Surgut
Surgut (. Khanty: Сәрханӆ, "Sarkhan") is a city in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Russia, located on the Ob River near its junction with the Irtysh River. It is one of the few cities in Russia to be larger than the capital or the administrative center of its federal subject in terms of population, economic activity, and tourist traffic. Population: 373,940 (2019); History. The name of the city, according to one tradition, originates from the Khanty words "sur" 'fish' and "gut" 'hole, pit'. It was founded in 1594 by order of Tsar Feodor I. Surgut at the end of the 16th  century was a small fortress with two gates and five towers, one of which had a carriageway. In 1596 the Gostiny Dvor was built. In the 17th-18th centuries - one of the centers of the Russian development of Siberia. The fortification, built of strong wood, was located on the cape, so that it was impossible to approach it unnoticed either from the river or from the land. In the central square of the ancient settlement there was a cult place. Throughout the perimeter, the fortress was surrounded by a moat, which was blocked by the structures of the defensive system. Outside  the village there were special buildings - handicraft workshops, in particular, a smithy. By the name list of 1625 there were 222 servicemen living here. Subsequently, due to high mortality, the population of Surgut gradually decreased. In 1627, 216 people lived, in 1635-200 people, in 1642-199. In the second half of the 17th century the population fluctuated around 200 people, by the end of the century there were 185 inhabitants in Surgut. Since 1782, the county town of the Surgut district of the Tobolsk province, province, has been formed. In 1785, the city's coat of arms was approved . At the end of the 18th century, in connection with the development of southern Siberian cities, lost its administrative significance. Since 1868 - district, and since 1898 - the county town of Tobolsk province. The inhabitants of Surgut, like other Siberians, were on state security. The servants received an annual salary of money (from 5 rubles 25 kopecks), bread (8 quarters of bachelor and 11 quarters of married Cossacks) and salt (one and a half poods married and a pood with a quarter bachelor). The inhabitants were supplied with weapons and ammunition. At the end of the 19th century (according to the  census of 1897), the population of Surgut was 1.1 thousand people. The main occupation of the inhabitants was fishing, gathering of wild plants, trade, cattle breeding, firewood harvesting. In 1835 the Cossack school was founded, in 1877 - the men's folk school, the women's parochial school operated, the weather station (since 1878), the library-reading room, the people's house, since 1913 - the telegraph. Since November 3, 1923 the city became the center of the district of Tobolsk district of the Ural region. Since April 5, 1926, in connection with a small population (1,3 thousand people), Surgut was transformed  into a district village. In 1928, on the basis of the fish section, the first industrial enterprise was created - the fish canning factory. In 1929 a collective farm was organized, in 1930 - a forest site, in 1931 - a timber enterprise. In the 1930s in Surgut, attempts were made to extract minerals. October 23, 1934 is the first newspaper - "Organizer" ("Surgut Tribune"). The urbanization of Surgut took place in the 1960s, when it became a center of oil and gas production. On June 25, 1965 the work settlement of Surgut was granted town status. The city's holiday is celebrated annually  on June 12. The current mayor is Andrey Filatov (since 2021). Ex-mayor Alexander Sidorov oversaw the construction of the Surgut Bridge, the longest one-tower cable-stayed bridge in the world. Administrative and municipal status. Within the framework of administrative divisions, it serves as the administrative center of Surgutsky District, even though it is not a part of it. As an administrative division, it is incorporated separately as the city of okrug significance of Surgut—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, the city of okrug significance of Surgut is  incorporated as Surgut Urban Okrug. Economy. The city is home to the largest port on the Ob River, the largest road/railway junction in northwest Siberia, and two of the world's most powerful power plants, the SDPP-1 (State District Power Plant 1) and SDPP-2 (State District Power Plant 2), which produce over 7,200 megawatts and supply most of the region with relatively cheap electricity. Surgut's economy is tied to oil production (the city is known as "The Oil Capital of Russia") and the processing of natural gas. The most important enterprises are the oil firm "Surgutneftegaz" and "Surgutgazprom  (a unit of Gazprom). The Surgut-2 Power Station providing Energy for the city is the largest gas-fired power station in the world. In Surgut, Tyumen Energy Retail Company, the largest energy sales company, is the guaranteeing supplier of electric power in the Tyumen region, ranked first in terms of the value of the productive supply of electricity among the energy distribution companies of the Urals Federal District and the second among the energy sales companies in Russia. The management office of OJSC TESS, the largest enterprise of the Urals Federal District, is located in the city in the sphere 	Surgut
13285420	of complex service maintenance, overhaul and reconstruction of electric power facilities. In addition, there are factories: gas processing, stabilization of condensate, motor fuel. Enterprises food (meat processing, dairy, etc.) industry, timber industry. Manufacture of building materials (production of reinforced concrete structures, etc.). For 2013, the volume of shipped goods of own production, works performed and services by own strength for large and medium-sized producers of industrial products amounted to 100.7 billion rubles.  The structure of industrial production by types of economic activity in 2013: Production and distribution of electricity, gas and water" - 87.8%; "Extraction of minerals" - 6.7%; "Processing  industries" - 5.5%. The average monthly salary (for large and medium-sized organizations) in 2013 amounted to 68.7 thousand rubles. Surgut takes the 3rd place in the rating of the 250 largest industrial centers of Russia. Transportation. The city is served by the Surgut International Airport, which offers flights to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Dubai, Irkutsk, and a number of other cities. Through Surgut are trains to the east (in Novy Urengoy, Nizhnevartovsk), to the south-west (in Tyumen, Moscow, Novosibirsk, Ufa, Chelyabinsk, Yekaterinburg). Road P-404 connects Surgut with Tyumen. There is a port on the Ob River. Education. As of July  1, 2016, in the city of Surgut 54 preschool institutions and 5 private kindergartens, 33 schools, 3 gymnasiums and 4 lyceums. The system of additional education includes 4 music schools, children's choreography school, art school, 2 art studios, 10 foreign language schools (one of the schools is English-style Big Ben), 8 children's and youth sports schools, etc. Culture. Sights Climate. Surgut features a continental subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification "Dfc"), with long, frigid winters and short, warm summers. Precipitation is moderate, and is higher from May to October, when rain is more frequent, than in the rest  of the year, when snow is more frequent. The annual snow cover gets thicker than further east in Siberia due to less influence of the Siberian High and some moisture from the humid European winters reaching across the Ural Mountains. Surgut is the largest city in the world with a subarctic climate. Sports. Sports and recreation complexes "Friendship", "Fakel", "Neftyanik" are known far beyond the city limits, they hold high-level sports competitions. In 2006, they added a multifunctional sports complex "Sparta". The construction of the stadium was started. In 2009, the city of Surgut ranked 2nd in terms of  socio-economic development of the municipal formations of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug - Ugra in the field of "Physical Culture and Sport" and the third place in terms of the effectiveness of the use of sports facilities among the municipalities of the district. Sport Club: Coat of arms. The modern coat of arms of Surgut, "in the golden field - a black fox with a silver tail end, walking along the azure land", was approved on November 20, 2003 by the decision of the city duma of November 4, 2003. Twin towns – sister cities. Surgut is twinned with: