Severobaikalsk (; , ''Khoito-Baigal'') 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 ...

in the

Republic of Buryatia Buryatia, officially the Republic of Buryatia, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia located in the Russian Far East. Formerly part of the Siberian Federal District, it has been administered as part of the Far Eastern Federal District sin ...

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 on the northern end of

Lake Baikal Lake Baikal is a rift lake and the deepest lake in the world. It is situated in southern Siberia, Russia between the Federal subjects of Russia, federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast, Irkutsk Oblasts of Russia, Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...

at the mouth of the Tyya River, northwest of

Ulan-Ude Ulan-Ude (; , ; , ) is the capital city of Buryatia, Russia, located about southeast of Lake Baikal on the Uda River, Buryatia, Uda River at its confluence with the Selenga River, Selenga. According to the Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census, 43 ...

and northeast 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 ...

. Population:

Geography

Severobaikalsk is located on a plateau at the northern end of Lake Baikal at the mouth of the Tyya River. To the west the town is surrounded by the

Baikal Mountains The Baikal Mountains or Baikal Range (, ''Baykalskiy khrebet''; , ''Baigalai dabaan'') are a mountain range that rises steeply over the northwestern shore of Lake Baikal in southern Siberia, Russia. The highest peak in the range is 2,572 m high ...

, to the northeast by the

Stanovoy Range The Stanovoy Range (, ''Stanovoy khrebet''; ) is a mountain range located in the Sakha Republic and Amur Oblast, Far Eastern Federal District. It is also known as Sükebayatur and Sükhbaatar in Mongolian language, Mongolian, or the Stanovoy M ...

. Severobaikalsk is geographically isolated, the closest town is

Ust-Kut Ust-Kut () is a town and the administrative center of Ust-Kutsky District in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located from Irkutsk, the administrative center of the oblast. Located on a western loop of the Lena River, the town spreads out for over alo ...

, more than away. The closest large cities are

, to the southeast and

, more than to the southwest.

History

The history of Severobaikalsk is closely related to the history of the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM). It was founded in 1974 as a

work settlement Urban-type settlement, abbreviated: ; , abbreviated: ; ; ; ; . is an official designation for lesser urbanized settlements, used in several Central and Eastern European countries. The term was primarily used in the Soviet Union and later also f ...

for workers constructing the BAM, serving as a logistics center and a central starting point for the railway project. To the west the railway line was developed to

Bratsk Bratsk (, ; ) is a Types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Angara, Angara River near the vast Bratsk Reservoir. It had population of . Etymology The name of the city, which is from the same ro ...

and to the east to

Tynda Tynda () is a town in Amur Oblast, Russia, located northwest of Blagoveshchensk. It is an important railway junction, informally referred to as the capital of the Baikal-Amur Mainline. Its population has declined sharply in recent years: Etymo ...

. At this time the only settlement in the area was the village Nizhneangarsk, located at the edge of a swampy plain at the northern tip of the lake. It was decided to develop the new town Severobaikalsk southwest of Nizhneangarsk on a plateau above the lake, thus allowing further extensions and development in the future. Originally it was planned to increase the population to 140,000 people. The first volunteers of the

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, usually known as Komsomol, was a political youth organization in the Soviet Union. It is sometimes described as the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), although it w ...

and workers arrived in 1974 and founded a work camp that would later become the town of Severobaikalsk. The camp was initially named Novogodny (, lit. ''New Year'') and consisted of tents, wooden shacks and railway cars. The camp grew rapidly with the development of the railway, and Severobaikalsk was eventually granted town status in 1980. During this time until official completion of the railway line in 1984 the town had a partnership with

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. Since completion of the Baikal Amur Mainline the town has been in decline, with many projects cancelled during

Perestroika ''Perestroika'' ( ; rus, перестройка, r=perestrojka, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg, links=no) was a political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s, widely associ ...

. Population reached a high with an estimated 35,000 inhabitants in the 1980s and subsequently declined. As the town was founded mostly by volunteers of the Komsomol the population is relatively young. Ninety percent of the population is

Russian Orthodox The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

and ten percent are

Buryats The Buryats are a Mongolic ethnic group native to southeastern Siberia who speak the Buryat language. They are one of the two largest indigenous groups in Siberia, the other being the Yakuts. The majority of the Buryats today live in their ti ...

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is incorporated as the town of republic significance of Severobaikalsk—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 ...

.Resolution #431 As a municipal division, the town of republic significance of Severobaikalsk is incorporated as Severobaikalsk Urban Okrug.Law #985-III

Climate

As a Siberian town, Severobaikalsk experiences 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 ...

( Dfc), characterized by extreme variation of temperatures between seasons. Temperatures can be very warm in the summer, and brutally cold in the winter. The warmest month of the year in Severobaikalsk is July, when the mean temperature is . The coldest month of the year is January, when the mean temperature is .

Cityscape

Like most Soviet-planned cities, the town center is dominated by five to six floor high rise buildings made of prefabricated concrete panels. Because the northern region of Lake Baikal is in a seismically active region the standard design of the high rise buildings has been adapted to ensure greater resistance to earthquakes. The suburbs are dominated by shacks that trace back to the early foundation period when Severobaikalsk was a work camp. Some of these shacks are made of old railway cars. The main street of Severobaikalsk is Leningradsky Avenue, which starts at the railway station and runs through the central area of the town. The shape of the railway station building is meant to resemble a sail and was designed by architects from Leningrad. In front of the railway station is a monument to volunteers and workers from Leningrad who built the town. North of the railway station, along Leningradsky Avenue is the main square, where the town administration and the

Palace of Culture Palace of Culture (, , ''wénhuà gōng'', ) or House of Culture (Polish: ''dom kultury'') is a common name (generic term) for major Club (organization), club-houses (community centres) in the former Soviet Union and the rest of the Eastern bloc ...

of the railway workers are located. Severobaikalsk also has a church and a museum dedicated to the history of the Baikal Amur Mainline.

Transportation

Severobaikalsk is connected by the Baikal-Amur Mainline to Bratsk and

Tayshet Tayshet ( rus, Тайшет, p=tɐjˈʂɛt, lit. ''cold river'' in the Kott language) is a town and the administrative center of Tayshetsky District in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located northwest of Irkutsk, the administrative center of the obl ...

in the west and Tynda and

Komsomolsk-on-Amur Komsomolsk-on-Amur ( rus, Комсомольск-на-Амуре, r=Komsomolsk-na-Amure, p=kəmsɐˈmolʲsk nɐ‿ɐˈmurʲə) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, located on the west bank of the Amur R ...

and in the east. In the summer Voskhod hydrofoils connect Severobaikalsk with

via Port Baikal. By air Severobaikalsk is connected with Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude via

Nizhneangarsk Airport Nizhneangarsk Airport () is an airport in Russia located northeast of Nizhneangarsk and northeast of Severobaykalsk. It is located at the northern tip of Lake Baikal. It handles small transport aircraft and has a well-maintained runway. Airli ...

located north of the town. There is a mountain road to Ul'kan (''Авто ВАМ'') and

References

Notes

Sources

* * {{Authority control Cities and towns in Buryatia Cities and towns built in the Soviet Union Populated places established in 1974 1974 establishments in the Soviet Union Populated places on Lake Baikal