are warm and rainy, coupled with cool nights, while winters are cold and extremely snowy, with snow falling on most days during winter.

Gallery

File:Kiron new bridge.jpg, Kirov New bridge File:Vyatka-Kirov asv2019-05 img02 pond cascade.jpg, Kirov. The bottom pond at a diorama File:Vyatka-Kirov asv2019-05 img18 Armenian Church.jpg, Armenian church. Kirov File:Spasskaya street Vyatka.JPG, Spasskaya Street File:Vyatka-Kirov asv2019-05 img37 Kirov-Pass station.jpg, Kirov railway station File:Stadium «Rodina».JPG, The bandy stadium

Twin towns – sister cities

Kirov is twinned with: *

Siedlce Siedlce [] ( yi, שעדליץ ) is a city in eastern Poland with 77,354 inhabitants (). Situated in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), previously the city was the capital of a separate Siedlce Voivodeship (1975–1998). The city is situated b ...

, Poland

Notable people

* Anna Alminova (born 1985), middle-distance runner * Yuri Ardashev (born 1965), theater director, actor *

Ekaterina Atalik Ekaterina Atalik (née Polovnikova; born 14 November 1982 in Kirov) is a Russian- Turkish chess player, who holds the titles of International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She won the European Youth Chess Championship in the under-1 ...

(born 1982), chess player *

Mikhail Bagayev Mikhail Nikolayevich Bagayev (russian: Михаил Николаевич Багаев; born 28 February 1985) is a Russian former professional football player. Club career He played for the main squads of FC Moscow and FC Rubin Kazan in the Ru ...

(born 1985), association football player * Aleksey Borovitin (born 1954), ski jumper * Yevgeny Charushin (1901–1965), illustrator, author of children's literature * Oksana Domnina (born 1984), ice dancer * Vyacheslav Dryagin (1940–2002), Nordic combined skier * Boris Farmakovsky (1870–1928), historian, archaeologist *Bl.

Leonid Feodorov Leonid Ivanovich Feodorov (russian: Леонид Иванович Фёдоров; 4 November 1879 – 7 March 1935) was a Studite hieromonk from the Russian Greek Catholic Church, the first Exarch of the Russian Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of R ...

(1879–1935), first

Exarch An exarch (; from Ancient Greek ἔξαρχος ''exarchos'', meaning “leader”) was the holder of any of various historical offices, some of them being political or military and others being ecclesiastical. In the late Roman Empire and ea ...

of the Russian Byzantine Catholic Church * Matvey Gusev (1826–1866), astronomer *

Maria Isakova Maria Grigoryevna Isakova (russian: Мария Григорьевна Исакова; 5 July 1918 – 25 March 2011), nicknamed ''Cinderella of Vyatka'', was a World Champion speed skater. She was born in Vyatka (now Kirov), Russian SFSR ...

(1918–2011), speed skater * Kirill Khaliavin (born 1990), ice dancer * Lev Knyazev (1926–2012), writer * Olga Kuragina (born 1959), athlete *

Alexey Kuzmichev Alexey Viktorovich Kuzmichev or Kousmichoff (Russian: ''Алексей Викторович Кузьмичёв'') is a Russian businessman. He is one of the founders of the LetterOne Group (LetterOne) and the Alfa Group. Kuzmichev is a stakeho ...

(born 1962), businessman * Boris Kuznetsov (born 1944), lawyer * Andrei Malykh (born 1988), association football player *

Ksenia Monko Ksenia Ivanovna Monko (russian: Ксения Ивановна Монько; born 8 February 1992) is a former competitive ice dancer for Russia. Alongside Kirill Khaliavin, she is the 2011 World Junior champion, a two-time (2009–10, 2010–11) ...

(born 1922), ice dancer * Sergey Obukhov (born 1974), bandy player * Svetlana Pletnyova (1926–2008), historian, archaeologist * Aleksei Pugin (born 1987), association football player * Ivan Shefer (born 1983), ice dancer *

Yekaterina Shikhova Yekaterina Vladimirovna Shikhova (russian: Екатерина Владимировна Шихова; born 25 June 1985) is a Russian speed skater. She won a team bronze medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics, and an individual allround bronze medal at ...

(born 1985), speed skater *

Alexei Sitnikov Alexei Alexandrovich Sitnikov (russian: Алексей Александрович Ситников; born 23 May 1986) is a former competitive ice dancer. Competing for Azerbaijan with Julia Zlobina, he is the 2013 Golden Spin of Zagreb champion ...

(born 1986), ice dancer *

Alexander Stolbov Alexander Sergeevich Stolbov (russian: Алекса́ндр Серге́евич Столбо́в; born 5 June 1929) is a Soviet Russian painter and art teacher, living and working in Saint Petersburg (former Leningrad). He is a member of the Sa ...

(born 1929), painter * Nikolai Tchaikovsky (1851–1926), revolutionary, politician * Mikhail Tyufyakov (born 1974), association football player and manager * Vladimir Urin (born 1947), theater director, actor *

Yuri Vshivtsev Yuri Mikhailovich Vshivtsev (russian: Юрий Михайлович Вшивцев; 11 January 1940 – 26 April 2010) was a Russian professional football player. Career Vshivtsev began playing football with local side FC Dynamo Kirov. In the 19 ...

(1940–2010), association football player *

Valentin Yanin Valentin Lavrentievich Yanin (russian: Валентин Лаврентьевич Янин; 6 February 1929 – 2 February 2020) was a leading Russian historian who authored 700 books and articles. He had also edited a number of important journals ...

(born 1929), historian, archaeologist *

Julia Zlobina Julia Sergeyevna Zlobina (russian: Юлия Серге́евна Злобина; born 28 June 1989) is a former competitive ice dancer. Competing for Azerbaijan with Alexei Sitnikov, she is the 2013 Golden Spin of Zagreb champion, 2013 Volvo Ope ...

(born 1989), ice dancer * Polina Khonina (born 1998), rhythmic gymnast

References

Notes

Sources

* * *

External links

Official website of Kirov

Directory of organizations in Kirov
{{Use mdy dates, date=October 2012 Vyatsky Uyezd Populated places established in the 1370s