Kurgan ( rus, Курган, p=kʊrˈɡan) is the largest city and 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 ...

Kurgan Oblast Kurgan Oblast () is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Kurgan. According to the 2021 Census, the population was 776,661, down from 910,807 recorded in the 2010 Census. History Formed by De ...

in the south of the Urals Federal District of

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 ...

. Population: . Until 1782, Kurgan bore the name ''Tsaryovo Gorodishche''.

History

An urban settlement was established here between 1659 and 1662 as Tsaryovo Gorodishche (, meaning ''Imperial Citadel'') by Timofey Nevezhin, a farmer from

Tyumen Tyumen ( ; rus, Тюмень, p=tʲʉˈmʲenʲ, a=Ru-Tyumen.ogg) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Tyumen Oblast, Russia. It is situated just east of the Ural Mountains, along the Tura ( ...

. In the ensuing years it was developed as a fortress town. It served as a frontier post and its fortified position enabled it to defend other Russian settlements from nomad attacks. Nevertheless, it was itself not always able to withstand such attacks, and was sometimes plundered and burnt down. The city was granted

city privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

by the Empress Catherine the Great in 1782, which is when it acquired its present name and became the seat of an

uyezd An uezd (also spelled uyezd or uiezd; rus, уе́зд ( pre-1918: уѣздъ), p=ʊˈjest), or povit in a Ukrainian context () was a type of administrative subdivision of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire, the R ...

. The present name is taken from a large kurgan (burial mound) close to the original settlement. Its coat of arms was granted on 17 March 1785, and it became the administrative center of Kurgan Oblast in 1943. Kurgan was awarded the

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...

in 1982.

Administrative and municipal status

Kurgan is the

of the

oblast An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Historically, it was used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The term ''oblast'' is often translated i ...

.Law #316 Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is incorporated as Kurgan City Under Oblast Jurisdiction—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, Kurgan City Under Oblast Jurisdiction is incorporated as Kurgan Urban Okrug.Law #419

Economy and military

Kurgan stands 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 ...

line, between

Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg (, ; ), alternatively Romanization of Russian, romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( ; 1924–1991), is a city and the administrative centre of Sverdlovsk Oblast and the Ural Federal District, Russia. The ci ...

and

Omsk Omsk (; , ) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia and has a population of over one million. Omsk is the third List of cities and tow ...

. It is served by two railway stations and the Kurgan Airport, and it was home to the Kurgan West air base during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

. It is also home to Russian Ilizarov Scientific Center for Restorative Traumatology and Orthopaedics, KAvZ autobus plant, and the machine building company

Kurganmashzavod JSC Kurganmashzavod () is a manufacturing company based in Kurgan, Kurgan Oblast, Kurgan, Russia. It is known for its BMP series of infantry fighting vehicles. Overview The company's main products are the well-known BMP-2 and BMP-3 infantry fi ...

which produces the widely known

BMP-1 The BMP-1 is a Soviet Union, Soviet Amphibious vehicle, amphibious tracked infantry fighting vehicle that has been in service from 1966 to the present. BMP stands for ''Boyevaya Mashina Pyekhoty 1'' (), meaning "infantry fighting vehicle, 1st ...

BMP-2 The BMP-2 (''Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty'', , literally "combat machine/vehicle f theinfantry") is an amphibious infantry fighting vehicle introduced in the 1980s in the Soviet Union, following on from the BMP-1 of the 1960s. Development his ...

and

BMP-3 The BMP-3 is a Soviet and Russian infantry fighting vehicle, successor to the BMP-1 and BMP-2. The abbreviation BMP stands for ''Boevaya Mashina Pekhoty'' (, literally "infantry combat vehicle"). Production history The design of the BMP-3 ('' ...

infantry fighting vehicles.

Climate

Kurgan has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Dfb''). Influenced by the

Siberian High The Siberian High (also Siberian Anticyclone; (''Aziatsky antitsiklon''); zh, 西伯利亞高壓; Pinyin ''Xībólìyǎ gāoyā''; Kazakh Азия антициклоны (''Aziya antitsiklonı'')) is a massive collection of cold dry air that a ...

, it is a relatively dry climate. Winters are cold, although not severe by Siberian standards. Summers are variable but relatively moderate, even though heat waves can bring temperatures well above the average July highs.

Educational facilities

*Agricultural academy * Kurgan State University *Kurgan International University *Military Academy *Railroad Academy *Various theaters *Academy of Labor and Social Relations

Gallery

Kurgan. Lenin Square (WR).tif, Marshal Golikov avenue Kurgan.jpg, Marshal Golikov avenue Philarmony Kurgan.jpg, Drama theatre Kurgan.jpg, Г. Курган - panoramio (60).jpg, Cinema "Rossiya" Куйбышева 19 Дом Кюхельбекера.JPG,

Wilhelm Küchelbecker Wilhelm Ludwig von Küchelbecker (; in St. Petersburg – in Tobolsk) was a Russian Romantic poet and Decembrist revolutionary of German descent. Life Born into a Baltic German noble family, he spent his childhood in what is now Estonia a ...

