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Tomsk
Tomsk, city, capital of Tomsk
Oblast, southern Siberian Russia. Tomsk, a major distribution center, is a port on the
Tom' River
and is linked with the Trans-Siberian Railroad. Electrical
equipment, ball bearings, chemicals, and footwear are manufactured
in the city. The first university (1888) in Siberia is located
here, as are several technical institutes. The city, one of the
oldest in Siberia, was founded as a fortress in 1604. Population
(1999 estimate) 481,100.
In January 1604 the leader of
the most numerous group of the Tomsk Tatars was
sent with a petition to the tsar Boris Godunov.
They asked to defend them and to build a Russian
town in the lower part of the Tom river. Boris
Godunov sent a military detachment led by Gavrila
Pissemky and Vasily Turkov to find a place for a
fortress. The southwestern crest of the hill
on the right bank of the Tom was chosen as the
most suitable site.
By 27 September 1604, the construction work was
completed. A wooden quadrangular fortress was
reinforced by walls 210 meters long and with
towers in the four corners. Access to the fortress
was from the side of the White Lake. By the end of
the 18th century, the population was five
thousand people, the majority merchants and
craftsmen. For a long time Tomsk remained a
trading center and a place of exile.
Tomsk today is a industrial, academic, scientific
and cultural center of Western Siberia, with a
population of more than half a million. The main
sectors of the economy are oil and gas, chemical
and petro-chemical, timber and woodworking. Tomsk
production is well known not only domestically.
but abroad.
Tomsk is also a town of students. There are 20
higher research institutes and many specialized
technical schools and schools training specialists
in medicine, education, art, and other subjects.
About 70,000 students live and study in Tomsk.
The people of Tomsk are proud of the many
outstanding scientists (Obrutchev V.A., Krylov P.N.,
Kuznetsov V.D. and others) who have lived and
worked there.
Tomsk is a city of the old and the new. One of the most historical centers of Siberia, it is also a city of youth and modernization. The strong academic centers and development in science and technology draw some of Russia's most talented to study and work in Tomsk, and this is leading the development of the city.
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