Usolye-Sibirskoye ( rus, Усолье-Сибирское, p=ʊˈsolʲjə sʲɪˈbʲirskəjə) 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 ...

Irkutsk Oblast Irkutsk Oblast (russian: Ирку́тская о́бласть, Irkutskaya oblast; bua, Эрхүү можо, Erkhüü mojo) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in southeastern Siberia in the basins of the Angara, Lena, and Nizh ...

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 on the left bank of the

Angara River The Angara ( Buryat and mn, Ангар, ''Angar'', "Cleft"; russian: Ангара́, ''Angará'') is a major river in Siberia, which traces a course through Russia's Irkutsk Oblast and Krasnoyarsk Krai. It drains out of Lake Baikal and is ...

. Population:

History

It was founded in 1669 under the name ''Usolye'', an archaic

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

word for a salt producing town, by the Mikhalevs brothers,

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 ...

who had discovered salt deposits in a nearby spring. The

Siberian Route The Siberian Route (russian: Сибирский тракт; ''Sibirsky trakt''), also known as the Moscow Highway (, Московский тракт) and Great Highway (, Большой тракт), was a historic route that connected European Russ ...

was built through the town in the 18th century, followed in the late 19th century by 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 ...

. Town status was granted to it in 1925. The town's name was given the extension ''Sibirskoye'' (Siberian) in 1940, to differentiate from the town of

Usolye Usolye (russian: Усо́лье) is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. The name is an archaic Russian term for a salt-producing locality. ;Urban localities * Usolye, Usolsky District, Perm Krai, a town in Usolsky District of Per ...

in the

Kama River The Kama (russian: Ка́ма, ; tt-Cyrl, Чулман, ''Çulman''; udm, Кам) is a long«Река � ...

region. From 1947 until 1953, the town hosted a prison camp of the

gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...

system.Memorial - website about the GULAG (German)
/ref>

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is incorporated separately as the

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 ...

of Usolye-Sibirskoye—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 Irkutsk Oblast, Article 13 As a municipal division, the Town of Usolye-Sibirskoye is incorporated as Usolye-Sibirskoye Urban Okrug.Law #91-oz Until November 2016, Usolye-Sibirskoye served as the

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 A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or ...

of Usolsky District,Law #95-OZLaw #87-OZ even though it was not a part of it.

Economy and infrastructure

Ever since its inception, the main industry of the town has been salt-mining. With the opening of a major mine in 1956, the town became Russia's largest producer of

table salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

. Related chemical industries such as ''Usolyekhimprom'' were also developed. There is also assembly plant for heavy machinery, including mining equipment produced by the company ''Usolyemash''. The town has a station on the

, and is located on the highway from

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk (, also ; rus, Новосиби́рск, p=nəvəsʲɪˈbʲirsk, a=ru-Новосибирск.ogg) is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the Russian Census ...

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 ...

. A

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

network has operated since the 1960s, originally funded by the salt mine.

Climate

Usolye-Sibirskoye has a dry-winter

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 ...

(

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 ...

: Dwc).

Gallery

File:Usolie-Sib-M53-left.jpeg, Looking left at the entrance to Usolye-Sibirskoye File:Usolie-Sib-M53-right.jpeg, Looking right at the entrance to Usolye-Sibirskoye

References

Notes

Sources

* * * * *

External links

Official website of Usolye-Sibirskoye
*Transsib.ru

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Irkutsk Oblast Populated places established in 1669 1669 establishments in Russia