Verkhnyaya Pyshma () 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 ...

Sverdlovsk Oblast Sverdlovsk Oblast ( rus, Свердловская область, Sverdlovskaya oblastʹ, p=svʲɪrdˈlofskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia located in the Ural Federal District. Its administrative center is the c ...

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 north of

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 ...

. Population: Stamp-russia2009-fountains-block

History

It was founded in 1660 as the village ('' selo'') of Pyshminskoye, which was named after the

Pyshma River The Pyshma (, Siberian Tatar: Пышны, ''Pyshny''Ниязова Г. М. Типы и структура ойконимов сибирских татар (На материале Тюменской области), 2004, Стр. 8.) is a river ...

. A

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

mine opened here in 1856. Town status was granted to it in 1946. Town development in 20th century is closely related to copper production. The factory called Uralelectromed developed here and in 1990s it became the main company of

Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UMMC or UGMK, , abbreviated in “Угмк”) is a Russian metallurgical company based in Verkhnyaya Pyshma. It is the second largest copper producer in Russia. The holding company was formed around joint- ...

holding. The company

Ural Locomotives Ural Locomotives () is a railway engineering company. It was initially formed as a joint venture between Sinara Transport Machines and Siemens in 2010. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Siemens exited Russia in May 2022, with Sinara Grou ...

is also located there, it produces modern Russian locomotives and trains such as

2ES10 The 2ES10 is a twin section electric locomotive manufactured from 2010 by Ural Locomotives. RZD ordered 221 units in 2010. Ukrainian Railways ordered 50 units in 2013. These units are primarily used to pull freight trains. History and design Th ...

(the most powerful Russian locomotive) and

Lastochka The ''Lastochka'' () is a German/Russian commuter intercity electric multiple unit train used across multiple Russian cities, based on the Siemens Desiro design and manufactured by Siemens and Ural Locomotives. History In 2009, Russian Rai ...

suburban

EMU The emu (; ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is a species of flightless bird endemism, endemic to Australia, where it is the Tallest extant birds, tallest native bird. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the genus ''Dromaius'' and the ...

based on

Siemens Desiro The Siemens Desiro (, , ) is a family of Diesel multiple unit, diesel or electric multiple unit passenger trains developed by Siemens Mobility, a division of the German Siemens, Siemens AG conglomerate. The main variants are the Desiro Classic, ...

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of the administrative divisions, it is, together with the

of Sredneuralsk and twenty-seven rural localities, incorporated as the

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 ...

of Verkhnyaya Pyshma—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 #30-OZ As a municipal division, Verkhnyaya Pyshma and twenty-four rural localities are incorporated as Verkhnyaya Pyshma Urban Okrug.Law #85-OZ The town of Sredneuralsk, together with three other rural localities, is incorporated separately as Sredneuralsk Urban Okrug.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of the town is a griffin holding a gold mirror of Venus. The griffin is the guard of riches and also the symbol of strength of mind. The mirror of Venus represents copper, which is mined in the region.

Ecology and health issues

In late July 2007, the town was hit by an outburst of atypical pneumonia, with 200 infected and 170 death cases. According to the official information, the infection was caused by

Legionella pneumophila ''Legionella pneumophila'', the primary causative agent for Legionnaires' disease, Legionnaire's disease, is an Aerobic organism, aerobic, pleomorphic, Flagellum, flagellated, non-spore-forming, Gram-negative bacteria, Gram-negative bacterium. ' ...

virus, which spread through the

water supply network A water supply network or water supply system is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components that provide water supply. A water supply system typically includes the following: # A drainage basin (see water purification – sour ...

. However, there was much speculation that biological warfare (similarly to

Sverdlovsk anthrax leak On 2 April 1979, spores of ''Bacillus anthracis'' (the causative agent of anthrax) were accidentally released from a Soviet Armed Forces research facility in the city of Sverdlovsk in the Soviet Union. The ensuing outbreak of the disease result ...

in 1979), or the pollution from chemical industry, is responsible for the infection.

Politics

At the regional elections held on 18 September 2016, 62,276 voters were included in the voting lists of the Verkhnepyshma City Election Commission. 24,228 people took part in the elections. Voting results for elections to the Regional Duma in the urban district of Verkhnyaya Pyshma in a single electoral district: *

United Russia The All-Russian Political Party United Russia (, ) is the Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Russia, political party of Russia. As the largest party in the Russian Federation, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the St ...

- 10,242 (42.28%) *

A Just Russia A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...

- 4364 (18.01%) *

Liberal Democratic Party of Russia LDPR – Liberal Democratic Party of Russia () is a Russian Ultranationalism, ultranationalist and Right-wing populism, right-wing populist List of political parties in Russia, political party. It succeeded the Liberal Democratic Party of the ...

- 3480 (14.37%) *

Communist Party of the Russian Federation The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF; ) is a communist political party in Russia that officially adheres to Marxist–Leninist philosophy. It is the second-largest political party in Russia after United Russia. The youth o ...

- 2997 (12.37%) *

Yabloko The Russian United Democratic Party Yabloko (RUDP Yabloko; rus, Росси́йская объединённая демократи́ческая па́ртия «Я́блоко», Rossiyskaya obyedinyonnaya demokraticheskaya partiya "Yabloko" ...

- 731 (3.02%).

Twin towns – sister cities

Verkhnyaya Pyshma is twinned with: *

Zhodzina Zhodzina or Zhodino is a town in Minsk Region, Belarus, located north-east of Minsk. The city covers an area of . In 2021, its population was 65,451. As of 2025, it has a population of 63,354. History The settlement is first mentioned in 1688, ...

History

Administrative and municipal status

Coat of arms

Ecology and health issues

Politics

Twin towns – sister cities

References

Notes

Sources