Saransk

Saransk (English)
Саранск (Russian)
-  City[1]  -

View of Saransk

Location of the Republic of Mordovia in Russia
Saransk
Location of Saransk in the Republic of Mordovia
Coordinates: 54°11′N 45°11′E / 54.183°N 45.183°E / 54.183; 45.183Coordinates: 54°11′N 45°11′E / 54.183°N 45.183°E / 54.183; 45.183
Coat of arms
Flag
City Day June 12
Administrative status (as of May 2014)
Country Russia
Federal subject Republic of Mordovia[1]
Administratively subordinated to city of republic significance of Saransk[1]
Capital of Republic of Mordovia[2]
Administrative center of city of republic significance of Saransk[1]
Municipal status (as of March 2010)
Urban okrug Saransk Urban Okrug[3]
Administrative center of Saransk Urban Okrug[3]
Head of Administration Pyotr Tultayev
Representative body Council of Deputies
Statistics
Area 383 km2 (148 sq mi)[4]
Population (2010 Census) 297,415 inhabitants[5]
- Rank in 2010 64th
Density 777/km2 (2,010/sq mi)[6]
Time zone MSK (UTC+03:00)[7]
Founded 1641
City status since 1780
Postal code(s)[8] 430000–430013, 430015–430019, 430021, 430023–430025, 430027, 430028, 430030–430034, 430700, 430899, 430950, 995300
Dialing code(s) +7 8342
Official website
Saransk on Wikimedia Commons

Saransk (Russian: Саранск; IPA: [sɐˈransk]) is the capital city of the Republic of Mordovia, Russia, as well as its financial and economic center. It is located in the Volga basin at the confluence of the Saranka and Insar Rivers, about 630 kilometers (390 mi) east of Moscow. Population: 297,415 (2010 Census);[5] 304,866 (2002 Census);[9] 312,128 (1989 Census).[10]

History

The Russian fortress Atemar, founded in 1641, took its name from a nearby Mordvin village; at the time the fortress stood on the southeastern frontier of the Tsardom of Russia. The current name, "Saransk", refers to the city's situation on the Saranka river. Soon after its founding, the city became an important trade center for nearby Erzya villagers. After 1708 Saransk was assigned to Azov Province, and later to the Kazan Governorate. In 1780 the settlement was granted town status and was again transferred, this time to the Penza Governorate. In 1928 Saransk become the administrative center of the newly established Mordvin National Okrug, which became the Mordovian Autonomous Oblast in 1930. Soviet planners reconstructed the old city center in the 1960s and 1970s, adding wide streets and planning the construction of massive residential areas.

Administrative and municipal status

Saransk is the capital of the republic.[2] Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with three work settlements (Lukhovka, Nikolayevka, and Yalga) and thirteen rural localities, incorporated as the city of republic significance of Saransk—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.[1] As a municipal division, the city of republic significance of Saransk is incorporated as Saransk Urban Okrug.[3]

Climate

Saransk has a relatively chilly version of the humid continental climate[11] with warm but not hot summers and cold winters, that averages well below freezing for five months of the year. Transition periods are extremely short and only April and October are between 0 °C (32 °F) and 10 °C (50 °F) in mean temperatures.

Climate data for Saransk
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 11.0
(51.8)		 5.0
(41)		 10.0
(50)		 28.9
(84)		 32.2
(90)		 34.0
(93.2)		 33.9
(93)		 36.1
(97)		 31.1
(88)		 23.0
(73.4)		 13.9
(57)		 10.0
(50)		 36.1
(97)
Average high °C (°F) −10.5
(13.1)		 −9.0
(15.8)		 −2.2
(28)		 10.6
(51.1)		 19.2
(66.6)		 22.3
(72.1)		 23.9
(75)		 22.4
(72.3)		 17.2
(63)		 7.4
(45.3)		 −1.2
(29.8)		 −5.9
(21.4)		 8.2
(46.8)
Daily mean °C (°F) −13.5
(7.7)		 −12.5
(9.5)		 −5.7
(21.7)		 6.4
(43.5)		 13.9
(57)		 16.8
(62.2)		 18.4
(65.1)		 16.9
(62.4)		 12.0
(53.6)		 3.8
(38.8)		 −3.6
(25.5)		 −8.5
(16.7)		 4.0
(39.2)
Average low °C (°F) −17.2
(1)		 −16.5
(2.3)		 −9.6
(14.7)		 2.1
(35.8)		 8.1
(46.6)		 11.0
(51.8)		 13.2
(55.8)		 11.7
(53.1)		 7.0
(44.6)		 0.4
(32.7)		 −6.4
(20.5)		 −11.6
(11.1)		 −0.2
(31.6)
Record low °C (°F) −34.0
(−29.2)		 −36.1
(−33)		 −30.0
(−22)		 −10.0
(14)		 −2.2
(28)		 1.1
(34)		 3.9
(39)		 2.0
(35.6)		 −5.0
(23)		 −17.2
(1)		 −22.2
(−8)		 −28.9
(−20)		 −36.1
(−33)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 32
(1.26)		 24
(0.94)		 25
(0.98)		 32
(1.26)		 39
(1.54)		 59
(2.32)		 74
(2.91)		 50
(1.97)		 49
(1.93)		 47
(1.85)		 44
(1.73)		 35
(1.38)		 510
(20.08)
Source: [12]

Industry

Industrial activity in Saransk includes the production of electrical cables, chemical production, textile manufacturing, food processing, machine building, and metallurgy. The city has two thermal power stations. The city has the confectionery plant Lamzur.

The most notable industrial enterprises include the Lisma Electrical Factory which employs nearly 12,000 people; the Biokhimik pharmaceutical facility; Rezinotekhnika, a rubber products manufacturer; cable manufacturer Saranskkabel; and Elektrovypryamitel, which manufactures electronic components and, on a small scale, television sets.

