Sovetsk

 city, district center

Sovetsk (Russian: Сове́тск), formerly Kukarka (Russian: Кука́рка; Mari: Кукарка), is a town and the administrative center of Sovetsky District in Kirov Oblast, Russia. Population: 16,598 (2010 Census). The origins of the name "Kukarka" are uncertain. It may derive from Mari words kü (stone) and karman (fortress) or from kugyrak (great). Attempts have been made to trace it to either Udmurt (kar "town") or Turkic (kukar "burned-away forest"). It is not related to the Russian word "кухарка" (kukharka, "female cook").
In the 12th century, it was a capital of the local principality of Chumbylat, a renowned Mari leader and warrior. Kukarka was occupied in 1594 by Russians during colonization of Mari land. Later it was a sloboda in Vyatka Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was granted urban-type settlement status in 1918. Town status was granted to it in 1937, at which time its name was changed by the Soviet government into Sovetsk (lit. Sovietsk).