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Founding
Founding of Sterlitamak
city in Bashkortostan, Russia, administrative centre of Sterlitamaksky District
- 1735
- Europe
Founding
city in Bashkortostan, Russia, administrative centre of Sterlitamaksky District
Fetching the article from Wikipedia…
Sterlitamak (Russian: Стерлитама́к, IPA: [stʲɪrlʲɪtɐˈmak]; Bashkir: Стәрлетамаҡ, romanized: Stärletamaq; Bashkir pronunciation: [stær.ˌlɪ̞.tɑ.ˈmɑq] pronunciationⓘ) is the second-largest city in the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia, after the capital, Ufa. The city is located on the left bank of the Belaya River (a tributary of the Kama River), 121 kilometers (75 mi) from Ufa. The city's name comes from the Bashkir language and literally means "mouth of the Sterlya river". According to data released by Bashstat, Sterlitamak proper had a population of 277,410 at the time of the census. The permanent population of Sterlitamak as of January 1, 2023, was 279,174 people.
Sterlitamak is located just south of the geographical center of the Republic of Bashkortostan, 121 kilometers (75 mi) from Ufa. Approximately 50 kilometers (31 mi) to the east of the city are the Ural Mountains; to the west the East European Plain begins. In the vicinity of Sterlitamak (inside the Belaya basin) are the Shikhan Mountains (Yurak Tau, Kush Tau, Shakh Tau, and Tra Tau), which are unique geological formations. In the area of Mount Kush Tau, there are children summer camps and the Shikhany Sanatorium; there is also a ski base on the slope of the mountain.
Originally, the town was built in the area between the Ashkadar and Sterlya Rivers. This area is now considered the historical center and is known as the "Old Town". Subsequently, Sterlitamak was built mainly to the west and north.
The Sterlya, which falls into the Ashkadar River to the east, flows through the central part of the city. One train bridge and four regular bridges cross the Sterlya, and another one is under construction. In the southeastern part, the Ashkadar separates the Zaashkadarye Microdistrict from the main part of the city. In the east, Sterlitamak borders the Belaya River, which forms the boundary between Sterlitamaksky and Ishimbaysky Districts. In the south, near the heavy machinery factory, the city is bordered by the Olkhovka River, which is also an influx of the Ashkadar.
At the beginning of the 18th century, a post house ("Holes") was situated on the Ufa-Orenburg road where Sterlitamak now stands. A merchant, Savva Tetushev, by decree of the Empress Catherine the Great, founded a marina on the river Ashkadar, which after the merger with the post office became known as the "Sterlitamak salt pier".
During Pugachev's Rebellion of 1773–1775, Sterlitamak was under the control of insurgents, and was subsequently burned. After the restoration, it became the administrative center of Sterlitamaksky Uyezd, and was subsequently granted town status in 1781.
The city grew rapidly during industrialization in the late 19th century. At the time, local landowners established beer brewing, vodka distilling, and leatherworking industries.
Prior to the abolition of serfdom, the most influential landowners of Sterlitamaksky Uyezd were the Levashovs (from the village of Levashovka, now a part of the city), the Mikhaylovs (from the village of Mikhaylovka; now Mikhaylovka Microdistrict), and the Belousovs (from Belousovo; merged into the city in 2001). In the town, there were private companies and a variety of handicraft industries (leather and leather products, flour mill, the production of vodka and beer). Major employers of the city were Usmanov, Bayazitov, and Utyamyshev. After the abolition of serfdom, the city grew significantly in numbers and territory; there were large-scale production enterprises. In 1870, the building of Sterlitamak City Duma was constructed.
After the February Revolution, Sterlitamak Council nationalized the banks, the telegraph, and the main industrial enterprises in the city. By the decree of the Central Executive Committee on March 23, 1919, Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (BASSR) was proclaimed, and Sterlitamak became the capital of the autonomy. Later, in 1922, the capital was moved to Ufa as the Soviet government began transforming the town into an industrial center.
Before World War II, Sterlitamak was growing rapidly, mainly due to consolidation of enterprises and the construction of new ones. In 1922, the first power plant began operation, supplying the mills and sawmills with energy. A leather sheepskin factory and sawmill were merged into one large sawmill.
In 1930, Sterlitamaksky District was created (at that time 24,000 people lived in Sterlitamak). In 1932, oil started to be extracted within the district. Two towns were established in the vicinity of Sterlitamak to tend to the oil fields: Ishimbay 21 kilometers (13 mi) southeast and Salavat 26 kilometers (16 mi) to the south. At the same time, the railway was laid at Sterlitamak (mainly for freight), and in 1934 the first freight train arrived. In connection with all these changes, the population of the town prior to 1939 increased by 58% and reached 37,900 people.
During the Great Patriotic War, many industries were evacuated to Sterlitamak: soda and cement factories, the "Red Proletarian" factory, Lenin Machine-Tool Plant, Moscow Shoe Factory, and Voronezh State Drama Theater.
In 1960, a telephone relay station was built in Sterlitamak. The first trolleybus line in BASSR was put into operation in Sterlitamak in 1961, primarily due to the bad environmental situation in the 1980s. By the end of 1980, Sterlitamak was listed as one of the most polluted cities in the country because of the amount of harmful emissions. Due to the sharp rise in employment capacity in the city, it was decided to extend the city further to the east, to the Belaya River, and to construct bypass roads for freight transport from the west between Sterlitamak and Salavat.
Near midnight on May 17, 1990, a meteorite fell into a field 20 km west of Sterlitamak and made a crater about 10 m in size and 5 m in depth with surrounding ejecta. Several fragments up to 6 kg were found in and near the crater. One year later, the thumbprinted main mass of 315 kg was found when digging out the crater. The meteorite is made of iron of the octahedrite (IIIAB) type. The main mass is now in the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography, Ufa Scientific Center, the Russian Academy of Science.
According to data released by Bashstat, Sterlitamak had a population of 277,410 at the time of the 2020 census. Compared to the 2010 census, when 273,486 people were registered, there is a slight increase.
The national composition of the population of Sterlitamak according to the results of the 2020 census (excluding 6933 people who did not indicate their nationality):
Language proficiency and use of languages by the population of Sterlitamak (according to the results of the All-Russian Population Census of 2020, the languages with the largest number of people who speak them) include:
During the 1970s, in connection with the bad environment in the city, there were projects to make the city greener. There was even a program in which each student had to plant a tree, and according to former Mayor Spartak Akhmetov, the child who planted a tree in his childhood, will feel responsibility to the problems of pollution of his native city. As a result, by 2007 the number of traditional Russian birch trees had increased by 350% and surpassed even Samara, which had a million trees at the time.
In 1987, the Council of Ministers of the USSR passed a decision to improve the ecological situation in the city. Currently, there are many gardening and landscaping programs in Sterlitamak; republican and municipal budgets have allocated the necessary funds to accomplish these objectives, attracting more and more people to city landscaping and improvement.
Both Bashkortostan and Sterlitamak have implemented a federal program for renovating housing and communal services. The program has operated in the city since 2008, but few buildings have actually been renovated with balconies, new tile roofs, with streamlined elevators, new sewers, and repaired doors.
One result of the landscaping and improvement programs is the title of "Golden City of Russia" received by Sterlitamak. In 2007, the city was awarded the title of "the most comfortable city in Russia" among cities with populations up to a million people. In just 15 years, Sterlitamak went from one of the most polluted cities to one of the cleanest and greenest cities in Russia. One reason for the sharp improvement in the environment and livability was a unique strategy by the city administration on key industries—each of the seventeen largest plants were given responsibility for an area of the city that they must serve. Other reasons included a campaign for street cleanliness, the mentality of the residents, and the high sense of responsibility of city utility services.
In addition to the honorary title of "Golden City of Russia", in 2009, the municipal service of park management of Sterlitamak took the first place "Crystal Wheel 2009" among the city parks of Russia and CIS countries under the nomination of "Best Amusement Park with the number of visitors from 100 thousand to 250 thousand people per year".
For more than five years, this competition is being held in Sochi, in order to identify and disseminate the best of positive experiences in different areas of park operations and high service quality standards in the field of recreation and family entertainment. Its geography is quite wide: compete park management from Moscow, Krasnodar, Almetyevsk, Sterlitamak, Mytishchi, Tyumen, as well as the cities of CIS countries. This year, the competition was supported by the Ministry of Culture of Russia and has grown to even more significant scale. In Sterlitamak, the merging of all city parks into one municipal enterprise has significantly improved their logistical base, diversified their attractions, and increased their popularity among townspeople.
Sterlitamak has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb) with cold winters and warm summers.
Within the framework of the administrative divisions, Sterlitamak serves as the administrative center of Sterlitamaksky District, even though it is not a part of it. As an administrative division, it is incorporated separately as the city of republic significance of Sterlitamak—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, the city of republic significance of Sterlitamak is incorporated as Sterlitamak Urban Okrug.
The city has 12 hospitals accounting for 2,700 hospital beds and 18 outpatient clinics.
After the merger of the institutions, according to 2020 data, the total number of hospitals and polyclinics in the city is 10 organizations with branches attached to organizations.
The city has one TV broadcast station and one radio channel.
Major sports facilities in Sterlitamak currently operating include three stadiums (a sports stadium, stadium Sodovik, and stadium Sportakademiya) and two swimming pools (with a length of track, 25 meters).
Cultural sites in the city include the Sterlitamak Historical Museum, Art Gallery of Bashkir State, Art Museum MV Nesterova, "Theatrical Association, the Sterlitamak" (which includes the State Russian Drama Theater, Bashkir Drama Theater, and Dance Theater), Theater-studio "Benefis", and the City Philharmonic. There are 3 cinemas ("Iskra", cinema "Salavat" with 2 cinema halls, a children's "Pioneer"), 5 palaces and houses of culture, and the Palace of Pioneers and schoolchildren named after AP Gaidar.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Sterlitamak”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.