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
Novosibirsk is the third largest Russian city in terms of its population. As of January 1, 2011, its population was 1,475,100. Founded in 1893, the city became the capital of the Siberian Federal District in 2000.
The municipal economy employs 732,300 workers, including over 60% at major and medium-scale enterprises and organisations. Another 16% work at small-scale enterprises.
The city's main economic sectors are industry, construction, transport, communications, trade and services, including a sufficiently well-developed financial sector, science and support for the sciences.
The city's production sector hinges on 214 major and medium-scale industrial enterprises accounting for over two-thirds of regional industrial and service-sector output. The city's industry is dominated by power generation and distribution, production and distribution of gas and water (27%). Manufacturing industries account for 67%, including 44% for the iron and steel sector, the metalworking sector and engineering.
Novosibirsk, a major Western Siberian transport hub with intersecting transport routes, provides railway access into Central Asia.
The city has four railway stations, including the Novosibirsk-Main Station, the largest east of the Urals range. The Inskaya sorting yard is Russia's largest.
Tolmachyovo, one of the largest Russian airports, is located 30 km from central Novosibirsk.
Two federal highways pass through Novosibirsk. The M-51 Baikal road links Chelyabinsk with Chita via Omsk, Kemerovo and Krasnoyarsk and subsequently intersects with the Amur federal road linking Chita with Khabarovsk. The M-52 Chuya Road links Novosibirsk with the Mongolian border via Biisk.
Novosibirsk is also a river port. The Ob River handles long-range shipping delivering, long-range transit consignments, local passenger ship traffic and sand production. Novosibirsk is also a major national wholesale-distribution centre in terms of freight traffic and trade.
Novosibirsk has 32 higher educational establishments, including 11 universities, eight academies and 13 colleges. Fourteen subsidiaries of other Russian higher educational establishments, including those in Moscow and St Petersburg, are also located here. The Novosibirsk State Technical University, simultaneously training over 22,000 students, is the largest local institute of higher education.
The city is also a well-recognised national cultural centre. Numerous artistic unions and associations are active here. The city has a ramified network of cultural institutions, as well as over 700 artistic companies and eight professional theatres, including the Novosibirsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Society, the Novosibirsk Academic Globus (Globe) Youth Theatre and others.
Local tourist attractions include the Novosibirsk Picture Gallery, the Botanical Garden, as well as the Novosibirsk Zoo, a unique scientific-educational and cultural-recreational facility. The zoo is home to about 10,000 animals of more than 500 species. From this total, 182 species are listed in the International Red Data Book. A total of 80 species are listed in the Russian and CIS Red Data Book.
