Belogorsk () is a
town
A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city.
The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
in
Amur Oblast
Amur Oblast () is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located on the banks of the Amur and Zeya rivers in the Russian Far East. The oblast borders Heilongjiang province of the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the south.
The administrati ...
,
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
, located on the river
Tom, a
tributary
A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...
of the
Zeya. Population: 53,000 (1969); 34,000 (1939).
The town was previously known as ''Alexandrovskoye'' (until 1926),
''Alexandrovsk'' (until 1931),
''Krasnopartizansk'' (until 1935),
''Kuybyshevka Vostochnaya'' (until 1957).
History
The ''
selo'' of Alexandrovskoye () was founded in 1860
by the settlers
[Pospelov, p. 25] from the European part of Russia. In 1893, the ''selo'' of Bochkaryovka () appeared nearby.
The two localities grew with the construction of a station on the
Trans-Siberian Railway
The Trans-Siberian Railway, historically known as the Great Siberian Route and often shortened to Transsib, is a large railway system that connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway ...
in 1913, and by 1923 Alexandrovskoye and Bochkarevka merged and were transformed into Alexandrovsk (). Town status was granted to Alexandrovsk in 1926.
In 1931, it was renamed Krasnopartizansk (), then, in 1935, Kuybyshevka-Vostochnaya (), to commemorate the Soviet statesman
Valerian Kuybyshev
Valerian Vladimirovich Kuybyshev (; – 25 January 1935) was a Russian revolutionary, Red Army officer, and prominent Soviet politician.
Biography
Early years
Born in Omsk in Siberia on , Kuybyshev studied at the , a Cadet Corps in O ...
.
In 1957, possibly to reduce the number of localities named after Kuybyshev, the town was given its present name.
While the literal meaning of the name is ''white mountains'', the reasons for renaming are unclear, as the town stands on a
plain
In geography, a plain, commonly known as flatland, is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and ...
with no "white mountains" anywhere in the vicinity.
It is possible, however, that the name was due to the whitish color of the quartz sands of the bluffs on the
Tom River
The Tom (, ; ; ) is a river in Russia, a right tributary of the Ob in central Siberia. Its watershed lies within the Republic of Khakassia, Kemerovo Oblast, and Tomsk Oblast. , or that it was allegorical, with the meaning of ''a white town''.
Geography
Climate
Belogorsk saw a record high temperature for Asian Russia at on 25 June 2010. This record was beaten two days later in
Ust-Karsk.
Administrative and municipal status
Within the
framework of administrative divisions, Belogorsk serves as the
administrative center
An administrative centre 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 the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...
of
Belogorsky District,
[Law #419-OZ] even though it is not a part of it.
As an administrative division, it is, together with one
rural locality (the ''
selo'' of
Nizinnoye), incorporated separately as Belogorsk
Urban Okrug—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 ...
.
[Law #127-OZ] As a
municipal division, this administrative unit also has urban okrug status.
[Law #423-OZ]
Economy
Belogorsk is a center for food production, as well as construction products.
Military
The town is home to important military elements of the
Eastern Military District, specifically the headquarters of the
35th Army and the
21st Guards Motor Rifle Division. Nearby is the
Ukrainka air base, home to elements of
Long Range Aviation.
Notable people
*
Yevgeni Burdinskiy (born 1960), Russian general
*
Sergei Chukhray (born 1955), Soviet sprint canoer
*
Svetlana Klyuka (born 1978), Russian middle-distance runner
*
Victor Nechayev (born 1955), professional ice hockey player
*
Valeriy Priyomykhov (1943–2000), Soviet and Russian actor, film director, screenwriter and author
*
Andrey Shary (born 1965), Russian journalist and author
References
Notes
Sources
*
*
*
*Е. М. Поспелов (Ye. M. Pospelov). "Имена городов: вчера и сегодня (1917–1992). Топонимический словарь." (City Names: Yesterday and Today (1917–1992). Toponymic Dictionary." Москва, "Русские словари", 1993.
External links
Official website of BelogorskDirectory of organizations in Belogorsk
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Amur Oblast
Populated places established in 1860