Velsk

Velsk (Russian Вельск ) is a city in North-West Russia. It belongs to the Arkhangelsk Oblast and has 23,885 inhabitants (as of October 14, 2010 ) It is rayon administrative center of the homonymous Welski.

Geography

The city is located about 545 km south of Arkhangelsk Oblasthauptstadt, at the mouth of the eponymous wave in the Waga, a left tributary of the Northern Dvina.

History

Velsk was first mentioned in 1137 as a wave in a document of Prince Svyatoslav Olegovich Nowgroder. By the year 1550 it received the name Welski Pogost. From the mid- 16th century, the now Welski Posad called settlement was part of the Waschski Ujesd ( Важский уезд ). In 1708 it became part of the government Archangelgorod. On August 6, 1780 Velsk received the city status and was from 1796 to 1929 part of the government of Vologda. The two-piece Coat of Velsk contains since this time next to the barrel of tar that based Velsk Teerindustrie symbolizes, in the upper part of the coat of arms Vologda. In the 19th century Velsk center of the flat production. From the middle of the 19th century until 1940, the area around Velsk was also a place of political exile. 1929 Velsk was rajon to the center of the newly established Welski and in 1937 part of the Arkhangelsk Oblast.

Demographics

The following overview shows the evolution of populations of Velsk.

Note: Census data (1926 rounded)

Economy and Transport

The main industries are food industry, the wood processing industry and mechanical engineering.

In Velsk the Waga from the western section is Konosha - Kotlas of post Vorkuta Pechora railway crossed. By Moscow the highway from Moscow to Arkhangelsk M8 runs. The city is also in possession of an airport.

Sons and daughters of the town

• Arseny Borisovich Roginski (* 1946), human