Kirensk ( rus, Киренск, p=ˈkʲirʲɪnsk) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and the

administrative center 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 Belgiu ...

Kirensky District Kirensky District () is an administrative district, one of the administrative divisions of Irkutsk Oblast, thirty-three in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia.Charter of Irkutsk Oblast, Article 13 Subdivisions of Russia#Municipal divisions, Municipally, ...

Irkutsk Oblast Irkutsk Oblast (; ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in southeastern Siberia in the basins of the Angara River, Angara, Lena River, Lena, and Nizhnyaya Tunguska Rivers. The administrative center is ...

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 Kirenga and

Lena River The Lena is a river in the Russian Far East and is the easternmost river of the three great rivers of Siberia which flow into the Arctic Ocean, the others being Ob (river), Ob and Yenisey. The Lena River is long and has a capacious drainage basi ...

s, north of

Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and , ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 587,891 Irkutsk is the List of cities and towns in Russ ...

, the administrative center of the

oblast An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Historically, it was used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The term ''oblast'' is often translated i ...

. Population:

Geography

The town is located in the

Lena-Angara Plateau The Lena-Angara Plateau (), is a plateau in Siberia. Administratively it is in the Irkutsk Oblast, Russian Federation. The plateau is named after the Lena and Angara rivers, of which it forms the watershed. Rivers on the plateau flow mostly in ...

Google Earth Google Earth is a web mapping, web and computer program created by Google that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satelli ...

History

It was founded in 1630 by the

Cossacks The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic languages, East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borde ...

under Vasily Bugor as a winter settlement called Nikolsky pogost. Along with Ust-Kut, it was one of the two main portages between the Yenisei and Lena basins. In the 1630s,

Yerofey Khabarov Yerofey Pavlovich Khabarov-Svyatitsky (; 1603 – after 1671), was a Russian entrepreneur and adventurer, best known for his exploring the Amur river region and his attempts to colonize the area for Russia. For background, see Russian–Manchu ...

ran a salt works here. In 1665, it was renamed Kirensky Ostrog. In 1775, it was granted town status. In the 19th century, a large number of political prisoners were forcibly resettled here, among whom was

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (Poland), Chief of State (1918–1922) and first Marshal of Poland (from 1920). In the aftermath of World War I, he beca ...

. Under Stalin there was a GULAG transit camp. In 1991, over eighty bodies were found buried in the basement of the former NKVD building. All were said to have been killed on a single day in 1938 and all were killed by blows on the head, apparently to hide the noise. During the construction of the Baikal–Amur Mainline, goods were shipped up the Kirenga to Magistralny. In the 1970s, a dam was built across one mouth of the Kirenga (the place was originally an island) to reduce flooding and ice jams. In 2001, there was a major flood.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Kirensk serves as the

,Law #49-OZ to which it is directly subordinated.''Registry of the Administrative-Territorial Formations of Irkutsk Oblast'' As a municipal division, the

of Kirensk, together with nine rural localities in Kirensky District, is incorporated within Kirensky Municipal District as Kirenskoye Urban Settlement.Law #87-oz

Economy

Transportation

There is ship transport along the Lena in summer and an airport, but no railroad, and no proper road link to the rest of Russia. The port is used to transfer goods to smaller ships going further up the Lena. The town is served by the Kirensk Airport. During

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 ...

, it was a staging point for American aircraft transferred to Russia via Alaska.

Climate

Kirensk has a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Dfc''). Winters are severely cold with average temperatures from to in January, while summers are warm with average temperatures from to .

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 ...

is quite low and is significantly higher in summer than at other times of the year.

Notable people

* Daniel Broido (1903-1990), computer engineer

References

Notes

Sources

* * * *
Registry of the Administrative-Territorial Formations of Irkutsk Oblast
' {{Authority control Cities and towns in Irkutsk Oblast Irkutsk Governorate Populated places on the Lena River