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// Republics
// Adygea, Republic of >>
// Altai (Gorno-Altai), Republic of >>
// Bashkortostan, Republic of >>
// Buryatia, Republic of >>
// Chechnya, Republic of >>
// Chuvashia, Republic of >>
// Dagestan, Republic of >>
// Ingushetia, Republic of >>
// Kabardino-Balkaria, Republic of >>
// Kalmykia, Republic of >>
// Karachayevo-Cherkessia, Republic of >>
// Karelia, Republic of >>
// Khakassia, Republic of >>
// Komi, Republic of >>
// Mari El, Republic of >>
// Mordovia, Republic of >>
// North Ossetia, Republic of >>
// Sakha (Yakutia), Republic of >>
// Tatarstan, Republic of >>
// Tuva, Republic of >>
// Udmurtia, Republic of >>
// Territories (Krai)
// Altai Territory >>
// Khabarovsk Territory >>
// Krasnodar Territory >>
// Krasnoyarsk Territory >>
// Primorye (Maritime) Territory >>
// Stavropol Territory >>
// Regions
// Amur Region >>
// Arkhangelsk Region >>
// Astrakhan Region >>
// Belgorod Region >>
// Bryansk Region >>
// Chelyabinsk Region >>
// Chita Region >>
// Irkutsk Region >>
// Ivanovo Region >>
// Kaliningrad Region >>
// Kaluga Region >>
// Kamchatka Region >>
// Kemerovo Region >>
// Kirov Region >>
// Kostroma Region >>
// Kurgan Region >>
// Kursk Region >>
// Leningrad Region >>
// Lipetsk Region >>
// Magadan Region >>
// Moscow Region >>
// Murmansk Region >>
// Nizhny Novgorod Region >>
// Novgorod Region >>
// Novosibirsk Region
// Omsk Region >>
// Orel Region >>
// Orenburg Region >>
// Penza Region >>
// Perm Region >>
// Pskov Region >>
// Rostov Region >>
// Ryazan Region >>
// Sakhalin Region >>
// Samara Region >>
// Saratov Region >>
// Smolensk Region >>
// Sverdlovsk Region >>
// Tambov Region >>
// Tomsk Region >>
// Tula Region >>
// Tver Region >>
// Tyumen Region >>
// Ulyanovsk Region >>
// Vladimir Region >>
// Volgograd Region >>
// Vologda Region >>
// Voronezh Region >>
// Yaroslavl Region >>
// Federal Cities
// Moscow >>
// St. Petersburg >>
// Autonomous Areas (Okrugs)
// Agin-Buryatia Autonomous Area >>
// Chukotka Autonomous Area >>
// Evenk Autonomous Area >>
// Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area >>
// Komi-Permyak Autonomous Area >>
// Koryak Autonomous Area >>
// Nenets Autonomous Area >>
// Taimyr (Dolgan-Nenets) Autonomous Area >>
// Ust-Ordynsky Buryat Autonomous Area >>
// Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area >>
// Autonomous Regions
// Jewish Autonomous Region >>
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Lost in Siberia
// Theme Pages
In Novosibirsk the correspondent of The Vlast (Power) saw an interesting headline in local newspaper: “God, save Gorodok (Little Town)…and all Russia…and entire world.” Gorodok is another name for Novosibirsk’s Akademgorodok (Little Town of Academicians). It looks like people from Novosibirsk also have capital ambitions.
Novosibirsk Region stretched from West to East for 600 kilometers, and from North to South – 400 kilometers. There are three natural zones changing into each other - pine forests, forest-steppe and steppe. The region has various landscapes –taiga, multiple lakes, impassable swamps, ancient Salair mountain ridge and steppes of Kulunda. The people of Novosibirsk are also proud with their own sea – Ob’ Reservoir with length of 230 kilometers. On South-East part of the region there is largest in Western Siberia lake Chany.
However, the most precious thing in Novosibirsk Region is its regional center. In Novosibirsk there is a concentration of main industrial and scientific potential. Also, 70 percent of the region’s population lives in Novosibirsk and suburbs. The unique geographic location of the city, where the main transportation arteries of Siberia come together, gave a strong push to Novosibirsk’s development.
