Elista: Information from Answers.com

Elista (English) Элиста (Russian) Элст (Kalmyk)
— Inhabited locality —
A public chess set at Elista town center
Location of the Republic of Kalmykia on the map of Russia
Location of Elista on the map of the Republic of Kalmykia
Coordinates: 46°19′N 44°16′E / 46.317°N 44.267°E / 46.317; 44.267Coordinates: 46°19′N 44°16′E / 46.317°N 44.267°E / 46.317; 44.267
Coat of arms	Flag
Administrative status
Country	Russia
Federal subject'	Kalmykia
In administrative jurisdiction of	Kalmykia^{[citation needed]}
Administrative center of	Kalmykia^{[citation needed]}
Municipal status
Municipal Status	urban okrug
'	Radiy Burulov^{[citation needed]}
Statistics
Population (2002 Census)	104,254 inhabitants^[1]
- Rank	153
Population (2008)	102,657 inhabitants^{[citation needed]}
Time zone	MSK/MSD (UTC+3/+4)
Founded	1865^{[citation needed]}
Dialing code(s)	+7 84722^{[citation needed]}

Elista (Russian: Элиста́; Kalmyk: Элст, Elst) is the capital of the Republic of Kalmykia, a federal subject of the Russian Federation. The population is 104,254 (2002 Census).

1 History
2 Features
3 Transportation
4 International relations
- 4.1 Twin towns — Sister cities
5 See also
6 Photo gallery
7 External links
8 References

History

A representation of the Buddha

Elista was founded in 1865 as a small settlement. In November 1920, Elista became the administrative center of Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast. By the early 1930s, Elista was transformed into a small city as the collectivization policies of Joseph Stalin forced many Kalmyks to abandon their traditional pastoral nomadic lifestyle in exchange for a modern, sedentary, and urban lifestyle. In October 1935, Elista was recognized as the capital of the Kalmyk ASSR.

On December 27, 1943, the Kalmyk ASSR was dissolved and its ethnic Kalmyk residents were forcibly exiled to Siberia. Russian people were brought in to repopulate Elista whose name was changed to Stepnoy (Степно́й). It was called Stepnoy until 1957, when the survivors of the deportations were allowed to return from exile.

Some western tourists started to visit Elista from the mid 1990s, and more after it received publicity as the host city of the 1998 Chess Olympiad. The city is safe and has little traffic. One visitor complained that there was no McDonalds restaurant in Elista,^[2] although others have seen this as part of its semi-rural charm. On the outskirts of Elista, there are vast grasslands inhabited by many wild (and domestic) camels.

Features

A Kalmyk lady praying in front of the statue before entering the temple

Since 1991, the town has been characterized by the slow decay of Soviet-built institutions, and the large construction projects instigated by the republic's millionaire president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.

The town center has a number of renovated public parks focused on the main square, boasting statues to both Lenin and the Buddha. To the east of the town lies the Olympic village of the 1998 XXXIII Chess Olympiad, known locally as "City-Chess". The site has a public swimming pool and an excellent museum of Kalmyk Buddhist art, and is also infrequently used as a conference center.

During his visit in 1998, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama chose a location west of the town center to build a new Buddhist temple for city residents. It was opened in December 2005.

Transportation

Elista has a small regional airport which is open daily during the week, providing flights to Moscow and various cities in the southern part of the Russian Federation. The airport was closed by the federal aviation authorities sometime in the fall of 2006, but was reopened sometime in 2007. The flight between Elista and Moscow takes around 2 hours. On days the airport is closed, travelers can use the airports in Rostov-na-Donu or Volgograd; getting to either city takes around 3 hours by taxi or 5 – 6 hours by bus.

Rail connections are available to Rostov-na-Donu and Stavropol.

Due to the high cost of air travel, people usually prefer to take the bus between Elista and Moscow. The trip is approximately 18 hours and makes several rest stops along the route.

Within Elista itself, a network of about a dozen marshrutka (minibus) routes is run by private companies. Each journey costs 8 roubles.

International relations

Main article: List of twin towns and sister cities in Russia

Twin towns — Sister cities

Elista is twinned with the following sister cities.

Howell, US^[3]
Lhasa, Tibet, China.^[4]

Photo gallery

Geden Sheddup Choikorling Monastery

The Golden Temple

Monument to victims of the December 1943 deportation, by Ernst Neizvestny

Elista's Chess City

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Elista

References

^ Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal State Statistics Service) (2004-05-21). "Численность населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов – районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более человек (Population of Russia, its federal districts, federal subjects, districts, urban localities, rural localities—administrative centers, and rural localities with population of over 3,000)" (in Russian). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2002). Federal State Statistics Service. http://perepis2002.ru/ct/html/TOM_01_04_1.htm. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
^ Kalder. Lost Cosmonaut, p75.
^ Flags-Kalmykia
^ Lhasa city guide

v • d • e Capitals of the Republics of Russia

Abakan · Cheboksary · Cherkessk · Elista · Gorno-Altaysk · Grozny · Izhevsk · Kazan · Kyzyl · Magas · Makhachkala · Maykop · Nalchik · Petrozavodsk · Saransk · Syktyvkar · Ufa · Ulan-Ude · Vladikavkaz · Yakutsk · Yoshkar-Ola

v • d • e Administrative divisions of the Republic of Kalmykia

Capital: Elista

	Cities and towns	Gorodovikovsk · Lagan

	Districts	Chernozemelsky · Gorodovikovsky · Iki-Burulsky · Ketchenerovsky · Lagansky · Maloderbetovsky · Oktyabrsky · Priyutnensky · Sarpinsky · Tselinny · Yashaltinsky · Yashkulsky · Yustinsky

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