NOVOSIBIRSK is the largest megapolis of Siberia, the largest municipality in Russia, the administrative centre of the Siberian Federal district and Novosibirsk area; the city, bridging Europe and Asia, the crossroads of international, federal and regional ways - air, river, automobile and railways; it is described in the Guinness book of records as the youngest megapolis of the world.

the total area:
approximately 500 sq. km;
From the north to the south the city stretches for 43 km, with the latitude diameter of more than 25 km.
The city is situated on both banks of the Ob' river and connected by means of the elevated underground tunnels, railway and automobile bridges.

site:
Novosibirsk is located in the center of the Euroasian continent, in the southeast part of the West Siberian plain on Priobskoye plateau, adjoining to the valley of the river Ob, near to the water reservoir formed by the dam of Novosibirsk Hydroelectric power station.
The city is located at the border of forest and forest-steppe natural zones.
The left-bank part of the city has a flat relief, the right bank one is characterized by numerous crevices and ravines due to the transition to the mountain relief of Salairskiy range.
The city is adjoined by Zael'tsovskiy and Kudriashovskiy corniferous forests, Obskoye water reservoir, there are small rivers, numerous lakes, forming in aggregate plethora of recreational resources.

latitude: 54°57'N
longitude: 83°06'E
altitude above the sea level: 200 m
time zone: OMST (MSK+3; UTC/GMT+6); transition to summertime is in force

the population: (in the city limits) 1.397 million persons (on January,1, 2007)

ethnic groups:
Representatives of over 80 nationalities live in Novosibirsk. Russians comprise 92 % of the population. The most numerous ethnic groups are the Germans, the Ukrainian, the Tartars, the Jewish, the Belarussians. Also the Poles, the Koreans, the Finns, the Buryats, the Armenians, the Azerbaijanians, the Tadjiks and others live in the city.
In total about 35 registered national-cultural organizations are in operation in the city, among them 10 national and cultural autonomies, including 6 regional and 4 local ones. They conduct active cultural and educational work; organize concerts and festivals of national creativity, national holidays, creating schools for studying their native languages and traditional culture.
In 1995 the Association of national-cultural autonomies and organizations of Novosibirsk area, which united more than 15 national-cultural autonomies and organizations was formed.

confessions:
In the territory of Novosibirsk 93 officially registered religious organizations operate representing various confessions.
The largest faith judging by the quantity of the followers and churches is the Orthodox religion. Orthodox monasteries, spiritual educational institutions have been opened, construction and restoration of temples is in process. For Muslims of the city the mosque was constructed. Catholics have one cathedral. The Jewish community continues the construction of the synagogue.
In Novosibirsk there are large religious centers, including the Catholic administration of the Asian part of Russia, Western Siberian Conference of the church of Christian Adventists of the seventh day, the Office of the senior presbyter of evangelical Christians-Baptists in Western Siberia.

climate:
The climate of Novosibirsk and its suburbs is continental, but is considerably more severe than the climate of the areas of the European and American continents which are situated at the same geographical latitude and longitude.
The winter in Novosibirsk is cold and long, with steady snow cover, strong winds and blizzards. In all winter months thaws are possible, but they short-term and are not observed annually.
Transitive seasons (spring and the autumn) are short and also characterized by unstable weather, spring returns of colds, late spring and early autumn frosts.
The summer is hot, but rather short.
In terms of town-planning sanitary and climatic zoning of Siberia the forest-steppe is considered to be moderately uncomfortable zone for human residence. In essence, it is the Siberian environment better suited for life though they it's also certainly somewhat uncomfortable.
We can relate to the factors of the climate negatively influencing people's health the excessive cooling of the local environment in the winter and overheating in the summer, fast changes of weather, sharp daily fluctuations of temperatures, blocking snow, dust storms, droughts.
On the whole the climate of Novosibirsk, owing to numerous sunny days and rather small humidity, is favorable for health, and the abundance of light in the summer (15 - 17 hours per day) and of heat even allow to grow grapes and water-melons.

