Ridder (russian: Риддер, Rıdder), formerly known as Leninogorsk (russian: Лениногорск) is a city in the

East Kazakhstan Region East Kazakhstan Region ( kk, Шығыс Қазақстан облысы, translit=Şyğys Qazaqstan oblysy; russian: Восточно-Казахстанская область, Vostochno-Kazakhstanskaya oblast) is a region of Kazakhstan. It occupi ...

in north-eastern

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. Its population is approximately The city is situated in the south-western

Altai Mountains The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central Asia, Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob River, Ob have their headwaters. The m ...

and north-east of the region's capital,

Oskemen Oskemen ( kk, Өскемен, translit=Öskemen ), or Ust-Kamenogorsk (russian: Усть-Каменого́рск), is the administrative center of East Kazakhstan Region of Kazakhstan. Population: Name The city has two official names. In th ...

, along the

Ulba River The Ulba ( kk, ءۇلبى, Үлбі, ''Ülbı''; russian: Ульба) is a river of Kazakhstan. It joins the Irtysh at Oskemen Oskemen ( kk, Өскемен, translit=Öskemen ), or Ust-Kamenogorsk (russian: Усть-Каменого́рск), is ...

, at an elevation higher than 700 metres.

History

The fact that

Altai Krai Altai Krai (russian: Алта́йский край, r=Altaysky kray, p=ɐlˈtajskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a krai). It borders clockwise from the west, Kazakhstan (East Kazakhstan Region and Pavlodar ...

is rich in natural deposits was discovered during Empress

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 Anhal ...

's reign. The history of Ridder started in 1786 when 9 troops of men were sent to the Altai region to search for natural resource deposits. One of these troops was headed by an officer,

Philip Ridder Philip Ridder (russian: Филипп Филиппович Риддер, tr. ''Filipp Filippovich Ridder''; born in 1759 in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire - died in 1838 in Riga) was a Russian explorer of German descent who discovered polymetall ...

. On May 31, 1786, he found a very rich deposit containing

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

and other metals. The same year, in summer, the settlement was founded there and it was named Riddersky pit. This was how the city was founded. The unique ores of the Riddersky deposit were noted by specialists of various levels and commissions. The deposit became known far beyond Russia. In 1850, Riddersky ores received the highest appreciation at

The Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took pl ...

in London. In 1879 the samples were included into the museum collection of the Stockholm Royal Technical Institute. During the early 20th century Ridder experienced a number of foreign concessions, revolution and Civil war. On February 10, 1934, the settlement of Ridder was designated a town. In 1941, just before Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, the town of Ridder was renamed to Leninogorsk (in honour of

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

). During the Soviet period, Leninogorsk saw significant industrial growth. Several plants were constructed - the lead plant was one of the first plants for the non-ferrous industry in

, while Leninogorsky cascade hydro power station was the only one in Kazakhstan and the second one in

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. Several other mines and factories, including the zinc plant, were built and the college of mining and metallurgy was opened in this period. During World War II Leninogorsk produced about 50% of the high-quality lead in the whole

. In 2002 the city received back its original name - Ridder.

Economy

Ridder is a center of mining operations and processing of nonferrous metals. Other branches of industry include wood and textile industry, food production, and mechanical engineering.

Transport

The

European route E40 European route E40 is the longest European route, more than long, connecting Calais in France via Belgium, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan, with Ridder in Kazakhstan near the border with R ...

, originating in

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, has its eastern terminus in Ridder. Over long, it is the longest

European route The international E-road network is a numbering system for roads in Europe developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The network is numbered from E1 up and its roads cross national borders. It also reaches Centr ...

Climate

Ridder has a

warm-summer 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 freezing ...

(

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 ...

''Dfb'') with mild summers and very cold winters.

Ethnic Composition

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

— 49,630 (85.29%) *

Kazakhs The Kazakhs (also spelled Qazaqs; Kazakh: , , , , , ; the English name is transliterated from Russian; russian: казахи) are a Turkic-speaking ethnic group native to northern parts of Central Asia, chiefly Kazakhstan, but also parts o ...

— 5,731 (9.85%) *

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

— 624 (1.07%) *

Tatars The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

— 588 (1.01%) *

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. The majority ...

— 567 (0.97%)

Points of interest

Points of interest include a local

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

and a

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

Sports

In March 2013, Ridder hosted the

World Ski Orienteering Championships The World Ski Orienteering Championships (Ski-WOC) is the official event to award the titles of World Champions in ski orienteering. The World Championships is organized every odd year. The programme includes Sprint, Middle and Long Distance compe ...

References

External links

Statistical information
{{Cities of Kazakhstan Cities and towns in Kazakhstan Populated places in East Kazakhstan Region Populated places established in 1786 Mining communities in Kazakhstan