![Ulan-Ude, 1885](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Ulan-Ude%2C_1885.png)
Ulan-Ude (; bua, Улаан-Үдэ, , ; russian: Улан-Удэ, p=ʊˈlan ʊˈdɛ; mn, Улаан-Үд, , ) is the
capital city of the
Republic of Buryatia
Buryatia, officially the Republic of Buryatia (russian: Республика Бурятия, r=Respublika Buryatiya, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə bʊˈrʲætʲɪjə; bua, Буряад Улас, Buryaad Ulas, , mn, Буриад Улс, Buriad Uls), is ...
,
Russia, located about southeast of
Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal (, russian: Oзеро Байкал, Ozero Baykal ); mn, Байгал нуур, Baigal nuur) is a rift lake in Russia. It is situated in southern Siberia, between the federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...
on the
Uda River at its
confluence
In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...
with the
Selenga. According to the
2021 Census, 437,565 people lived in Ulan-Ude; up from 404,426 recorded in the
2010 Census,
making the city the third-largest in the
Russian Far East by population.
Names
Ulan-Ude was first called Udinskoye (, ) for its location on the
Uda River. It was founded as a small fort in 1666. From around 1735, the settlement was called Udinsk (, ) and was granted town status under that name in 1775. It was renamed Verkhneudinsk (, ; "Upper Udinsk") in 1783, to differentiate it from
Nizhneudinsk
Nizhneudinsk ( rus, Нижнеу́динск, p=nʲɪʐnʲɪˈudʲɪnsk; bua, Доодо-Үдэ, ''Doodo-Üde'') is a town and the administrative center of Nizhneudinsky District of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Uda River (Yenisei's ba ...
("Lower Udinsk") lying on a different
Uda River near
Irkutsk
Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, 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 ...
which was granted town status that year.
The descriptors "upper" and "lower" refer to the positions of the two cities relative to each other, rather than the location of the cities on their respective Uda rivers. Verkhneudinsk lies at the mouth of its river, while Nizhneudinsk is along the middle stretch. The current name was given to the city on 27 July 1934 and means "
red Uda" in
Buryat, reflecting the
ideology of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Geography
Ulan-Ude lies east of
Moscow and southeast of
Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal (, russian: Oзеро Байкал, Ozero Baykal ); mn, Байгал нуур, Baigal nuur) is a rift lake in Russia. It is situated in southern Siberia, between the federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...
. It is
above sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''.
The comb ...
at the foot of the
Khamar-Daban and
Ulan-Burgas mountain ranges, next to the
confluence
In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...
of the
Selenga River
The Selenga or Selenge ( ; bua, Сэлэнгэ гол / Сэлэнгэ мүрэн, translit=Selenge gol / Selenge müren; russian: Селенга́, ) is a major river in Mongolia and Buryatia, Russia. Originating from its headwater tributarie ...
and its
tributary, the
Uda, which divides the city.
Hydrography
Ulan-Ude is traversed by two rivers, the Selenga and Uda. The Selenga provides the greatest inflow to
Baikal Lake, supplying 50% of all rivers in its basin. The Selenga brings about of water into the lake per year, exerting a major influence on the lakewater's renewal and its sanitary condition. Selenga is the habitat of the most valuable fish species such as
Omul,
Siberian sturgeon, Siberian
taimen,
Thymallus and
Coregonus.
Uda is the right inflow of the Selenga river. The length of the watercourse is .
History
![Coat of Arms of Ulan-Ude (Verkhneudinsk Buryatia) (1790)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Coat_of_Arms_of_Ulan-Ude_%28Verkhneudinsk_Buryatia%29_%281790%29.png)
The first occupants of the area where Ulan-Ude now stands were the
Evenks and, later, the
Buryat Mongols. Ulan-Ude was settled in 1666 by the Russian
Cossacks
The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...
as the fortress of Udinskoye. Due to its favorable geographical position, it grew rapidly and became a large trade center which connected Russia with
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and
Mongolia and, from 1690, was the administrative center of the
Transbaikal region.
By 1775, it was known as Udinsk, and in 1783 it was granted city status and renamed Verkhneudinsk. After a large fire in 1878, the city was almost completely rebuilt. The
Trans-Siberian Railway reached the city in 1900 causing an explosion in growth. The population, which was 3,500 in 1880, reached 126,000 in 1939.
From 6 April to October 1920,
Verkhneudinsk
Ulan-Ude (; bua, Улаан-Үдэ, , ; russian: Улан-Удэ, p=ʊˈlan ʊˈdɛ; mn, Улаан-Үд, , ) is the capital city of the Republic of Buryatia, Russia, located about southeast of Lake Baikal on the Uda River, Buryatia, Uda River ...
was the capital of the
Far Eastern Republic (Дальневосточная Республика), also known as the Chita Republic.
