VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
The founding date of the city of Vladivostok is considered to be June 20, 1860, when the Manchu military transport with Russian settlers commanded by warrant officer Nikolai Komarov arrived to the Zolotoi Rog (Golden Horn) Bay to found a military post.
In 1864, the government decided to make Vladivostok the main Russian port in the Pacific Ocean. The Admiralty was built and a shipyard was put into operation. Numerous shops, saw-mills, five brick plants, and a brewery were opened in the city.
On April 28, 1880, Vladivostok was officially granted town status and became a separate administrative area.
The period from 1881 to 1891 became a new stage in the city's history. In this decade, Vladivostok saw increased strides and volumes of industrial and civil engineering, the emerging cultural construction, and the formation of the socio-political life.
In 1883, the first city newspaper, "Vladivostok," was published. The newspaper played a crucial role in the formation of the socio-political and cultural life of the city.
On August 30, 1889, Vladivostok was declared a fourth-class fortress, which improved the city's status. The Vladivostok Fortress is a unique fortified monument, the last 20th century fortress that was built in the early 1900s due to the experience gained from the Russian-Japanese war. The fortress consists of a network of forts, with ten of them being located in the continental part of the city and six – on Russky Island.
In the early 20th century, Vladivostok was one the largest industrial, trade, economic, and cultural centres from the Urals to the Pacific coast. By 1910, the city was home to 97 factories and plants. In 1906, the Zolotoi Rog Theatre was built; in 1907, a telephone station was put into operation; in 1908, a tram road from the railway station to Lugovaya street was installed.
At present, Vladivostok is a large industrial centre and transport hub in the Russia's Far East. The city has an extremely favourable economic and geographic location: the Trans-Siberian Railway ends here, while the sea routes to the Asian and the Pacific states begin.
Vladivostok is the largest research and cultural centre in the Far East: the city is home to the Far Eastern Department of the Russian Academy of Science, large universities, academies, and research institutes.
The city's cultural landscape features numerous theatres, including the Maxim Gorky Academic Drama Theatre, Regional Youth Drama Theatre, the Pushkin Theatre, as well as the Primorye Territory Philharmonic Society, a circus and several picture galleries. Vladivostok is also home to the oldest regional organisation of local lore – the Primorye Department of the Russian Geographical Society.
The city's population amounts to 31.6% of the total population of the region. Vladivostok makes up 53.5% of retail trade, 49.9% of catering, 48.2% of paid services, and 55.9% of the region's construction works.
In the first half of 2011, almost 89,200 square metres of housing was put into operation in the city, which represents a 47.4% increase over the same period of 2010. Individual housing grew by 2.5% as compared to the same period last year and comprised almost 39,100 square metres.
