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Ekaterinburg)
Snow-covered statue of
Sverdlov in Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg's "
Church on the Blood" built on the spot where the Tsar and his family were executed.
Yekaterinburg (Russian: Екатеринбу́рг, also transliterated Ekaterinburg or Jekaterinburg) is a major city in the central part of Russian Federation, the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Oblast. Situated on the eastern side of the Ural mountain range, at 56°51′N 60°36′E It is the main industrial and cultural center of the Ural region. Its population of 1,293,537 (2002 Census) makes it Russia's fifth largest city. Between 1924 and 1991, the city was known as Sverdlovsk (Свердло́вск), after the Bolshevik leader Yakov Sverdlov.
History
The city was founded in 1723 by Vasily Tatischev and named after Saint Catherine, the namesake of tsar Peter the Great's wife Catherine (Yekaterina). It was renamed Sverdlovsk after the Bolshevik party leader and Soviet official Yakov Sverdlov from 1924 to 1991.
Soon after the Russian Revolution, on July 17, 1918, Tsar Nicholas II, his wife, Alexandra, and their children Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Tsarevich Alexei were executed by Bolsheviks in this city.
In the 1920s Yekaterinburg became a large industrial center of Russia. The heavy machinery factory Uralmash, the biggest in Europe, was built.
During World War II, many government technical institutions and whole factories were evacuated to Yekaterinburg from the war-affected areas (mostly Moscow) and many remained in Yekaterinburg after the war was over.
In the 1960s, during the Khruschev government, many similar five-storey apartment blocks were built around Yekaterinburg. Most of them still remain today in Kirovsky, Chkalovsky, and other residential areas of Yekaterinburg.
On May 1, 1960, an American spy-plane U-2, piloted by Francis Gary Powers, was shot down over Yekaterinburg. The pilot was captured and later exchanged for Rudolph Abel, a Russian spy in the United States.
There was an anthrax outbreak in Yekaterinburg (then Sverdlovsk) in April and May 1979, which was attributed by Soviet officials to the locals eating contaminated meat. However, American agencies believe that the locals inhaled spores accidentally released from an aerosol of pathogen at a military microbiology facility. Dr. Kanatjan Alibekov's account of the outbreak in his book Biohazard agrees with the American agencies' view.
Geography
Yekaterinburg from space, October 1994
Yekaterinburg is situated 1,667 km east of Moscow.
Economy
The city produces heavy machinery, steel, chemicals, tires, and petroleum. Gem cutting is a well-developed light industry.
Education
Urals Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences (UB RAS) and numerous scientific research institutes and establishments are situated in Yekaterinburg. With its 16 state-owned universities and educational academies, as well as a number of private higher education institutions (2005), Yekaterinburg is considered the leading educational and scientific center of the Urals. Urals A.M. Gorky State University, Ural State Technical University, Urals State Pedagogical University, Urals State University of Forestry, Urals State University of Mines, Urals State University of the Railways, Russian State Vocational Pedagogics University, Urals State University of Economics, Military Institute of Artillery, Urals State Conservatory, Urals State Agricultural Academy, Urals State Academy of Law, Urals State Academy of Medicine, Urals State Academy of Performing Arts, Urals Academy of Public Service, and Urals Academy of Architecture are among them.
Transportation and accommodation
Yekaterinburg is an important railway junction, with lines radiating to all parts of the Urals and the rest of Russia. As the economic slump subsided, several European airlines started or resumed flying to the city's Koltsovo International Airport (SVX). These include Lufthansa, British Airways and CSA Czech Airlines.
International relations
The largest city in the Urals and one of the top five in Russia, Yekaterinburg has a number of consulates of major countries. For people wishing to make a visa application and needing to attend interview, this can easily take a half-week off the travelling time to get to the interview (in the event that there are internal flights to Yekaterinburg, they may only be once per week).
Yekaterinburg is a sister city of San Jose, California, U.S.A., and Pilsen, Czech Republic.
Consulates
