Berezniki (; Komi-Permyak: Кыдззакар; ''Kydźzakar'') is the second-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 ...

Perm Krai Perm Krai (, ; ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a Krais of Russia, krai), located in Eastern Europe. Its administrative center is Perm, Russia, Perm. The population of the krai was 2,532,405 (2021 Russian census, 2021 ...

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 ...

. The city is located on the banks of the

Kama River The Kama ( , ; ; ), also known as the Chulman ( ; ), is a long«Река КАМА»
Russian St ...

, in the

Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains ( ),; , ; , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range in Eurasia that runs north–south mostly through Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the river Ural (river), Ural and northwestern Kazakhstan.

with a population of 135,533 as of 2023.

Etymology

The name Berezniki is derived from a

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

forest originally situated in the city's location.

History

The first Russian settlements in the city appeared in the 16th - 17th century on the basis of salt mines. It was founded in 1873. City status was granted to it in 1932 as its industry was rapidly expanding under

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is incorporated as the city of krai significance of Berezniki—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 #416-67 As a municipal division, the city of krai significance of Berezniki is incorporated as Berezniki Urban Okrug.Law #1983-434

Economy

After the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

in 1991, the city's population dropped due to increased unemployment. Nevertheless, the city was able to keep its main industries on track. Large

chemical plant A chemical plant is an industrial process plant that manufactures (or otherwise processes) chemicals, usually on a large scale. The general objective of a chemical plant is to create new material wealth via the chemical or biological transfor ...

s such as

titanium Titanium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...

and

sodium Sodium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Na (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 element, group 1 of the peri ...

factories as well as several huge

potassium Potassium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol K (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number19. It is a silvery white metal that is soft enough to easily cut with a knife. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmospheric oxygen to ...

magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 ...

and

potash Potash ( ) includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water- soluble form.

mines are operational in Berezniki. The potash mine, owned by Uralkali, was the basis of the fortune of

Dmitry Rybolovlev Dmitry Yevgenyevich Rybolovlev (, ; born 22 November 1966) is a Russian oligarch, billionaire businessman, and investor. Rybolovlev became chairman of the Russian fertilizer producer Uralkali in 1995. In 2010, he sold his majority share of ...

who sold his interest in 2010 to Suleyman Kerimov. Mine supports in the huge underground mine, about 1,000 feet (~300 metres) beneath the city, consist of soluble salt which is being dissolved by water flooding into the mine. The city, a former Soviet-era labor camp, was built near the work site, over the mine. Several

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are also known as shakeholes, and to openings where surface water ...

s, some huge, have opened within the city. The situation requires round-the-clock monitoring. The problem is believed to be limited to a small part of the mine which was not filled properly and is limited in its future impact, but the relocation of the city is under consideration."A Russian City Always on the Watch Against Being Sucked Into the Earth"
article by Andrew E. Kramer in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' April 10, 2012 The largest sinkhole, locally dubbed, "The Grandfather" by 2012, was 340 yards (~310 metres) wide, 430 yards (~390 metres) long, and 780 feet (~240 metres) deep. When it opened in 2007 the hole was initially 80 m long, 40 m wide and 200 m deep. The sinkhole was expected to expand, and destroy part of the only rail line which leads to and from the

potash Potash ( ) includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water- soluble form.

mines, and, being that Berezniki produces around 10% of the world's potash, this would lead global demand towards

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, potentially damaging the local economy. Nobody was injured when the sinkhole appeared.

Culture

Berezniki has a theatre and a museum of regional history. Every year from July 17 to the 20th the town celebrates its

mosquito Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a Family (biology), family of small Diptera, flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by ''Musca (fly), mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mos ...

es. They have music, dancing and a "most delicious girl" competition. In the competition, the girls stand for 20 minutes in their shorts and vests, and the one who receives the most bites wins.

Population

The city was in 124th place out of 1115 cities of Russia in terms of population in 2019. According to the 2010 census,

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

formed a majority in the city with a 90.87%, while

Tatars Tatars ( )Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...

(3.16%) were the largest minority, followed by

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

(0.81%), Permian Komi (0.67%) and

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

(0.51%).

Transportation

Berezniki is served by the Berezniki Airport, which mainly serves helicopters. A railway station is closed since it is located in the sinkhole area and has been damaged beyond repair. In the city, public transport service is operated with

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

es.

Notable people

* Vasily Pavlovich Boryagin, Hero of Socialist Labor *

, Russian billionaire, controlled the leading Berezniki potash mines from 2000 — 2011 *

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician and statesman who served as President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1961 to ...

, Russia's first president, attended Pushkin High School in Berezniki

Gallery

Церковь Троицкая. (Разрушенная Лёнвинская Свято-Троицкая церковь).jpg, Trinity Church Кинотеатр авангард.jpg, Cinema Avangard Березники троллейбус 140.jpg, BTZ trolleybus and railway station in Berezniki Березниковский троллейбус.jpg, Trolza trolleybus in Berezniki Провал в г.Березники на БРУ-1.jpg, A

in Berezniki at the site of the first potash plant Больница содового завода на территории промплощадки ООО "Сода-Хлорат".jpg, Hospital of a factory

References

Sources

* *

External links

Official website of Berezniki

Berezniki Business Directory

Pictures of Berezniki
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Perm Krai Cities and towns built in the Soviet Union Populated places established in 1932 Populated places on the Kama River