It was a nominally independent state that existed from April 1920 to November 1922 in the easternmost part of the Russian Far East. On 27 July 1934, the city was renamed Ulan-Ude.
Administrative and municipal status
Ulan-Ude is the
capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
of the republic. Within the
framework of administrative divisions, it is incorporated as the
city of republic significance of Ulan-Ude — 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 ...
.
[Resolution #431] As a
municipal division, the city of Ulan-Ude is incorporated as Ulan-Ude Urban Okrug.
[Law #985-III]
Demographics
According to the
2010 Census, 404,426 people lived in Ulan-Ude;
up from 359,391 recorded in the
2002 Census.
In terms of population, it is the third-largest city in eastern
Siberia.
![Center of the Soviet district of Ulan-Ude from a bird's eye view](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Center_of_the_Soviet_district_of_Ulan-Ude_from_a_bird%27s_eye_view.jpg)
The ethnic makeup of the city's population in 2010:
*
Russians: 63.6%
*
Buryats
The Buryats ( bua, Буряад, Buryaad; mn, Буриад, Buriad) are a Mongolic peoples, Mongolic ethnic group native to southeastern Siberia who speak the Buryat language. They are one of the two largest indigenous groups in Siberia, the oth ...
: 32.7%
*
Ukrainians: 0.6%
*
Tatars: 0.5%
*Others: 2.6%
The city is the center of
Tibetan
Tibetan may mean:
* of, from, or related to Tibet
* Tibetan people, an ethnic group
* Tibetan language:
** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard
** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...
Buddhism in Russia and the important
Ivolginsky datsan is located from the city.
Transportation
![Ulan ude station](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Ulan_ude_station.jpg)
Ulan-Ude is located on the main line (Trans-Siberian line) of the
Trans-Siberian Railway between
Irkutsk
Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, 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 ...
and
Chita at the junction of the Trans-Mongolian line (the
Trans-Mongolian Railway) which begins at Ulan Ude and continues south through
Mongolia to
Beijing in China.
The city also lies on the M55 section of the
Baikal Highway (part of the
Trans-Siberian Highway), the main federal road to
Vladivostok. Air traffic is served by the
Ulan-Ude Airport (Baikal), as well as the smaller
Ulan-Ude Vostochny Airport
Ulan-Ude Vostochny Airport (also listed as Ulan Ude East) is an airport in the Buryat Republic, Russia, located 9 km east of Ulan Ude. It services medium-size airliners. The airfield served as a bomber staging base. There is considerable tar ...
. Intracity transport includes
tram,
bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
, and ''
marshrutka'' (
share taxi) lines.
Culture
![Hambin-Hyre](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Hambin-Hyre.JPG)
Until 1991, Ulan-Ude was
closed to foreigners. There are old merchants' mansions richly decorated with wood and stone carving in the historical center of Ulan-Ude, along the river banks which are exceptional examples of Russian classicism. The city has a large ethnographic museum which recalls the history of the peoples of the region. There is a large and highly unusual statue of the head of
Vladimir Lenin in the central square: the largest in the world. Built in 1970 for the centennial of Lenin's birth and weighing 42 tons, it continued to tower over the main plaza at .
Sights
![Odigitrievsky Cathedral, Ulan Ude](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Odigitrievsky_Cathedral%2C_Ulan_Ude.jpg)
The ''
Ethnographic Museum Ethnographic museums conserve, display and contextualize items relevant to the field of ethnography, the systematic study of people and cultures. Such museums include:
List by country/region Albania
* Ethnographic Museum of Kavajë,
* Gjirokast ...
of the peoples of
Transbaikal'' is one of Russia's largest open-air museums. The museum contains historical finds from the era of the
Slab Grave Culture
The Slab-Grave culture is an archaeological culture of the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Mongols.Tumen D., "Anthropology of Archaeological Populations from Northeast Asipage 25,27 The ethnogenesis of modern Mongolian people is linked to the ...
and the
Xiongnu
The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 209 ...
until the mid 20th century, including a unique collection of samples of wooden architecture of
Siberia – more than forty architectural monuments.
Odigitrievsky Cathedral St. Odigitrievsky Cathedral is an Orthodox church, a monument of architecture of the Siberian Baroque of the middle of the XVIII century in Transbaikalia. It was built in 1741–1785 in the city of Verkhneudinsk (since 1934 – Ulan-Ude)
The first ...
–
Eastern Orthodox Church Diocese of the Buryat, was the first stone building in the city and is a Siberian
baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
architectural monument. The cathedral is considered unique because it is built in a zone of high seismic activity in the heart of the city on the banks of the River Uda River where it flows into the Selenga.
