Luga, Leningrad Oblast

Luga (Russian Луга ) is a town with 38 593 inhabitants (as of October 14, 2010 ). in the Leningrad Oblast in Russia. It is located on the eponymous river, 139 km south of Saint Petersburg and 100 km east of Veliky Novgorod.

History

The city was founded in 1777 on adoption Catherine the Great on the banks of Luga; a settlement was known at this point since the 10th century. The river's name comes from a word from manic inger (Compare: Estonian laugas = German "swamp "). 1781, the newly founded town was awarded the St. Petersburg government. Although Luga 1857 received a railroad connection, it was a rather insignificant town until the 20th century. End of the 19th century there were only two factories and only a few buildings made ​​of brick. 1908 died in the vicinity, on Good Ljubensk, the Russian composer Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov.

1927 Luga administrative center of a Rajons within the Leningrad Oblast. August 24 1941 to February 12, 1944 the city was occupied in the war against the Soviet Union by the Wehrmacht, served as a supply - coordinating center and was the scene of fierce fighting.

Demographics

Note: Census data

Economy and infrastructure

Today there are in the city several smaller industrial enterprises, while primarily agricultural activity in the surrounding area. Through the city's highway M20 and the railway line St. Petersburg - Pskov -Warsaw runs.

Sons and daughters of the town

• Vladimir Bystrov ( born 1984 ), football player
• Alexander Solovyov (1846-1879), assassin
• Georgi Zažitski (* 1946), fencer