Novosibirsk owes its birth to the construction of Trans-Siberian railroad. The railway demanded in 1893 a bridge across Ob’ river and town was established next to the bridge. One of the city parents was head of the exploration party Nikolay Garin-Mikhailovsky, who is more famous as writer and author of “Childhood of Tema.” The eventful life of the writer-engineer was full of corruption and embezzlement scandals. According to the local legend, rich Tomsk merchants gave him a huge bribe to move the bridge closer to their city –Tomsk. The dashing engineer took the money, but built the bridge in the place where he thought it would be the best – the narrowest place of Ob’s flooding waters. Here was established town with name Novonikolaevsk, which in 70 years turned into Novosibirsk with population of 1 million.
If Moscow was growing by circles around Kremlin, and St. Petersburg was built in squares, Novosibirsk appeared and grew on the shore of Ob’ like a moth around tree trunk. The left shore part of the city is mostly industrial with specific landscape. Here, one can find most of Novosibirsk plants surrounded by the high-rises of their workers. It seems pretty logical that the center of working class left shore is Carl Marx Square. On the right shore oh the river there are regional administration, mayor’s office, as well as main cultural and business infrastructure of Novosibirsk. The elite living quarters are being built only on the right shore. The streets here are wide and cross each other at 90 degree angle. Because of that in the center there is an illusion that it is St. Petersburg. However, the wide streets do not protect from huge traffic jams in rush hour. One could find all the modes of city transportation in here –cars, buses, trolleybuses, and streetcars.
Locals prefer subway, which cost only 8 rubles per ride and doesn’t get stuck in traffic jams. By the way, Novosibirsk ‘s subway is the only one on this side of Ural mountains. Two lines of subways with 12 stations is subject of the pride for residents of Novosibirsk. The metro train system connected in 1980’s both shores of Ob’. The subway carries daily 150-200 thousand people. Another pride of Novosibirsk is its International Airport Tolmachevo, which was recognized in 2004 as the best airport in CIS.
However, Novosibirsk is not only largest industrial and transportation hub on the East of Urals. With creation of Novosibirsk’s Akademgorodok (Siberian Branch of Academy of Science) the city became the No.3 after Moscow and St. Petersburg intellectual centre of Russia. Using the scientific potential of Akademgorodok, Novosibirsk became a modern mega polis, not far behind of both capitals. Five years ago the city received official title of Siberian Capital – the office of Special Presidential Envoy for Siberian Federal District is located in here. Governors of other Siberian regions come to Novosibirsk regularly for the conferences, thus turning the city into the large center of country’s political life.
One of the city symbols and place of the pilgrimage of tourists is Chapel of St. Nikolay, which was built in 1914 to celebrate 300 years of Romanov’s royal dynasty. The place was selected for the reason – sometime ago this point was considered a geographical center of Russian Empire. Since that time the border significantly moved to the East. However, the local confection factory is still making candy, which is called “Centre of Power” with a picture of the chapel in the wrapper.
&Novosibirsk Region Expressed in Numbers
Area: 178, 2 thousand kilometers
Population: 2.7 millions of man
Portion of urban population: 75%
Level of recorded unemployment: 1.6%
Incomes per capita of population: 5854,6 rubles
Average monthly wage: 6999 rub.
Average pension: 2513 rub.
Cost of consumer basket: 1282 rub.
Cost real-estate:
on primary market: 25.04 thousand rubles per 1 square meter
on secondary market: 23.44 thousand rubles per 1 square meter
Investments in main capital: 24,3 billions rubles
including foreign investments *: $24.11 million
* data for 2004. The rest of data for 2005.
Distances (from Novosibirsk)
Moscow - 2854 km
St. Petersburg - 3164 km
Yekaterinburg - 1439 km
Paris - 5305 km
London - 5259 km
New York - 9244 km
Khabarovsk - 3592 km
Beijing - 2937 km
Tokyo - 4757 km
by
Olga Khvastunova
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 28, 2005
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