Demographics

Saransk is by far the largest city in Mordovia and accounts for 34.3% of the total population of the republic (as of the 2002 Census). Ethnic Russians form the majority of the population (about 85%), and Russian, rather than any of two co-official Mordvinic languages, is the common language of communication in the city. As with many provincial capitals in Russia, the population of Saransk has decreased since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, primarily as a result of economic migration to larger cities, made especially attractive by the downsizing, or outright collapse, of many smaller, regional, industrial enterprises.

Culture and religion

Saransk has several theaters, including the Dramatic Theater (founded in 1961), the State Puppet Theater of the Republic of Mordovia, and a Comedy theater. The Saransk Regional Museum is dedicated primarily to the history of the city, while the Mordovian Museum of Visual Arts has an excellent collection of works by Russian masters Stepan Erzia and Fedot Sychkov.

The city is also home to Mordovian State University (founded in 1957) as well as several technical colleges.

Saransk has three Orthodox Churches and also a small Lutheran Church provided by the Finnish Lutheran Church and opened in 2005. There are also three Mosques. The main cathedral in Saransk is Cathedral of St. Theodore Ushakov, which was completed in 2006.

New Opera and Ballet Theater buildings of Yaushev was open on September 9, 2011 in Saransk.

Cityscape and architecture

The city has a large number of buildings remaining from the 17th and 18th centuries; however, many parts of the town are dominated by Soviet era apartment blocks, dating mainly from the 1960s, similar to other provincial towns which expanded rapidly due to fast industrialization. These buildings are nearing the end of their service life and are in need of serious repair and, in many cases, replacement. Industrial enterprises are mainly located to the north of the town center. The eastern part of Saransk, located east of the Insar River, is Posop. An interesting detail is the Soviet era military base, belonging to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, which is located along the railway lines and serves of a time when Saransk was, effectively, a closed city. Another city landmark is the Saransk TV Tower — a 180-meter-tall guyed tubular steel mast built in 1961.

Transportation

The municipal transit system of Saransk consists primarily of a network of bus and trolleybus lines.

Saransk is a station on the Kuybyshev Railway, and has additional stations serving regional railways to Ruzayevka and Krasny Uzel. Formerly, Saransk was also served by two daily Penza–Nizhny Novgorod passenger trains, carrying passengers from nearby villages mainly to either Ruzayevka junction station and Penza or to Arzamas and Nizhny Novgorod.

The city is served by the small Saransk Airport (IATA: SKX, ICAO: UWPS) southeast of downtown. It is served primarily by small regional carriers; the most common aircraft is the An-24. There are scheduled flights to and from Moscow's Domodedovo airport on weekdays. Saransk is also home to the Lyambir airforce base.

Twin towns and sister cities

Saransk is twinned with:[13]

Notable people

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Law #7-Z
  2. 1 2 Constitution of the Republic of Mordovia, Article 109
  3. 1 2 3 Law #114-Z
  4. ↑ "Саранск — столица Мордовии". Администрация городского округа Саранск. Archived from the original on August 22, 2011. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  5. 1 2 Russian Federal State Statistics Service (2011). "Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том 1" [2010 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года (2010 All-Russia Population Census) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved June 29, 2012.
  6. ↑ The value of density was calculated automatically by dividing the 2010 Census population by the area specified in the infobox. Please note that this value may not be accurate as the area specified in the infobox does not necessarily correspond to the area of the entity proper or is reported for the same year as the population.
  7. ↑ Правительство Российской Федерации. Федеральный закон №107-ФЗ от 3 июня 2011 г. «Об исчислении времени», в ред. Федерального закона №248-ФЗ от 21 июля 2014 г. «О внесении изменений в Федеральный закон "Об исчислении времени"». Вступил в силу по истечении шестидесяти дней после дня официального опубликования (6 августа 2011 г.). Опубликован: "Российская газета", №120, 6 июня 2011 г. (Government of the Russian Federation. Federal Law #107-FZ of June 31, 2011 On Calculating Time, as amended by the Federal Law #248-FZ of July 21, 2014 On Amending Federal Law "On Calculating Time". Effective as of after sixty days following the day of the official publication.).
  8. ↑ Почта России. Информационно-вычислительный центр ОАСУ РПО. (Russian Post). Поиск объектов почтовой связи (Postal Objects Search) (Russian)
  9. ↑ Russian Federal State Statistics Service (May 21, 2004). "Численность населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов – районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более человек" [Population of Russia, Its Federal Districts, Federal Subjects, Districts, Urban Localities, Rural Localities—Administrative Centers, and Rural Localities with Population of Over 3,000] (XLS). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года [All-Russia Population Census of 2002] (in Russian). Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  10. ↑ Demoscope Weekly (1989). "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г. Численность наличного населения союзных и автономных республик, автономных областей и округов, краёв, областей, районов, городских поселений и сёл-райцентров" [All Union Population Census of 1989: Present Population of Union and Autonomous Republics, Autonomous Oblasts and Okrugs, Krais, Oblasts, Districts, Urban Settlements, and Villages Serving as District Administrative Centers]. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года [All-Union Population Census of 1989] (in Russian). Институт демографии Национального исследовательского университета: Высшая школа экономики [Institute of Demography at the National Research University: Higher School of Economics]. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Saransk, Mordovia, Russia Climate Summary". Weatherbase. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  12. ↑ "Saransk, Mordovia, Russia Temperature Averages". Weatherbase. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  13. ↑ http://adm-saransk.ru/saransk/
  14. ↑ Gérard Depardieu registered as Russian resident amid tax row with France

Sources

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