Olonets

Olonets (Russian Олонец; Karelian Anuksenlinnu; Finnish Aunus; Swedish Olonets ) is a small town with 9056 inhabitants (as of October 14, 2010 ) in the extreme south of belonging to Russia Republic of Karelia. It lies at the confluence of Megrega and Lake Ladoga inflow Olonka and is the center of a fertile agricultural district east of Lake Ladoga. She is also the administrative center of a Rajons same name. Distance to Saint Petersburg is 310 km, to Petrozavodsk 150 km and 220 km to the Finnish border.

More than 60 percent of city residents are Karelians, however, as almost everywhere in the Republic of predominantly Russian-speaking.

The Rajon Olonets ( 3988 km ², 26,300 inhabitants) is 90 percent of dense coniferous forests and swamps, the forest sector is therefore the main industry. The area is rich in various natural resources such as peat, gravel and umber. Also, livestock and fur farming are important sources of income.

History

Olonets was first mentioned in writing in 1137, making it one of the oldest occupied settlements of northern Russia.

The city was in 1649 attached as northwest outpost of Russia against Sweden and received in the same year the town charter of Tsar Alexei I. In the 18th century, however, the fortress of Olonets lost with the shift of the Russian- Swedish border to the west its importance and was in the middle of the 18th century eventually demolished.

Only the emerging and fast growing new capital, St. Petersburg, it was thanks to them that Olonets could at least maintain its importance as a trading site. 1784, however, was the fledgling city of Petrozavodsk, northeast of Olonets, the capital and commercial center of the province, founded in 1773 Olonets. Until the October Revolution Olonets remained a small provincial town. In 1912, she had 2,058 inhabitants.

The declaration of independence of Finland in 1917 West Karelia came under Finnish sovereignty, but East Karelia with Olonets was Soviet Russia. Finnish White Guards thereupon attempted to annex its territory and East Karelia. Olonets was during the brief Finnish crew in 1919 the scene of bloody battles, ultimately remained the so-called Aunus campaign in Finland but in vain.

1940, within the framework of territorial concessions by Finland to the Soviet Union after the Winter War ( 1939-40 ), the Karelian Bear SSR was founded, was one of the Olonets until the following year as part of the Continuation War ( 1941-44 ) occupied by Finnish troops been. On 25 June 1944, the reconquest of the city by the Red Army and was Olonets was again part of the Karelo- Finnish SSR until its dissolution in 1956. Until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 was Olonets then at the Autonomous SSR Karelia within the RSFSR. Since 1991 is the city of the Republic of Karelia in the Russian Federation.

Demographics

Note: Census data

Sons and daughters of the town

• Witold Pilecki (1901-1948), a Polish soldier and resistance fighter
• Sergei Seljanow ( born 1955 ), film director