temperature:
mean annual air temperature: +0,2 °C
average temperature in January:-18,8 °C
average temperature in April: +1,5 °C
average temperature in July: +19 °C
average temperature in October: +1,9 °C
absolute minimum of air temperature:-51 °C
absolute maximum of air temperature: +40 °C

wind:
prevailing wind: southwest
prevailing wind in January: western or southwestern
prevailing wind in July: northern
mean annual wind speed: 4.9 km/s

precipitation:
mean annual quantity of precipitation: 425* mm
relative humidity (throughout the year): 66 %...82 %

 

HISTORY short review

By the time of adjoining Siberia to the Russian State at the end of the XVI century not more than three thousands persons of Turkic-speaking groups of Barabinskye and Chatskye tatars lived on the territory of Novosibirsk region.
The first Russian people appeared in these places in the second half of the XVI century. The first Russian village on the territory of the future Novosibirsk region appeared in 1695, and the first settlement on the territory of the future Novosibirsk, the village Krivoshchekovskaya, in 1701.
Moscow (also Siberian) tract passed through the territory as the main road, connecting Siberia with the center of the country. The tract was the main road in eastern direction for Russian trading capital.
The powerful impetus towards cultural and economic development of the region was given by the setting in 1891-1897 of the TranceSiberian railroad. And Novosibirsk city prompt development was due to the construction of the iron road bridge over the Ob, the largest river of Russia.
The place for the bridge was selected by a group of engineers under the leadership of Nikolay Mikhailovsky (or Garin, his literary pseudonym) who subsequently came to be considered as the main Father-Founder of the city, having shadowed the other outstanding figures not less significant for the history of Novosibirsk founding: professor Nikolay A.Beleljubskiy (the creator of the bridge and its construction engineer) and N.B.Boguslavsky (the co-author of the project), along with Vikentij I. Roetsky. The former was the head of the prospecting party which surveyed the Ob banks. He presented the variant of the bridge which was subsequently put into practice under N.G.Mihajlovsky's coordination. The other prominent figures were Konstantin J.Mihajlovsky (the chairman of the research committee, the chief of the Western Department of the Siberian railway), Grigory M. Budagov (the chief civil engineer of the bridge), Ilya Тitlyanov (the first "mayor" – the village self-government head) and many others, including count Vitte's (the Minister of Transportation).
Officially accepted year of the city's foundation, 1893, is connected with the creation of the workers' settlement at the site of the new Siberian construction. Already in the first year of its existence in the Russian press there was an article stating that the area of construction of the railway bridge over the Ob river had grown with improbable speed, and the settlement was predicted to become a large trading center with solid future prospects. Later on the settlement was adjoined with the villages, which had existed here earlier, and was named Alexandrovskoye (1894), in the honour of Alexander Nevsky - the heavenly patron of the Russian emperor Alexander III, and then renamed into the Novo-Nikolaevsk (1895) in the honour of Nikolay Chudotvorets (Saint Nicolas) - the heavenly patron of the new tsar Nikolay II. During this period the settlement kept applying with great persistence and stubbornness for the reception of the status of an independent administrative unit, on the rank of the trading quarter or a city. And in 1903 it achieved the independent city status, and in 1908 received the full urban status and started growing at even greater speed. In 1912 Novo-Nikolaevsk became the first city of Russia in which the comprehensive elementary education was introduced.
The first attempt to establish Soviet authority in Novonikolaevsk (undertaken in 1917) failed under the impact of counterrevolutionary forces, but the next attempt in 1919 was successful, after the coming of the Red Army into the city the authority passes to emergency governmental body - Novonikolaevsk revolutionary committee.
By 1920 Novonikolaevsk turns into a valuable factory and industrial centre with large consumption of raw materials. And with the formation in 1925 of the Siberian region (kray) the young ambitious city becomes an administrative centre of the whole Siberia and cannot carry the old "tsarist regime" name anymore, so in 1926 it receives the new symbolical name of Novosibirsk meaning “the city of the new Siberia”.
The city starts concentrating in it all financial and economic resources, and lays the foundations for the development of scientific potential. In 1930, in connection with the administrative division of the Siberian region, Novosibirsk becomes the center of the Western part of the-Siberian region.
The great push towards economic growth of the city was given by the construction of the Тurkestan-Siberian railway begun in 1927 and finished in January, 1931.
The geographical position, convenient location at the crossroads of the major transport communications, played the major role in further development of Novosibirsk, having given it decisive advantage before other Siberian cities, and has transformed it into the center of business, trade and financial capital, the link connecting the common economic space of the Siberian territories, also serving as the link between the main economic and demographic giants of Eurasia - Europe and the countries of Asian-Pacific region.
Factories and plants evacuated to Novosibirsk from the European part of Russia during the Second World war transformed the city into one of the largest industrial centers of the country.
In 1957 in Novosibirsk the construction of Academgorodok (Novosibirsk Scientific Center) began, owing to which the city turned into one of the largest centers of science in Russia, becoming the kernel of the Siberian branch of the Academy of sciences, as well as the leader of fundamental and applied research in all spheres of knowledge.
In 1962 Novosibirsk became the youngest in the world city with the million population. It took Novosibirsk less than 70 years to reach the population of one million inhabitants (for comparison: Chicago went through similar growth in 90 years, New York in 250, Moscow in more than 700). The basic source of the influx of the population at that time and till now is migration.
In 1990 Novosibirsk received the honourable status of a historical city.
Despite of its youthfulness, the city has 145 monuments of architecture, history, monumental art and archeology, all taken under the state protection. Especially valuable are 47 monuments of the wooden carved architecture which were preserved in the city from the end of XIX century, represent the beginnings of XX century. Besides, 144 monuments of history and culture and 86 objects of valuable historical city environment are now under state protection as newly found. In 1970 from the village Zashiverskoe of Adygejsky region in Yakutia the unique monument of architecture created in the XVII century, the wooden Spaso-Zashiverskaya church was transported to Novosibirsk. It was turned into a historical and architectural open-air museum.
In the 90-s (after the disintegration of the USSR) the economy of the area has undergone serious changes. But owing to the favourable geographical position, transportation ease in the territories, and the presence of highly skilled staff due to the well-developed sector of science and education, the business infrastructure has undergone rapid development in the region, creating the new system of the international transport communications and transit corridors, financial institutions, service and business centres, and various representations.
In 2000 in Novosibirsk the Representation of the President of the Russian Federation was placed and it became the Center of the Siberian Federal district – a huge territory of 8 million sq.km. with the population of 26 million persons.

