Irkutsk

Russia / Irkutsk /
 city, capital city of state/province/region, district center, City of Labour Valour
Irkutsk (/ɪərˈkutsk/ eer-KOOTSK; Russian: Иркутск, IPA: [ɪrˈkutsk]; Buryat and Mongolian: Эрхүү, Erhüü, [ɛrˈxuː]) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 617,473 as of the 2010 Census, Irkutsk is the 25th-largest city in Russia by population, the fifth-largest in the Siberian Federal District, and one of the largest cities in Siberia. Located in the south of the eponymous oblast, the city proper lies on the Angara River, a tributary of the Yenisei, about 850 kilometres (530 mi) to the south-east of Krasnoyarsk and about 520 kilometres (320 mi) north of Ulaanbaatar. The Trans-Siberian Highway (Federal M53 and M55 Highways) and Trans-Siberian Railway connect Irkutsk to other regions in Russia and Mongolia. Many distinguished Russians were sent into exile in Irkutsk for their part in the Decembrist revolt of 1825, and the city became an exile-post for the rest of the century. Some historic wooden houses still survive. When the railway reached Irkutsk, it had earned the nickname of "The Paris of Siberia." The city was the center of bitter fighting in the Russian Civil War of 1918–20. Afterward, in the Soviet period, its architecture was dominated by the mandatory squared-up style. The city became a major centre of aircraft manufacture. The historic centre of Irkutsk is included in UNESCO's tentative list of World Heritage Sites. Irkutsk was named after the Irkut River. Its name was derived from the Buryat word for "spinning," and was used as an ethnonym among local tribes, who were known as Yrkhu, Irkit, Irgit, and Irgyt. The city was formerly known as Yandashsky, named after the local Tuvan chief Yandasha Gorogi.

Google panorama:
goo.gl/maps/TTCavx1dofhuzYHz5
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Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irkutsk
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   52°19'7"N   104°14'44"E

Comments

  • Geography and climate The city proper lies at the Angara River, a tributary of the Yenisei, 72 kilometers (45 mi) below its outflow from Lake Baikal, and on the bank opposite the suburb of Glaskovsk. The river, which has a breadth of 580 meters (1,903 ft) is crossed by a flying bridge. The Irkut River, from which the town takes its name, is a small river which joins the Angara directly opposite the town. The main portion of the city is separated from several important landmarks—the monastery, the fort, and the port, as well as its suburbs by another tributary, the Ida, or Ushakovka River. As a Siberian city, Irkutsk experiences a subarctic climate, characterized by extreme variation of temperatures between seasons. Temperatures can be very warm in the summer, and brutally cold in the winter. The warmest month of the year in Irkutsk is July, when the mean temperature is 18 °C (64.4 °F), the highest temperature recorded being 37 C. The coldest month of the year is January, when the mean temperature is only −19 °C (−2.2 °F). Precipitation also varies widely throughout the year, with the wettest month also being July, when precipitation averages 119 mm (4.70 in). The driest month is February, when precipitation averages only 7.6 mm (.30 in), mainly due to the fact that almost all precipitation during the Siberian winter falls as fluffy, low moisture content snow. Irkutsk is situated in a landscape of rolling hills within the thick taiga, typical of eastern Siberia, and in contrast to the flat, open steppe of western Siberia. According to the regional plan Irkutsk city will be agglomerated with the satellite industrial towns of Shelekhov and Angarsk to form a metropolitan area with a total population of over one million.
  • (the city of dream OF VERNE )Michael Strogoff - his mission to bring to this city