NOVOSIBIRSK

Novosibirsk Trans-Siberian railway station

The recently completed second-tallest building of Novosibirsk, nicknamed "BlueTooth", "Batman", "Plug", etc.

'Novosibirsk' (, pronounced ) is Russia's third largest city, after Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and the administrative center of Novosibirsk Oblast. It is also the largest city in Siberia and the administrative center of Siberian Federal District, in the southwest of which it is located.

Contents

History

Geography

Climate

Industry, education, science, and culture

Broadcasting

Transport

Sports

Music

The Zoo of Novosibirsk

References

External links

History

It was founded in 1893 as the future site of the Trans-Siberian Railway bridge crossing the great Siberian river Ob. Its importance further increased early in the 20th century with the completion of the Turkestan-Siberia Railway, connecting Novosibirsk to Central Asia and the Caspian Sea.
From 1893 until 1925, Novosibirsk was called 'Novonikolayevsk' after Tsar Nicholas II.

Geography

The city lies along the Ob River in the West Siberian Plain. To the south is the Ukok Plateau part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site entitled ''Golden Mountains of Altai''.^[1]

Climate

The climate is sharply continental, with severely cold and snowy winters, and hot and dry summers. Temperatures in summer range from 20 to 25°C (75°F), in winter -18 to -20°C (0°F), but can reach -40°C (-40°F) in winter and 35-40°C (100°F) in summer. The difference between the highest and the lowest temperature is 88°C (158°F). Most of the time the weather is sunny, with an average of 2880 hours of sunshine per year.

Industry, education, science, and culture

Industries include machine manufacturing and metallurgy. It is the home of one of Novosibirsk State University (situated in nearby Akademgorodok), a number of institutes and a scientific research center. Novosibirsk boasts opera and ballet companies, several theaters, museums, and art galleries. The city is widely considered to be the cultural center of Siberia. ^[2][3][4]

Broadcasting

Novosibirsk is home to Russia's most powerful shortwave relay station east of the Ural mountains. This relay station can reach most of South Asia, the Middle East, and China. The Magadan and Vladivostok relay stations when operated in conjunction with Novosibirsk can guarantee that the Voice of Russia or any other broadcaster renting time at Novosibirsk is heard in the intended target area.

Transport

Novosibirsk is the third largest city in Russia (after Moscow and Saint Petersburg) and the first in Siberia in which a metro system was established (the Novosibirsk Metro, opened in 1986). The city is served by Novosibirsk Tolmachevo Airport with regular flights to Europe and Asia and other Russian cities. Tolmachevo is the hub for S7 Airlines. There is also the auxiliary Novosibirsk Elitsovka Airport and a smaller field for general aviation at Novosibirsk Severny Airport.

Sports

Amongst several other former Soviet Olympians, Novosibirsk has the distinction of being the hometown of Alexander Karelin, the 12-time world champion Greco-Roman wrestler (including 3 Olympic gold and 1 Olympic silver medals), voted by FILA as the greatest Greco-Roman wrestler of the 20th century.

★ HC Sibir Novosibirsk - ice hockey team playing in the Russian Hockey Super League

★ FC Sibir Novosibirsk - football team playing in the Russian First Division

★ Sibirtelekom-Lokomotiv Novosibirsk - basketball team playing in the Men's Russian Basketball Super League

★ Dynamo-Energiya Novosibirsk - basketball team playing in the Women's Russian Basketball Super League
Novosibirsk has numerous sports facilities.

Music

Two classical violinists of modern times, Vadim Repin and Maxim Vengerov, are natives of Novosibirsk.

The Zoo of Novosibirsk

The Zoo of Novosibirsk is a world renowned zoo and a popular tourist attraction to the city. The zoo has over 4000 species of animals, and actively participates in thirty-two different societies for preserving endangered species. On average, around 700,000 people visit the zoo each year.
In 2000, the zoo held the closest relative to the cape lion of South Africa. John Spence was always fascinated about the stories of these grand lions scaling the walls of General Van Rieebecks castle in the 17th century. Spence's search took thirty years, which led him to the Novosibirsk Zoo where he found the closest living resemblance to the cape lion; the zoo called him Simon. The lion and his family are kept outdoors in large, natural settings. "It is kept all the year around in the climate conditions of the West Siberia at the temperatures from to . In forty years, more than sixty cubs were born." - http://sibzoo.narod.ru/animal/lev.htm
The zoo's current curator's name is Rustislav. Simon's cubs were named after him and his wife, Olga.^[5]
==Sister cities==

★ Daejeon, South Korea (2001)

★ Changchun, China (1994)

★ Minneapolis-Saint Paul, United States (1989)

★ Sapporo, Japan (1990)

References

1. Altai: Saving the Pearl of Siberia
2. http://www.ostwest.com/en/russian-cities/novosibirsk/
3. http://www.sibtours.com/?GroupId=270&ParentID=103
4. http://www.world66.com/europe/russia/novosibirsk
5. Has Rare Lion of Africa's Cape Eluded Extinction?

External links

★ TPC map 1:500 000

★ Google map

★ Alexandre Telnov's photographic introduction to Novosibirsk and Akademgorodok

★ CNN article on Siberial computer industry