Dimitrovgrad (; ), formerly Melekkes, Melekes, and Melekess (; ; ) until 1972, is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Ulyanovsk Oblast Ulyanovsk Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It is located in the Volga Federal District. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Ulyanovsk. It has a populat ...

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 ...

. It is 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 Melekessky District, although it is not within the district and is an

independent city An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province). Historical precursors In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...

. The city is located in the Volga Region, at the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

of the Melekesska River and the Bolshoy Cheremshan River, 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

Volga River The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

. Dimitrovgrad has a population of the second-largest city in Ulyanovsk Oblast, after Ulyanovsk.

History

The city was founded in 1714 as a village for workers of the local

distillery Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...

. By 1897 its population had grown to 8,500, and in 1919 it was granted town status. Until 1972, the city's name was Melekess (), after the local Melekesska River which runs through the town. On July 15, 1972, Melekess was renamed to Dimitrovgrad, celebrating the posthumous 90th birthday of Georgi Dimitrov, the first leader of the communist

People's Republic of Bulgaria The People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB; , NRB; ) was the official name of Bulgaria when it was a socialist republic from 1946 to 1990, ruled by the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP; ) together with its coalition partner, the Bulgarian Agraria ...

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Dimitrovgrad serves as the

of Melekessky District, even though it is not a part of it.Law #126-ZO As an administrative division, it is incorporated separately as the city of oblast significance of Dimitrovgrad—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 ...

. As a municipal division, the city of oblast significance of Dimitrovgrad is incorporated as Dimitrovgrad Urban Okrug.Law #043-ZO

Economy

The city's leading enterprise, located to the south-west, is the Research Institute of Atomic Reactors. Dimitrovgrad's industry also includes an auto parts manufacturer (Dimitrovgrad Automobile Parts Plant,

carburetor A carburetor (also spelled carburettor or carburetter) is a device used by a gasoline internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the Ventu ...

s, fuel pumps), a carpet manufacturing plant (Kovrotex), and a chemical processing equipment manufacturer (Dimitrovgradkhimmash and Zenith Khimmash).

Education and culture

The city has a variety of educational institutions. It has twenty-two secondary schools, three lyceums, one gymnasium, three branches of state universities, and two branches of private higher educational institutions. The city also has the State Scientific Center of Russian Federation, Research Institute of Atomic Reactors. There also is a

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

theater in Dimitrovgrad.

Sports

* The

bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two team sport, teams wearing Ice skates#Bandy skates, ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The playin ...

team Cheremshan plays in Supreme League, the second-highest national division. At the

2016 Bandy World Championship Bandy World Championship 2016, the XXXVI Bandy World Championship, was held with Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia, as host region. Most of the games were played at the Volga-Sport-Arena in Ulyanovsk. Because of its higher spectator capacity, the group sta ...

the quarterfinal between

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

was played in Dimitrovgrad at Stadium Stroitel (Строитель), as well as the group stage match between

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in Division B. Artificial ice was supposed to be constructed for the occasion, which did not happen. * Match first qualifying round UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship 2014: - 3–0.

Demographics

Ethnic groups

As of the 2010 Census:

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

- 76.2%,

Tatars Tatars ( )Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...

- 13.2%, Chuvash - 5.3%, Mordovians - 1.7%,

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

- 1.0%, others - 2.5%

Notable people

* Stanislav Donets * Victor Ovcharenko * Gevorg Arutyunyan, Russian-Armenian former football player

Twin towns – sister cities

Dimitrovgrad is twinned with: * Lida, Belarus * Dimitrovgrad, Bulgaria * Guliston, Tajikistan

Gallery

File:Dimitrovgrad International84b.JPG, Trading house of Korobov File:Dimitrovgrad International64d.JPG, Drama Theatre. Historical monument: the place of speech of the prominent state leader Mikhail Kalinin File:Dimitrovgrad(Russia)TereshkovaStreet.JPG, Tereshkova Street

References

Notes

Sources

* * *

External links

*
Official website of Dimitrovgrad

Dimitrovgrad Business Directory
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Ulyanovsk Oblast Populated places established in 1714 Naukograds Georgi Dimitrov Stavropolsky Uyezd (Samara Governorate)