Bratsk

Bratsk (English) Братск (Russian)
—  Inhabited locality  —
Fountain on Sovetskaya Ulitsa, Bratsk
Location of Irkutsk Oblast on the map of Russia
Location of Bratsk on the map of Irkutsk Oblast
Coordinates: 56°7′N 101°36′E / 56.117°N 101.6°E / 56.117; 101.6Coordinates: 56°7′N 101°36′E / 56.117°N 101.6°E / 56.117; 101.6
Coat of arms
Administrative status
Country	Russia
Federal subject	Irkutsk Oblast
In administrative jurisdiction of	Irkutsk Oblast[citation needed]
Administrative center of	Bratsk District[citation needed]
Municipal status
Municipal Status	Urban okrug
Mayor[citation needed]	Sergey Serebrennikov[citation needed]
Representative body	Duma[citation needed]
Statistics
Area	428 km2 (165.3 sq mi)[citation needed]
Population (2002 Census)	259,335 inhabitants[1]
- Density	606 /km2 (1,600/sq mi)[2]
Time zone	IRKT/IRKST (UTC+8/+9)
Founded	1630s[citation needed]
Postal code(s)	665700–665732[citation needed]
Dialing code(s)	+7 3953[citation needed]
Official website	http://www.bratsk-city.ru

Bratsk (Russian: Братск) is a city in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Angara River near the vast Bratsk Reservoir. Population: 259,335 (2002 Census). Although the name sounds like the Russian word for 'brother' ('brat'), it actually comes from 'bratskiye lyudi', an old name for the Buryats.^[3]

History

The first Europeans in the area arrived in 1623, intending to collect taxes from the local Buryat population. Permanent settlement began with the construction of an ostrog (fortress) in 1636 at the junction of the Oka and Angara rivers.^[4] Several wooden towers from the 17th-century fort are now exhibited in Kolomenskoye Estate of Moscow.

During the Second World War there was an increase in industrial activity in Siberia, as Soviet industry was moved to the lands east of the Urals. After the war's end, development slowed as resources were required in the rebuilding of European Russia.

In 1947, the Gulag Angara prison labour camp was constructed near Bratsk, with capacity for up to 44,000 prisoners for projects such as the construction of the railway from Tayshet to Ust-Kut via Bratsk (now the western section of the Baikal Amur Mainline).^[5]

The city's rapid development commenced with the announcement in 1952 that a dam and hydroelectric plant would be built at Bratsk on the Angara River. The 4,500-megawatt Bratsk hydroelectric plant was built between 1954 and 1966, bringing numerous workers to the town.

Other industries in the city include an aluminium smelter and pulp mill.

Economy and Infrastructure

Bratsk is served by the Baikal Amur Mainline railway and Bratsk Airport. There is a hydrofoil up the Angara to Irkutsk.

The city's economy is largely reliant on heavy industry, including one of Russia's largest aluminium plants, lumber mills, chemical works and a coal-fired power station.

Higher educational facilities include the Bratsk State Technical University and a branch of the Irkutsk State University.

Administrative districts

Bratsk is spread around the head of the Bratsk Reservoir. The city is divided into three administrative okrugs (populations are as of the 2002 Census):

• Padunsky (Падунский), 60,142 inhabitants;
• Pravoberezhny (Правобережный), 39,524 inhabitants;
• Tsentralny (Центральный), 159,669 inhabitants.

Residential districts of the city, some of which are separated by open country, include: Bikey, Chekanovsky, Energetik, Gidrostroitel, Osinovka, Padun, Porozhsky, Sosnovy, Stenikha, Sukhoy, Tsentralny, and Yuzhny Padun.^[6]

Pollution

Bratsk was among the Blacksmith Institute's "Dirty Thirty", the thirty most polluted places in the world.^[7]

Bratsk Reservoir

Until recently, the Bratsk Reservoir - one of the world's largest - was a source of drinking water for many nearby cities. In 1998, after tons of mercury were found at the bottom of the reservoir, warnings were posted urging local citizens to avoid the reservoir at all costs. However, owing to Russia's economic troubles, the reservoir still remains a source of fish and other food products for many hard-pressed local residents. According to Yuri Udodov, head of the Federal Committee on Ecology (FCE) in the state of Irkutsk, this region has "the highest rate of discharge of metallic mercury into the environment [in] all of Siberia."^[8] The extent of mercury pollution in the ground around the nearby Usolye chemical plant is equal to half the total global production of mercury in 1992.^[8]

Bratsk has been declared an ecological disaster zone. The Bratsk Aluminium Plant has been polluting its surroundings to such great degree that the town of Chikanovskiy was evacuated in 2001 due to repeated health emergencies.^[7]

Nature

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Contrary to high level of pollution in a city, the Bratsk region remains very pure place. Water in the rivers drinkable without additional processing, the cleanest air of the woods forests, impressing landscapes of a taiga, huge territory without people. It involves all in area of tourists from all globe: on popularity in the world among places of ecology tourism the region competes with lake Baikal.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Bratsk is twinned with:

• Nanao, Japan.
• Zibo, China.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bratsk

• Official site of the City of Bratsk
• Section about Bratsk on Moy Gorod (My City) (Russian)

See also

• Bratsk hydroelectric plant

v • d • e Cities and towns in Irkutsk Oblast Administrative center: Irkutsk Alzamay · Angarsk · Baykalsk · Biryusinsk · Bodaybo · Bratsk · Cheremkhovo · Kirensk · Nizhneudinsk · Sayansk · Shelekhov · Slyudyanka · Svirsk · Tayshet · Tulun · Usolye-Sibirskoye · Ust-Ilimsk · Ust-Kut · Vikhorevka · Zheleznogorsk-Ilimsky · Zima