Safonovo () 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 ...

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 ...

Safonovsky District Safonovsky District () is an administrativeResolution #261 and municipalLaw #134-z district (raion), one of the twenty-five in Smolensk Oblast, Russia. It is located in the northern central part of the oblast. The area of the district is . Its adm ...

Smolensk Oblast Smolensk Oblast (), informally also called Smolenshchina (), is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative centre is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Smolensk. As of the 2021 Russ ...

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 Vopets River northeast of

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

, the administrative center 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 ...

. Population:

Geography

The town is located on the Vopets River northeast of Smolensk, the administrative center of the

Climate

Safonovo has a warm-summer

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 ...

(''Dfb'' in the

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 ...

History

The village of Safonovo was first mentioned in 1859. In 1918, it became the

of Safonovskaya Volost, and since 1929 it served as the administrative center of Safonovsky District. In the 1930s, large deposits of

brown coal Lignite (derived from Latin ''lignum'' meaning 'wood'), often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, Combustion, combustible sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35% and is considered ...

were discovered there. In 1938, the village was granted

urban-type settlement Urban-type settlement, abbreviated: ; , abbreviated: ; ; ; ; . is an official designation for lesser urbanized settlements, used in several Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern European countries. The term was primarily used in the So ...

status, and in 1952—town status.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Safonovo serves as the

.Resolution #261 As an administrative division, it is incorporated within Safonovsky District as Safonovskoye

Urban Settlement An urban settlement is a concentrated settlement that is part of an urban area. It is an area with high density of human-created structures. *Municipal urban settlement, a type of subdivision such as Cape Town in Western Cape *Urban settlement, a ...

. As a municipal division, this administrative unit also has urban settlement status and is a part of Safonovsky Municipal District.Law #134-z

Economy

Safonovo Electric Machines Factory—a manufacturer of powerful

electric motor An electric motor is a machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a electromagnetic coil, wire winding to gene ...

s and generators, and ''PO Avangard''—a significant producer of parts made out of

glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...

- and

carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers ( Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon comp ...

s, are located in the town.

References

Notes

Sources

* *

External links

*Official website of Smolensk Oblast
History of Safonovo
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Smolensk Oblast Dorogobuzhsky Uyezd