10 largest cities of Russia
Moscow
St.
Petersburg
Novosibirsk
Yekaterinburg
Nizhny
Novgorod
Kazan
Chelyabinsk
Omsk
Samara
Rostov-on-Don
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Omsk is one of the largest cities in Russia,
located at the confluence of the Irtysh and Om rivers. It is a major
scientific, cultural, sports and industrial center. City of Labor
Glory. It is a million-plus city (1,172,070 people for 2018), the
second most populous in Siberia and the eighth in Russia. A major
transportation hub: from the west to the east, the Trans-Siberian
Railway passes through the city, and from the south to the north -
the navigable river Irtysh.
Founded in 1716, Omsk officially
received city status in 1782. The capital of the Russian State
(White Russia) (1918-1920). Since 1934 - the administrative center
of the Omsk region.
The wooden fort of Omsk was built in 1716 by a cossack unit led
by Ivan Buchholz to protect the expanding Russian frontier along the
Ishim and the Irtysh rivers against the Kyrgyz and Dzungar nomads of
the Steppes. In 1768 Om fortress was relocated. The original Tobolsk
and the restored Tara gates, along with the original German Lutheran
Church and several public buildings are left from that time. Omsk
was granted town status in 1782.
In 1822 Omsk became an
administrative capital of Western Siberia and later in 1882 the
center of the vast Steppes region (today the northern part of
Kazakhstan) and Akmolinsk Oblast, in particular acquiring several
churches and cathedrals of various denominations, mosques, a
synagogue, the governor-general's mansion, and a military academy.
But as the frontier receded and its military importance diminished,
the town fell into lethargy. For that time Omsk became a major
center of the Siberian exile. From 1850 to 1854 Fyodor Dostoyevsky
served his sentence in an Omsk katorga prison.
Development of
the city was catalyzed with the construction of the Trans-Siberian
Railway in the 1890s that affected significance of Omsk as a
logistic hub. Many trade companies established stores and offices in
Omsk defining the character of the city center. British, Dutch, and
German consulates were established roughly at the same time in order
to represent their commercial interests. The pinnacle of development
for pre-revolutionary Omsk was the Siberian Exposition of
Agriculture and Industry in 1910. Popularity of the World Fairs
contributed to the image of Omsk as the "Chicago of Siberia".
Soon after the October Revolution, anti-Bolshevik White forces
seized control of Omsk. The "Provisional All-Russian Government" was
established here in 1918, headed by the Arctic explorer and
decorated war hero Admiral Kolchak. Omsk was proclaimed the capital
of Russia, and its central bank was tasked with safekeeping the
former empire's gold reserves. These were guarded by a garrison of
former Czechoslovakian POWs trapped in Siberia by the chaos of World
War I and the subsequent Revolution. Omsk became a prime target for
the Red Army leadership, which viewed it as a major target of their
Siberian campaign and eventually forced Kolchak and his government
to abandon the city and retreat along the Trans-Siberian eastward to
Irkutsk. Bolshevik forces entered the city in 1919.
Soviet
period
The Soviet government preferred the young Novonikolayevsk
(later known as Novosibirsk) as the administrative center of Western
Siberia, prompting the mass transfer of administrative, cultural,
and educational functions from Omsk. This somewhat stunted Omsk's
growth and sparked a continuing rivalry between the two cities. Omsk
received new life as a result of World War II. Because it was both
far from the fighting and had a well-developed infrastructure, Omsk
provided a perfect haven for much of the industry evacuated away
from the frontlines in 1941. Additionally, contingency plans were
made to transfer the provisional Soviet capital to Omsk in the event
of a German victory during the Battle of Moscow (October 1941 to
January 1942). At the end of the war, Omsk remained a major
industrial center, subsequently becoming a leader in Soviet military
production.
Military industries which moved to Omsk included
part of the OKMO tank-design bureau in 1941, and S.M. Kirov Factory
no. 185 from Chelyabinsk, in 1962. The Kirov Factory and Omsk
Transmash design bureau (KBTM) produced T-80 tanks from the 1970s,
and were responsible for the BTR-T, TOS-1, and the prototype Black
Eagle tank. Omsk Transmash declared bankruptcy in 2002.
In
the 1950s, following the development of the oil and natural-gas
field in Siberia, an oil-refining complex was built, along with an
entire "town of oil workers", expanding Omsk northward along the
Irtysh. It is currently the largest such complex in Russia. Gazprom
Neft, the parent company, is the largest employer in the city,
wielding its tax rates as leverage in negotiations with municipal
and regional authorities.