Zima ( rus, Зима, p=zʲɪˈma; bua, Зэмэ, ''Zeme'') 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 at the point where 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 ...

crosses the

Oka River The Oka (russian: Ока́, ) is a river in central Russia, the largest right tributary of the Volga. It flows through the regions of Oryol, Tula, Kaluga, Moscow, Ryazan, Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod and is navigable over a large part of its ...

. Population:

Geography

The town is situated on a low-lying plain, heavily water-logged. The Zima River joins the Oka in the town's vicinity.

Climate

The local climate is extremely continental; air temperature varies between in winter to in summer.

History

The village of ''Staraya Zima'' () on the present site of the town was established in 1743. In 1772, its population began to grow more quickly due to the construction of a horse-tract from

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 ...

which crossed the Oka River. Until the 1900s, Zima remained a roadside, mainly agricultural village. In 1898, the Trans-Siberian railway was built through the village and a railroad station was opened. Town status was granted to Zima in 1925. Zima's population remained at around 40,000 from the 1960s until 1990; however, after the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

and the associated economic crisis, the population decreased by around 15% during the 1990s. The town is the birthplace of

Yevgeny Yevtushenko Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Yevtushenko ( rus, links=no, 1=Евге́ний Алекса́ндрович Евтуше́нко; 18 July 1933 – 1 April 2017) was a Soviet and Russian poet. He was also a novelist, essayist, dramatist, screenwriter, ...

, a Russian poet, the author of the biographical poem "Zima Station".

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Zima serves 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 Ziminsky District,Law #49-OZ even though it is not a part of it. As an administrative division, 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 ZimaCharter of Irkutsk Oblast—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 ...

. As a municipal division, the Town of Zima is incorporated as Ziminskoye Urban Okrug.Law #85-oz

Economy

Zima's economy relies mainly on timber production and railway-related services.

Transportation

The town has a station on the Trans-Siberian Railway, with commuter trains to

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

Tulun Tulun ( rus, Тулун, p=tʊˈlun) is a town in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the river Iya (Angara's basin), northwest of Irkutsk. Population: History It was founded in the second half of the 18th century as a village in the Iya Vall ...

. The M53 Federal highway (

Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk ( ; rus, Красноя́рск, a=Ru-Красноярск2.ogg, p=krəsnɐˈjarsk) (in semantic translation - Red Ravine City) is the largest city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yeni ...

–

) passes through Zima.

References

Notes

Sources

* * *

External links

Official website of Zima

Zima Business Directory
*Mojgorod.ru

Zima Station. Yevgeny Yevtyshenko's poem about his home town
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Irkutsk Oblast Populated places established in 1743 1743 establishments in the Russian Empire Irkutsk Governorate