house museum Theotokos of Port Arthur church Kurgan.jpg,

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

Theotokos of Port Arthur church Храм Александра Невского. Город Курган.jpg,

Г. Курган - panoramio (59).jpg, Main post office Kurgan, Kurgan Oblast, Russia - panoramio (2).jpg, Kurgan Airport Вокзал станции Курган.JPG, Г. Курган - panoramio (1).jpg, Central market РНЦ ВТО им. Елизарова - panoramio.jpg, Russian Ilizarov Scientific Center for Restorative Traumatology and Orthopaedics Главная проходная КМЗ - panoramio.jpg,

Kurgan 2014 5.jpg, City center of culture and leisure Климова 47 Дом Дунаева.JPG, Children's art school Авиамузей. Су-25 и Ил-14. Курган - panoramio.jpg, Kurgan, Kurgan Oblast, Russia - panoramio.jpg, River

Tobol The Tobol (, ) is a river in Western Siberia (in Kazakhstan and Russia) and the main (left) tributary of the Irtysh. Its length is , and the area of its drainage basin is . History The Tobol River was one of the four important rivers of the S ...

Notable people

* Oleg Bogomolov (born 1950), governor of Kurgan Oblast * Dmitri Bushmanov (born 1978), association football player *

Maxim Fadeev Maxim "Max" Aleksandrovich Fadeev (; born 6 May 1968) is a Russian singer-songwriter, composer and record producer, producer. Biography Early life and career Maxim Fadeev was born on 6 May 1968 in Kurgan, Kurgan Oblast, Kurgan, Kurgan Oblast, R ...

(born 1968), singer-songwriter, composer and producer * Yuri Galtsev (born 1961), Honored Artist of the Russian Federation *

Gavriil Ilizarov Gavriil Abramovich Ilizarov (; 15 June 1921 – 24 July 1992) was a Soviet physician, known for inventing the Ilizarov apparatus for lengthening limb bones and for the method of surgery named after him, the Ilizarov surgery. Life and work Iliza ...

(1921–1992), physician, known for inventing the Ilizarov apparatus for lengthening limb bones * Vyacheslav Kamoltsev (born 1971), association football player * Larisa Korobeynikova (born 1987), fencer * Evgeni Krasilnikov (1965–2014), volleyball player *

Leonid Krasin Leonid Borisovich Krasin (; – 24 November 1926) was a Russians, Russian Soviet Union, Soviet politician, engineer, social entrepreneur, Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet diplomat. In 1924 he became the first List of ambassadors of Russia to ...

(1870–1926), politician and diplomat * Ivan Kurpishev (born 1969), powerlifter *

Dmitri Loskov Dmitri Vyacheslavovich Loskov (; born 12 February 1974) is a Russian football coach and a former player. He works as an analyst with Lokomotiv Moscow. A former midfielder, he was often considered Russia's best playmaker in the late 1990s and ea ...

(born 1974), association football player * Aleksey Markovsky (born 1957), swimmer *

Aleksandr Menshchikov Aleksandr Menshchikov (born 1 October 1973) is a Russian former wrestler. He competed in the men's Greco-Roman 85 kg at the 2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as ...

(born 1973), wrestler *

Yana Romanova Yana Sergeyevna Romanova (; born 11 May 1983) is a retired Russian biathlete. She competed in various events at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics and won a silver medal in the 4×6 km relay in 2014. Her medal was later annulled for doping v ...

(born 1983), biathlete *

Sergei Rublevsky Sergei Vladimirovich Rublevsky (; born 15 October 1974) is a Russian chess grandmaster (1994). Biography Sergei Rublevsky was born on October 15, 1974 in Kurgan, Kurgan Oblast, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Union of Soviet Socia ...

(born 1974), chess grandmaster *

Yulia Savicheva Yulia Stanislavovna Savicheva (; born 14 February 1987) is a Russian singer who represented Russia in the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest, which was held in Istanbul, Turkey. Biography Savicheva was born on 14 February 1987 into a family of musi ...

(born 1987), singer * Alexander Solonik (1960–1997), Russian mobster and

hitman Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, moneta ...

Elena Temnikova Elena Vladimirovna Temnikova (; born 18 April 1985) is a Russian singer and television personality. She came to prominence as a contestant in the talent show '' Star Factory'' and as one of the three members of the girl group Serebro, who repre ...

(born 1985), singer * Sergei Teryayev (born 1994), professional ice hockey defenceman * Alexander Vinogradov (1930–2011), journalist and writer * Sergey Vinogradov (1958–2010), journalist, translator, and writer * Sergei Yakovlev (1925–1996), actor * Mikhail Znamensky (1833–1892), writer, memoirist, painter, caricaturist, archeologist and ethnographer * Vitaly Goryaev (1910–1982), painter, graphic illustrator, caricaturist * Evgeny Yaroslavlev (born 1994), professional ice hockey player

International relations

Twin towns and sister cities

Kurgan is twinned with: *

Appleton Appleton may refer to: People and fictional characters * Appleton (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters * Appleton family, an American political, religious and mercantile family * Appleton P. Clark Jr. (1865–1955), Am ...

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 ...

Rufina Rufina is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region Tuscany, located about east of Florence. Rufina borders the following municipalities: Dicomano, Londa, Montemignaio, Pelago, Pontassieve, Pratovec ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

References

Notes

Sources

* *

External links

Official website of Kurgan

Kurgan news portal

Cultural heritage of Kurgan
{{Authority control 1662 establishments in Russia Populated places established in 1662 Kurgansky Uyezd Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour