Mirny, Arkhangelsk Oblast

Mirny (Russian Мирный; peacefully to German ) is a town in north-west Russia. It belongs to the Arkhangelsk Oblast and has 30,280 inhabitants (as of October 14, 2010 ). The city was founded during the construction of the cosmodrome Plesetsk nearby.

Geography

The city is located about 300 km south of Arkhangelsk Oblasthauptstadt, just a few kilometers from the launch site Plesetsk. The nearest major town is located about 122 km south Nyandoma. In the southwest of the city of about 2.6 km is long 100 meters wide lake Pleszy.

The town of Mirny is the Oblast subordinated administratively directly and is among the Closed cities of Russia.

History

There were formerly two smaller settlements on the site of the present town of Mirny. One of them - named after the nearby lake village Pleszy - has already been mentioned the Great in 1693 in documents of the Russian Tsar Peter. In 1760 this chapel of the Kazan icon of the Mother of God ( Часовня Казанской иконы Божьей Матери ) was built. Significant for the region was the construction of the nearby railway line Moscow - Arkhangelsk, and the construction of the railway station in the settlement of Plesetsk in 1894.

With the start of construction of the secret missile launch site Plesetsk, emerged in the field since 1957, a housing estate for the civil and military officials. At the beginning of 1958, the territory was placed under the leadership of the Defense Ministry of the Soviet Union. In total, about 4,000 people have been resettled in the area which formerly comprised 18 smaller settlements. In 1960, the settlement Mirny was officially established. In February 1966, the settlement was granted the status of a closed- administrative-territorial structure (closed city). The existence of the town was kept secret for many years. Only in 1983 it was officially known as part of the publication of an article about the cosmodrome in Pravda.

Population Development

The following overview shows the evolution of populations of Mirny.

Census ( *)

Economy and infrastructure

In Mirny are five schools, a pilot, several university branch and sports and art schools for children. Furthermore, there are four libraries, as well as a hospital and a polyclinic. The townscape is largely shaped by plate architecture. Only about 800 of the more than 9100 homes are privately owned. The Baikonur and its related institutions are still the main employer in the town. At the nearby station in Plesetsk, there is a bus connection.