|
Kirov main square
Kirov - formerly (until 1934) Vyatka, or Viatka,
city and administrative centre of Kirov oblast (province), western
Russia, on the Vyatka River. The city was founded as Khlynov in
1181 by traders from Novgorod and became the centre of the “Vyatka
Lands,” settled by Russians in the 14th to the 15th century. In
1489 it was captured by Moscow. Renamed Vyatka in 1780, it became
a provincial seat, but development was slow, and it was used as
a place of exile. In 1934 the city was renamed for the Soviet official
Sergey M. Kirov. Today, railways radiate from Kirov to Perm, Kotlas,
Vologda, and Nizhny Novgorod. The city's once-renowned handicraft
industries have been replaced by large-scale, modern industries,
particularly nonferrous metalworking, engineering, tire making,
and timber working. There are teacher-training and agricultural
institutes and a library founded by the Russian revolutionary leader
and writer A.I. Herzen during his exile there in the 1840s. Pop.
(1994 est.) 491,100.
(Encyclopedia Britannica)
More information about Kirov:
- Nabludatel newspaper (rus)
- Vyatski Kray newspaper (rus)
- Last city event
photo gallery
|
|
