Kurgan

 city, capital city of state/province/region, district center

Largest city and the administrative center of Kurgan Oblast in the south of the Urals Federal District of Russia. Population: 310,911 (2021 Census).
An urban settlement was established here between 1659 and 1662 as Tsaryovo Gorodishche (Царёво Городи́ще, meaning Imperial Citadel) by Timofey Nevezhin, a farmer from Tyumen. 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 by the Empress Catherine the Great in 1782, which is when it acquired its present name and became the seat of an uyezd. 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 in 1982.