One of the attractions of Ulan-Ude is a monument in the town square — the square of the Soviets — in the form of the head of Lenin (sculptors G.V. Neroda, J.G. Neroda, architects Dushkin, P.G. Zilberman). The monument, weighing 42 tons and with a height of , was opened in 1971 in honor of the centenary of Lenin's birth.
The
Voice of Nomads
Voice of Nomads ("Голос кочевников") is an international music festival held in Ulan-Ude, Republic of Buryatia in eastern Siberia, Russia. Launched by the Buryat Ministry of culture in 2009, it attracts performers from Europe, Asia, ...
international music and culture festival is held annually at various sites in the city.
Economy
The
Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant is based in Ulan-Ude.
Mongol Rally
Ulan-Ude serves as the endpoint for the
Mongol Rally
The Mongol Rally is an intercontinental car rally that begins in Europe and ends in Ulan-Ude, Russia. The rally originally ended in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. However, to avoid punitive costs and taxes associated with vehicle imports and disposal, the ...
.
Climate
Ulan-Ude can be described as possessing a humid
steppe climate
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...
(
Köppen climate classification ''BSk''), bordering on a
humid continental climate (''Dwb'') and a
subarctic climate
The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...
(''Dwc''). The climate is characterised by long, dry, cold winters and short but very warm summers. Precipitation is low and heavily concentrated in the warmer months.
Notable people
*
Dmitry Masleev
Dmitry Masleev (born May 4, 1988) is a Russian pianist.
Early life and education
Masleev was born on May 4, 1988, in Ulan-Ude, a Siberian city between Lake Baikal and the Mongolian border. He was educated at the Moscow Conservatory in the class ...
, pianist
*
Oksana Omelianchik
Oksana Omelianchik (russian: Оксана Александровна Омельянчик; uk, Окса́на Oлекса́ндрiвна Омелья́нчик, Oksana Oleksandrivna Omelianchyk; alternative transliterations: Oksana Omel'yantchi ...
, artistic gymnast
*
Irina Pantaeva, ''
Sports Illustrated'' model
*
Alexander Slastin, actor
*
Inna Stepanova, Olympic archer
Twin towns - sister cities
Ulan-Ude is
twinned with:
*
Anyang
Anyang (; ) is a prefecture-level city in Henan province, China. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the east, Hebi and Xinxiang to the south, and the provinces of Shanxi and Hebei to its west and north respectively.
It had a ...
, South Korea
*
Berkeley
Berkeley most often refers to:
*Berkeley, California, a city in the United States
**University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California
* George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher
Berkeley may also refer ...
, USA
*
Changchun
Changchun (, ; ), also romanized as Ch'angch'un, is the capital and largest city of Jilin Province, People's Republic of China. Lying in the center of the Songliao Plain, Changchun is administered as a , comprising 7 districts, 1 county and 3 c ...
, China
*
Chita, Russia
*
Darkhan, Mongolia
*
Donetsk, Ukraine
*
Elista, Russia
*
Erdenet, Mongolia
*
Erenhot, China
*
Grozny, Russia
*
Haeju, North Korea
*
Hohhot
Hohhot,; abbreviated zh, c=呼市, p=Hūshì, labels=no formerly known as Kweisui, is the capital of Inner Mongolia in the north of the People's Republic of China, serving as the region's administrative, economic and cultural center.''The Ne ...
, China
*
Hulunbuir
Hulunbuir or Hulun Buir ( mn, , ''Kölün buyir'', Mongolian Cyrillic: Хөлөнбуйр, ''Khölönbuir''; zh, s=呼伦贝尔, ''Hūlúnbèi'ěr'') is a region that is governed as a prefecture-level city in northeastern Inner Mongolia, China. ...
, China
*
Lanzhou
Lanzhou (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. H ...
, China
*
Manzhouli, China
*
Rumoi
is a city located in Rumoi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital of Rumoi Subprefecture.
As of September 2016, the city has an estimated population of 22,242 and the density of 75 persons per km2. The total area is 297.44 km2.
...
, Japan
*
Taipei, Taiwan
*
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
*
Ulanqab, China
*
Yalta, Ukraine
*
Yamagata, Japan
*
Yeongwol County
Yeongwol County (''Yeongwol-gun'') is a county in Gangwon Province, South Korea.
It is well known as the place where King Danjong, the sixth king of Joseon Dynasty, was exiled when he was forced to abdicate by his uncle, who became Sejo of Joseon ...
, South Korea
References
Notes
Sources
*
*
{{Use mdy dates, date=October 2012
Transbaikal Oblast
Populated places established in 1666
17th-century establishments in Russia
1666 establishments in Russia
Russian Far East