Sterlitamak

Sterlitamak (Russian Стерлитамак, Bashkir Стәрлетамаҡ ) with 273 486 inhabitants (as of October 14, 2010 ) to Ufa, the second largest city of the autonomous republic of Bashkortostan in the eastern part of European Russia.

Geography

Sterlitamak lies on the left bank of the river Belaya, and on the western slopes of the Southern Urals, about 130 km south of Ufa and about halfway between Ufa and Bashkortostan to the administrative boundary Orenburg Oblast. The two nearest towns are Ischimbai (21 km south of Sterlitamak away) and Salavat (29 km south).

History

Until the mid-18th century, existed in the area of the present town a staging post on the road between the provincial centers Ufa and Orenburg. Since in this area at that time salt production flourished, was a wholesale merchant at the Belaya build a port for the distribution of the upriver funded salt. Its construction was completed in 1766; Thus, this year is considered the founding year of the city Sterlitamak. The place name comes from the Bashkir and literally means " mouth of the Sterlja [ in the Belaya ] ".

1781 was awarded the city status of the site in the course of municipal reform, and a year later Empress Catherine II approved the design for a private Sterlitamaker coat of arms. Until the early 20th century, the operation of salt port city dominated economically.

From 1919 to 1922, Sterlitamak capital of the newly formed Soviet Russia within the Autonomous Soviet Republic of Bashkortostan, Ufa to this status was awarded. Since 1930 Sterlitamak is the capital of the eponymous Rajons of the Republic. During the Second World War, several industrial companies from the European part of the Soviet Union were evacuated to Sterlitamak.

In the postwar period the industry Sterlitamaks, which was not least due to the recorded in the 1930s, oil production around the city expanded. New city district, so that the city is already the population threshold of 100,000 exceeded in the 1950s. Due to the rapid industrialization, the environmental situation worsened significantly in Sterlitamak. Meanwhile, she has but, partly due to the industrial decline of the 1990s, again improved.

Demographics

Note: Census data

Economy and Transport

Today the city is an important center for the chemical industry, here especially the crude oil processing. There is also in the city of new mechanical engineering, the building materials industry and light industry.

Sterlitamak has direct road connections to the major cities Ufa and Orenburg, but these are not yet developed as major roads or highways. An alternative for the compounds to Ufa and Orenburg is the railway line between the two cities at the Sterlitamak has a railway station. However, the route is mainly single track and not electrified, so the journey by train takes noticeably longer than by car or by bus. In urban public transport especially the trolleybus network of the city plays a role.

Personalities

• Raisa Gorbachev (1932-1999), sociologist and "First Lady", went to school in Sterlitamak
• Yuri Morozov Ionowitsch (* 1949 in Sterlitamak ), Prime Minister of South Ossetia
• Irek Airatowitsch Saripow (* 1983), biathlete and cross-country skiers
• Eduard Awtandilowitsch Tjukin (born 1978 ), Weightlifting