CITY SYMBOLS

Official: the coat-of-arms and the flag.
The flag is divided diagonally by the light blue wavy line into the green and the white parts. The green field signifies health and the natural riches of Siberia; the white field the cleanness and the snow of Siberia. The blue band with the white waves stands for the Ob River, on the bank of which Novosibirsk is situated.
The shield of the coat-of-arms is complemented with the stylized image of the bridge over the Ob. The shield is crowned with the golden crown, with the five triangular pinnacles. The chargers are the black sables. At the base of the shield there is a wavy traversed band, the colors of which correspond to the city's flag. In the middle of the shield's base there is a “chervlenyi” (dark red) bow above the two arrows.
Black and silver thin belt in the shield of the coat-of-arms symbolizes the TransSiberian railroad. The pinnacles of the crown stand for the status of the inhabited location, emphasizing that Novosibirsk is the regional center.
The sables, the bow and the arrows were adopted from the historical coat-of-arms of Siberia and are depicted in concordance with the heraldic canons.
Mythological heroes: Gorodovichok and Obinushka.
Gorodovichok is the city's mythological heroe, symbolizing the individuality of Novosibirsk as a young, quickly growing city. Therefore we have the fairy tale symbol of the city – the quickly growing boy. Gorodovichok wears a hat which is the miniature copy of the dome of Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre. Gorodovichok wears glasses, because Novosibirsk is the city of 3 academies and a higher education center. Novosibirsk is a large industrial center, that's why Gorodovichok's outfit is casual – the T-shirt and the worker's overalls, which are slightly too short for him, which stands for the rapid growth of the city. And even if you make new clothing for him in one second, he'll right away outgrow these. Gorodovicjhok wears the felt boots, because he is a Siberian.
Obinushka is a fairy, symbolizing the Ob River, on the bank of which Novosibirsk is situated.
Аrchitectural constructions, symbolizing the city:
the railroad bridge over the Ob river; Novosibirsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater («Siberian Bolshoy»); restored in 1993 chapel of Saint Nicolay the Miracle-monger;
(during the Soviet period the city symbol was the monument to the perished civil war heroes – the arm protruding from the rock, holding a torch)