En Name: | Bratsk |
Ru Name: | Братск |
Coordinates: | 56.1167°N 137°W |
Map Label Position: | right |
Image Coa: | Coat of Arms of Bratsk (Irkutsk oblast).png |
Federal Subject: | Irkutsk Oblast |
Adm Data As Of: | December 2011 |
Adm City Jur: | City of Bratsk |
Adm Ctr Of1: | Bratsky District |
Adm Ctr Of2: | City of Bratsk |
Inhabloc Cat: | City |
Mun Data As Of: | December 2004 |
Urban Okrug Jur: | Bratsk Urban Okrug |
Mun Admctr Of1: | Bratsk Urban Okrug |
Mun Admctr Of2: | Bratsky Municipal District |
Mun Admctr Of2 Ref: | [1] |
Leader Title: | Head |
Leader Name: | Sergey Serebrennikov |
Representative Body: | Duma |
Area Km2: | 263 |
Pop 2010Census: | 246319 |
Pop 2010Census Rank: | 75th |
Established Date: | 1631 |
Current Cat Date: | 1955 |
Postal Codes: | 665700–665732 |
Dialing Codes: | 3953 |
Dialing Codes Ref: | [2] |
Website: | http://www.bratsk-city.ru |
Date: | May 2010 |
Bratsk (; ru|Братск pronounced as /ru/) is a city in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Angara River near the vast Bratsk Reservoir. It had population of .
The name of the city, which is from the same root as the Russian word for 'brother' (Russian: брат / brat), derives from the Russian phrase for 'brotherly people' (Russian: братские люди / bratskije ljudi).
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 1631 at the junction of the Oka and Angara rivers.[3] Several wooden towers from the 17th-century fort are now exhibited in Kolomenskoye Estate of Moscow.
During World War II, there was an increase in industrial activity in Siberia, as Soviet industry was moved to the lands east of the Ural Mountains. After the end of the war, development slowed as resources were required in the rebuilding of European Russia.
In 1947, the Gulag Angara prison labor 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).[4]
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. Town status was granted to Bratsk in 1955.[5] The city of Bratsk was formed from separate villages, industrial and residential areas according to a 1958–61 masterplan. These areas were in certain cases far away from each other, leading to the large territorial area of the Bratsk municipal region, and explaining why there are unsettled areas of taiga between city districts.[6]
The 4,500-megawatt Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Station was built between 1954 and 1966, bringing numerous workers to the town. Other industries in the city include an aluminum smelter and a pulp mill.
Bratsk originally comprised the following regions, with the idea being that they would each grow, and merge, to form the city of Bratsk.
Within the framework of administrative divisions, Bratsk serves as the administrative center of Bratsky District,[7] even though it is not technically a part of it. As an administrative division, it is incorporated separately as the City of Bratsk[8] —an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, the City of Bratsk is incorporated as Bratsk Urban Okrug.[9] [10]
For administrative purposes, the city is divided into three districts (populations are as of the 2010 Census):
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.[11]
The current mayor of Bratsk is Sergei Vasilievich Serebrennikov.[12] In November 2013 the city council amended the charter to institute direct mayoral elections, which had been abolished in 2011.[13] Elected again in 2014, Serebrennikov then began his second term after previously having served as mayor between 2005 and 2009.
Bratsk has multiple museums.
The film 'Svist' was filmed in Bratsk.[18]
Bratsk has a subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification Dfc). Winters are very cold and long with average temperatures from to in January, while summers are mild to warm with average temperatures from to in July. Precipitation is moderate and is significantly higher in summer than at other times of the year.
Bratsk is served by the Baikal-Amur Mainline railway and by the Bratsk Airport. There is a hydrofoil up the Angara to Irkutsk. Public transport includes buses and trolleybuses (only in the central district)
The city's economy is largely reliant on heavy industry, including one of Russia's largest aluminum plants, lumber mills, chemical works, and a coal-fired power station.
Higher educational facilities include the Bratsk State University and a branch of the Irkutsk State University.
In recent times, Bratsk has attracted attention due to association with the cryptocurrency industry.[19]
Rusal operates a smelter in Bratsk.[20]
Bratsk Reservoir has traditionally been a major employer for the city of Bratsk. Thousands were involved in its construction, and to this day the reservoir, and dam, support many jobs in the city, both directly connected to the dam itself, and secondary industries - i.e. fishing. Bratsk Reservoir is a popular tourist attraction, and due to this, Bratsk has a small, but notable, tourism industry.
Modern Bratsk is classed as a 'high-density industrial region', producing around 20% of the industrial output of the Irkutsk oblast.[21]
In recent times, Bratsk has attracted attention due to the reported presence of bitcoin operations in the city.[22]
Bratsk has often attracted negative attention due to the reported pollution levels of the city. The city was among the Blacksmith Institute's "Dirty Thirty", the thirty most polluted places in the world.[23]
Bratsk Reservoir is one of the world's largest, and has been at the centre of repeated claims about its level of pollution. According to Yuri Udodov, head of the Federal Committee on Ecology (FCE) in Irkutsk Oblast, the reservoir has "the highest rate of discharge of metallic mercury into the environment [in] all of Siberia."[24] 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.[24]
Bratsk Reservoir is the main source of drinking water for the city of Bratsk, and surrounding area. The drinking water is drawn from the part of the reservoir categorised as 'clean'. Due to a number of factors, both man-made and natural, the quality of the water from Bratsk reservoir ranges from 'clean', down to 'dirty'.[25]
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Russia.
Bratsk is twinned with: