Barnaul (, ) is the largest

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and

administrative centre An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

Altai Krai Altai Krai (, ) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai). It borders, clockwise from the west, Kazakhstan ( East Kazakhstan Region, Abai Region and Pavlodar Region), Novosibirsk and Kemerovo, and the Altai Republic. The krai's administrative ce ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, located at the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

of the Barnaulka and Ob rivers in the

West Siberian Plain The West Siberian Plain () is a large plain that occupies the western portion of Siberia, between the Ural Mountains in the west and the Yenisei, Yenisei River in the east, and the Altai Mountains on the southeast. Much of the plain is poorly d ...

. As of the 2021 census, its population was 630,877, making it the 20th-largest city in Russia and the fourth-largest in the

Siberian Federal District Siberian Federal District ( rus, Сибирский федеральный округ, p=sʲɪˈbʲirskʲɪj fʲɪdʲɪˈralʲnɨj ˈokrʊk) is one of the eight federal districts of Russia. Its population was 17,178,298 according to the 20 ...

. Located in the south of

western Siberia Western Siberia or West Siberia ( rus, Западная Сибирь, p=ˈzapədnəjə sʲɪˈbʲirʲ; , ) is a region in North Asia. It is part of the wider region of Siberia that is mostly located in the Russia, Russian Federation, with a Sout ...

on the left bank of the Ob River, Barnaul is a major transport, industrial, cultural, medical and educational hub of Siberia. Barnaul was founded by the wealthy

Demidov The Demidov family (Russian: Деми́довы), also known as Demidoff or Dimidov, is a prominent Russian nobility, Russian noble family that rose to immense wealth and influence during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Demidovs became a wealth ...

family, who intended to develop the production of

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

and

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

, which continued after the factories were taken over by the Crown. Barnaul became a major centre of silver production in Russia. Barnaul was granted city status in 1771.

Administrative and municipal status

Barnaul is the

of the krai.Charter of Altai Krai, Article 6 Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with the work settlement of Yuzhny and twenty-four rural localities, incorporated as the city of krai significance of Barnaul – an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

.Law #28-ZS As a municipal division, the city of krai significance of Barnaul is incorporated as Barnaul Urban Okrug.Law #144-ZS

Geography

Barnaul is located in the

forest steppe A forest steppe is a temperate-climate ecotone and habitat type composed of grassland interspersed with areas of woodland or forest. Locations Forest steppe primarily occurs in a belt of forest steppes across northern Eurasia from the easter ...

zone of the

, on the left bank of the

Ob River The Ob (; ) is a major river in Russia. It is in western Siberia, and with its tributary the Irtysh forms the world's seventh-longest river system, at . The Ob forms at the confluence of the Biya and Katun which have their origins in the Alta ...

, at its confluence with the Barnaulka. The border with Kazakhstan is to the south, which makes Barnaul the closest major city to the

Altai Mountains The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central Asia, Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob River, Ob have their headwaters. The ...

. The city is also situated relatively close to the Russian border with Mongolia and the border with China.

History

Ancient history

The area around the city has been inhabited by

modern humans Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are great apes characterized by their hairlessness, bipedalism, and high intelligen ...

Neanderthals Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...

and

Denisovans The Denisovans or Denisova hominins ( ) are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic human that ranged across Asia during the Lower Paleolithic, Lower and Middle Paleolithic, and lived, based on current evidence, from 285 thousand to 25 thou ...

, for hundreds of thousands of years. They settled here to take advantage of the confluence of the rivers, used for transportation and fishing. In the late BC millennia, the locality was a centre of activity for

Scythian The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people who had migrated during the 9th to 8th centuries BC fr ...

and various

Turkic peoples Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West Asia, West, Central Asia, Central, East Asia, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members ...

Russian Empire

While 1730 is considered Barnaul's official establishment date, its first mention dates back to 1724.Charter of Barnaul, Article 4 It was granted city status in 1771. Chosen for its proximity to the mineral-rich Altai Mountains and its location on a major river, it was founded by the wealthy

family. The Demidovs wanted to develop the

in the mountains, and soon found substantial deposits of silver as well. In 1747, the Demidovs' factories were taken over by the Crown. Barnaul became the centre of silver production of the Russian Empire. In 1914, Barnaul was the site of the largest

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

riot in Russia during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. There were more than 100 casualties from the fighting. Mary 'Marie' 'Maria' Stepanovna Zudilova Tatuloff Zacharenko Gurdin (1908–1998) was reputedly born in this city. She later became the mother of American actresses Natalie and Lana Wood. Her father Stepan was reputedly killed in the 1918 street fighting between the Whites and Reds following the Revolution. Afterward her mother took Mary and her siblings as refugees to

Harbin, China Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban population (after Shenyang, Liaoning prov ...

. Mary married Alexander Tatuloff there in 1925, and they had a daughter Olga together. Mary eventually immigrated to the United States, where she divorced Alexander in 1936 and later married Nicholas Zacharenko, from Ussuriysk, and had two daughters with him.

World War II

Over half of the light ammunition used by the Soviet Union in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

is estimated to have been manufactured in Barnaul.

Recent history

In 2012, when residents of Barnaul were denied a permit for a street protest, they ingeniously circumvented the restriction by staging a demonstration with toys such as teddy bears, Lego figures, and toy soldiers holding signs denouncing electoral corruption. The photos of these rebellious figurines quickly spread across Russia, prompting others to replicate the protest. Faced with an awkward dilemma, Putin's government decided to ban the toy protests, asserting that toys, not being Russian citizens, were ineligible to participate in public gatherings, as explained by a government official.

Demographics

As of 2021, the ethnic composition of Barnaul was:

Economy

Barnaul is an important industrial centre of Western

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

. There are more than 100 industrial enterprises in the city, employing approximately 120,000 people. Leading industries include diesel and carbon processing; as well as production of heavy machinery, tyres, furniture and footwear. The Barnaul Cartridge Plant, a major manufacturer of small-arms ammunition, is located in the city.

Transportation

Barnaul is located on the South Siberian, Turk–Sib and Omsk–Barnaul railway lines. Barnaul has public transport of Buses, Minibuses, Trolleybuses, Trams and Taxies. Intercity bus routes are operate to Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk, Biysk, Rubtsovsk and other cities. Also there are bus routes to Kazakhstan cities Oskemen, Pavlodar. Barnaul International Airport is located 16 kilometres West of the city center. It is served by airlines such as Aeroflot, S7, Nordwind, Iraero and Ural Airlines. It has regular flights to Moscow, Novosibirsk, St. Petersburg, Surgut etc.

Climate

The

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

of Barnaul (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Dfb'') is defined by its geographical position at the southern end of the Siberian

: it is subject to long winters, with an average of in January, but also enjoys a short warm season in the summer with an average temperature of in July. Temperatures can vary in the extreme, from below in the winter to above in the summer. The climate is relatively dry. The average

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...

in the area is per year, 75% of which occurs during the region's warmer season. This means snow packs can be quite moderate in spite of the cold temperatures. Barnaul41

Notable people

Alexander von Bunge Alexander Georg von Bunge (; – ) was a Russian botanist. He is best remembered for scientific expeditions into Asia and especially Siberia. Early life and education Bunge was born under the name Alexander Andreevič von Bunge on in Kyiv as ...

, botanist, worked in Barnaul * Maria Butina, alleged agent of Russia, and member of the

State Duma The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of t ...

* Aleksey Chuklin, racing driver * Pyotr Kozmitch Frolov, scientist and inventor * Valery Kopytov, serial killer * Tatyana Kotova, Olympic champion in

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

* Kirill Marchenko, NHL professional ice hockey player * Julia Neigel, singer, songwriter * Ivan Nifontov, World champion and Olympic medalist in

Judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

* Alexey Novikov-Priboy, writer * Ivan Polzunov, inventor, creator of the first two-cylinder engine in the world * Anastasiia Salos, European and world medalist rhythmic gymnast * Konstantin Scherbakov, pianist *

Sergey Shubenkov Sergey Vladimirovich Shubenkov (; born 4 October 1990) is a Russian Sport of athletics, athlete who competes in the 110 metres hurdles. He is the 2015 World Championships in Athletics, 2015 World Champion, two-time European Athletics Championshi ...

, track and field athlete, 2015 world champion * Nadezhda Shuvayeva-Olkhova, Olympic champion in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

* Alexey Smertin, former captain of the

Russia national football team The Russia national football team () represents Russia in men's international football. It is controlled by the Russian Football Union (, ), the governing body for football in Russia. Russia's home ground is the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow and ...

* Rita Streich, coloratura soprano * Andrei Svechnikov, professional NHL ice hockey player * Evgeny Svechnikov, professional NHL and KHL ice hockey player * Nikolai Yadrintsev, explorer and archeologist, discoveries include the Orkhon script,

Genghis Khan Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongols, Mongol tribes, he launched Mongol invasions and ...

's capital,

Karakorum Karakorum (Khalkha Mongolian: Хархорум, ''Kharkhorum''; Mongolian script:, ''Qaraqorum'') was the capital city, capital of the Mongol Empire between 1235 and 1260 and of the Northern Yuan, Northern Yuan dynasty in the late 14th and 1 ...

* Mikhail Yakubov, NHL and KHL professional ice hockey player * Mikhail Yevdokimov, comedian and former governor of Altai Krai * Maxim Zimin, racing driver * Maria Zudilova, mother of

Natalie Wood Natalie Wood (née Zacharenko; July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981) was an American actress. She began acting at age four and co-starred at age eight in ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947). As a teenager, she was nominated for an Academy Award f ...

Twin towns – sister cities

Barnaul is twinned with: *

Baicheng Baicheng ( zh, s=, p=Báichéng Shì, l=White City, c=白城市) is a prefecture-level city in the northwestern part of Jilin province, China, bordering Inner Mongolia to the north and west and Heilongjiang to the east and northeast. At the 201 ...

, China *

Changji Changji is a county-level city situated about west of the regional capital, Ürümqi in Northern Xinjiang, China and has about 390,000 inhabitants. It is the seat of Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture. At the northeast corner of the modern ci ...

, China * Flagstaff, United States * Öskemen, Kazakhstan *

Shumen Shumen (, also Romanization of Bulgarian, romanized as ''Shoumen'' or ''Šumen'', ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, tenth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and economic capital of Shumen Province. Etymology The city ...

, Bulgaria

References

Sources

* * * *

External links

* *
Official website of Barnaul

Directory of organizations in Barnaul
{{Authority control Populated places on the Ob River Cities and towns in Altai Krai Tomsk Governorate Populated places established in 1730